5 ways to make study finance easier:

Today’s world is all about investments. Investing time, money and effort into something in hope that that investment grows and blossoms into something bigger and better.

Education is the greatest investment of all. If you invest in your education, you invest in your country, you invest in your generation. You invest in yourself.

You are ready to invest in your education. You know what you want to do, what passion you want to pursue. You even already know where you want to go and everything there is to know about the institution that you want to attend.

But there is one worry sitting in the back of your mind. One thing you just can’t figure out, how are you going to pay for all of it?

The sad fact that it will be expensive, you know you will have to make sacrifices. But you also know that you can do it! You may need some help along the way, but you are determined to be the best you can be!

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” – Nelson Mandela

Here are 5 steps to help you finance your dreams:

Step 1: How much will it cost?

In order to finance your dreams, you have to know how much they are going to cost. If you have a number in mind, it’s easier to achieve your goal.

There are many different amounts involved when trying to calculate how much your educational journey will cost. But for now focus purely on the cost of education.

Write down the total cost of your tuition. If the institution hasn’t already, break down the amount into monthly payments so that you know what it will cost you every month to attend.

Add basic learning materials, text books and stationary supplies that you will need for your course.

By now you will have a basic cost of how much money you will need every month for the duration of your course.

Step 2: Budget

No it’s time for the extras. These can add up. Is your educational institution far away from where you are living? If it is you need to calculate the costs of transportation getting to and from your institution.

If it is too far to travel every day, you need to factor in living costs as you would have to stay closer to your institution.

These costs could add quite dramatically to your study costs as you will have to factor in accommodation and food every month.

Now you can work out a budget. How much money you would need every month in order survive while studying.

Step 3: How can you get to your goal?

Now that you know how much money you will need. The next step is how to attain it. Some students are lucky enough to have their parents, other relatives or friends fund their studies.

Other students need to find other ways of financing. Finding a part time job will help you in paying for your living expenses and educational needs while studying.

But be careful that the time dedicated to your job does not negatively impact your time or ability to study. Jobs after study hours or on weekends might be best suited to your new study lifestyle.

If you can’t generate the funds by yourself and your family do not have the means don’t worry because your dream can still come to life.

Step 4: We all need a little help

Because higher education is so expensive, many students need financial assistance. It’s is not something to be looked down upon, but rather something that should be admired.

These are students that are doing everything in their power to follow their dreams.

If you do need financial assistance you can contact your university about applying for a bursary. Alternately contact a company that specialises in educational finance, such as Eduloan.

They will help you with the financial backing that you will need in order to help you unlock your potential. 

Step 5: Make your dream a reality!

Now that you have everything you need, it’s time to work hard! It’s time to repay the people that invested in you. This isn’t just your financial investors. These are the people that have invested more than that.

It’s your parents, your teachers and your friends that have helped you get this far. Now it is time to show them that their investments have paid off through your hard work and dedication.

Make them proud and achieve great things.

When it comes to financing your dreams, Eduloan can help you with all of your finance requirements. Since 1996 Eduloan has awarded over 720 000 study loans to the value of more than R3.7 billion.

Whether it be study fees, registration, textbooks, accommodation, technology or everything in-between, Eduloan offers an end-to-end solution for all your study needs.

To contact Eduloan today about financing your dreams, visit www.eduloan.co.za or call 0860 55 55 44.

7 steps to choosing the right tertiary institution for you:

Choosing the right institution may seem like a daunting task, and rightly so. There are many things to consider when making such a big decision. Some of your big considerations should be; the course that you want to study, tuition, student life on campus and with everything being integrated, you will want to know how the institution ranks in the world.

With all these in mind, you start the journey of looking for the place you will call home for the better part of your adult life.

Here are 6 steps to guide you in making that choice.

Step 1: Which course do you want to study?

Now that you are ready to start studying make sure you choose a course that aligns to your interests and career aspirations. Your course of choice will determine the institution you will attend.

There are some specialised programmes that are not offered by some institutions and the institutions that do offer them are ranked differently.

Your first choice will be the institution that is highly ranked in that field of expertise.

Take the time to read about the different institutions and their offerings, this will only enhance your knowledge of career options.

  

Step 2: Make a list

Make a list of the institutions that offer the field of study you are interested in. Put the list on your wall or door and give constant thought to what will be a big decision. Choosing the correct institution will assist in you one day reaching your career goals.

Ask your teachers and use the internet to help point you in the right direction.

Step 3: Do your research

Once you have your list start researching these institutions. Find out how long the course is, what points you will need in order to apply and when you will need to apply by.

Once you have researched the institutions you are interested in you can reassess your list and narrow it down. 

  

Step 4: Attend Open Days

Most institutions hold open days. If you can, visit the campus. This will give you a better indication of the facilities and the type of people there.

Speak to tutors and current students and see if you can imagine yourself studying there in the future.

You will get the feeling quite quickly if this is the one for you, or if it’s not quite right and you want to carry on looking.

  

Step 5: Pros and cons

Now that you have done your research you can make a list of pros and cons for each institution. Consider things like how far away they are, how much the tuition is and what credits you will receive once your course is completed, in case you want to carry on studying.

Step 6: Make an educated decision

By now you should have a pretty good idea of where you want to go. But if you are not 100% sure yet, don’t worry. Picking the right place for you is a big decision, and it can take time.

Don’t rush into anything. Think it through and ask more questions. Just be sure to take note of the application submission deadline, you don’t want to miss it!

Step 7: It’s about dedication

There’s no two ways about it, your educational journey won’t be easy. It will take hard work and dedication. So you need to be 100% sure that you are ready to dive in head first. Once you have made the decision of where to study, Eduloan can help finance that dream.

Eduloan can help you with all of your finance requirements. Since 1996 Eduloan has awarded over 750 000 study loans to the value of more than R4 billion.

Whether it be study fees, registration, textbooks, accommodation, technology or everything in-between, Eduloan offers an end-to-end solution for all your study needs.

To contact Eduloan today about financing your dreams, visit www.eduloan.co.za or call 0860 55 55 44.

Creating a consistent study plan in 4 simple steps:

The word exam strikes fear into the hearts of all students. Even the most studious breaks out in sweat when they hear it. Merely looking at it one concludes that it’s just writing down some answers on a piece of paper. Simply put, it’s much more than that. That piece of paper often holds the key to your future.

Striving to do well and attain the best marks possible takes constant dedication. You can achieve anything you put your mind to, but what do you do when you have an enormous amount of work sitting in front of you?

The question is where to start? The fact is that there is only one place. It’s time to open up those books and get studying!

Now everyone studies differently, some people read through their work only a few times and it seems to be imbedded in their memories forever, while others need hours and hours of studying to completely understanding the subject matter.

 No matter what works best for you, a consistent study plan is the key!

Why do you need a study plan? A plan allows you to map out a study approach and focus on the step in front of you

Step 1: Set goals

Take time to look at past exams papers, take note of what marks you have achieved in the past and set a goal on what marks you want to achieve for the upcoming exam.

You can then do a rough estimation of how many hours you spent on studying, and how many more hours you need to put in to get your desired results.

Step 2: Create a time chart

Making a time chart will help you see how many hours in a day you need to study. Days seem a lot shorter when you get closer to your exam date.

Factor in breaks for lunch, breakfast, and just relaxing your brain in-between your study sessions, very few people can study for hours on end without breaks.

The rule of thumb is to take a 15min break every 45min-1 hour of studying depending on the length of your concentration.

Step 3: Break it down

Break down your workload into separate sections or chapters. By doing this you can get a better idea of how much work you need to get through.

If you have not allocated enough time every day to your workload, you will need to squeeze in more hours to make sure you get through everything.

Plan your schedule so that you finish all your studying before your exam to give yourself time to recap difficult sections.

Step 4: Stick to your schedule

Routine, routine, routine. The key to your study schedule is consistency! Your study plan will work best if you follow it on a consistent basis.

Try not to miss any of the study sessions that you have planned, but if you have to, try to catch it up so that you don’t fall behind.

Studying for exams need not be tedious. By approaching them with clear goals and a plan you can minimize the stress.

Eduloan can help you with all of your finance requirements. Since 1996 Eduloan has awarded over 750 000 study loans to the value of more than R4 billion.

Whether it be study fees, registration, textbooks, accommodation, technology or everything in-between, Eduloan offers an end-to-end solution for all your study needs.

To contact Eduloan today about financing your dreams, visit www.eduloan.co.za or call 0860 55 55 44.

Eduloan can assist you with repaying those unwanted outstanding balances!

Being proudly South African on heritage day

Heritage day, also known as national braai day, is the public holiday that we as South Africans get to celebrate on the 24^th of September each year.  On this specific day we  are encouraged to celebrate our culture, diversity in beliefs and traditions and the fact that this beautiful county belongs to us all.

Former South African president and father of our Rainbow Nation concisely explained it when he said the following in a heritage day speech: “When our fist democratically-elected government decided to make Heritage Day one of our national days, we did so because we knew that our rich and varied cultural heritage has  profound power to help build our new nation”.

The unique opportunity we have with heritage day is to define our cultural identity. It has the power to affirm our diverse cultures and in so doing shape our national character as a “Rainbow Nation”.  We get to be one, be at peace with who we are.  South Africa has many achievements especially in addressing past inequities, Heritage day gives us the opportunity to reflect and teach our youth not about our history alone, but also about what we can accomplish with unity.

This day also promotes the need for a new South African identity, fostering reconciliation and promoting the notion that variety is a national asset rather than  igniting conflict.

Having 11 official languages and coining Table Mountain, as one of the 7 natural wonders of this world is what makes this country great.  We have the power to accomplish anything we want to achieve, overcoming Apartheid is but one of this country’s many successes.

This word says it all; ‘simunye’ we are one! Tell us, what do you enjoy most about South Africa?

How to cope with study related stress? (Infographic)

Enhancing reading through technology

Being part of the twenty first century and the technology it offers deems an uncertain and sometimes scary future, but not necessarily for our youth as they are an integral part of the way technology is shaping our future.

                                                                                                             

Children nowadays are digital natives and for them the future isn’t moving at a fast enough pace. Technology is part of their everyday lives and many of them are adept at Internet research, cell phone browsing, social sharing, navigating through interactive books and multi media production.  Thus this dooming technology, as we sometimes perceive it, is providing valuable support in attaining reading and writing skills.

In literacy, instruction technology has both traditional and authentic uses, the traditional instruction implies skills reinforcement; for example, students who need additional practice in reading might work individually on computers that are equipped with reading-comprehension software.  Whereas the authentic instruction will be using technology to achieve a complex task; for example students who need to write an essay will need the internet for research and word processing tools to write and format text.

Considering assistive technology is no longer a subject to linger about, but one that is vital to help those that struggle with reading related issues such as; reading fluency, comprehension and decoding.

Assistive technology that assist with reading fall into several categories:

Audio books

The recording and presentation of text, referred to as audio books or books on tape, promotes students interest in reading as well as better their comprehension of text and some studies have shown this technology to have been used successfully by students who are visually impaired.

Paper based computer pen

This technology records and links audio to what a person writes using a pen and special paper. It basically assists the person to record audio whilst taking notes. The user will then be able to later listen to the recording when going through his/her notes.  This technology may be beneficial to those that struggle with reading in recognizing words as well as those that suffer from memory loss.

Screen readers or electronic text

Screen reading technology is programmed to read the text as presented on the screen of your computer. This digitized reading offers assistance in the pronunciation of words and supports as well as coaches the student as they are reading text. This helps in the decoding of text as well as promotes reading fluency.

Tape recordings

Tape recorders allow a student to listen to pre-recorded text or to capture spoken information.  The student can then later listen to the track in an environment that he/she feels safe to study in. This has proven to be valuable to students who struggle with attention deficits and reading.

Whether this technology is used to improve the skills of those you teach, the primary goal or objective should be to utilize digital natives to use their technology to address their own needs.  Although much is still in the grey as to the promise these technologies offer, and researchers still warrant a cautious approach, the reality is that this technology is available and should at some point be used to benefit the educational approach.