Student Loan Blog : eBay

Student Attempts to Get eBay Bidders to Pay for College Tuition

Student Loan Girl — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:29:00 GMT

Zack Ketz, a University of Virginia studio art major, is not the first to use an eBay auction as a ploy for free tuition. Oklahoma Wesleyan University found a bidder to pay $18,669.99 for one year of tuition and room, and board — valued at $23,000 — on the site last year.

However, Ketz’s effort was not as successful. His auction’s final bid only reached $152.50, not quite enough to cover his $22,000 tuition bill, according to an article on Newsadvance.com (“Ebay Auction to Pay UVA. Student’s Tuition Falls Short,” Aug. 15, 2008).

And unlike the Wesleyan auction where the winning bidder received something of value, namely a discount on college tuition, the take- home for Ketz’s bidder, a friend of his dad, was less clear. Ketz’s idea was to have eBay customers fight over the privilege to pay off his tuition bill in exchange for his commitment to advocate for the winner’s philanthropy.

Ketz, who lives paycheck to paycheck by repairing wheelchairs full- time, was desperate for money to pay for school, but says he neglected to apply for scholarships and grants to cover his tuition. He claims that he didn’t want to give in to the system, saying “Why don’t I at least make an effort to do something different?”

Not everyone thought his plan was such a great idea. One individual who wrote Ketz suggested that he get a “real job.” Then there was the Website “College on the Record” that listed Ketz’s auction number one on their list of “Top 5 College Scams.”

The winning bidder, Tom Beacham, however, thought that the eBay strategy was brilliant. “It was ingenious on his part,” he said. “I think it adds a little comical side to [paying for college].”

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Tufts University to Help Graduates in Public-Service Repay Student Loans

Student Loan Girl — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:31:00 GMT

Under a new student loan repayment program offered by Tufts University, graduates and undergraduates from the school who pursue jobs in public service could have a portion of their student loans forgiven.

Tufts alumni from any graduating class who choose or have chosen to work for a nonprofit or public-sector employer following graduation may be eligible for the program, according to an article by The Chronicle of Higher Education writer Elizabeth Farrell (“Tufts Offers Loan Relief to Public-Service-Minded Students and Alumni,” April 23, 2008).

Tufts officials tout the university-wide program as the nation’s first debt relief plan to include all students who graduate from a particular school, Farrell wrote.

The total loan-repayment-assistance award a Tufts graduate could receive through the program is dependent on the graduate’s income level and the remaining balance of his or her student loan debt.

University officials expect to grant the school’s first loan-forgiveness awards in December. Initial funding for the program includes a $100 million gift from Tufts graduate, and eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar and $500,000 from the Omidyar-Tufts Microfinance Fund.

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Not Just Your Virtual Diary Anymore, Blogging Is Big Business

Student Loan Girl — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 23:23:00 GMT

A decade ago, blogging was a way for anyone with a computer to get a high from posting their personal ramblings to the Web and sharing their now-published thoughts with the online world.

Narcissistic? Maybe. Therapeutic? Definitely. Profitable? Questionable.

But not anymore.

Thanks to our obsession with the Internet and our undying need for ever-more information at our fingertips, blogging has evolved into a powerful and profitable business venture that almost anyone can do.

Big-Buck Bloggers

Take Zach Brooks, for example. This Manhattanite has turned his love affair with greasy food into Midtownlunch.com, a blog devoted to spotlighting cheap eateries in New York for nearly 2,000 daily readers.

The website, which focuses on restaurants where you can get lunch for under $10, can sometimes net Brooks $1,000 a month, writes Associated Press reporter Candace Choi (“Casual Blogging Not Just Lunch Money Now,” Dec. 26, 2007).

Then there’s Samuel Chi, who started BCSGuru.com “as a way to demystify the convoluted universe of college football rankings for fellow fans,” Choi writes. This season, Chi, a former sports journalist with a background in statistics, earned about $8,000 from his blog.

With the help of PayPerPost, BlogAds, Google’s AdSense, and similar programs that help advertisers place ads on large and small sites, bloggers, who write on everything from the latest tech gadgets to politics to the celebrity train wreck of the day, can earn money based on their site’s popularity — the more people who click on the ads on their site, the more money they make.

Turn Your Blog into a Cash Cow

Write about your obsessions, make the most of your advertisers, and you may never again have to hawk your clothes or sell your plasma to get that extra cash.

Last year, total online ad revenue was nearly $20 billion, so there’s plenty of money to go around.

The Washington Post suggests a few different ways to get your share as a blogger:

Let online ad programs work for you. Sell ad space on your blog, and you can get paid each time someone clicks on your ads.

Take control of your ad sales. Not a fan of pay-per-click ads? Use BlogAds. Join its database of advertisers — free of charge — and set your own ad prices. Companies then find you and purchase ad space for a set period of time. You keep 70 percent of your add fees and turn over 30 percent to BlogAds.

Be the middleman. Join a company’s affiliate program: Post an ad on your blog that links to their site, and every time one of your readers clicks on the ad, goes to the company’s site, and the visit results in a purchase, you’ll receive a small commission. You can earn as much as 10 percent per referral sale from businesses like Amazon, eBay, and Match.com. Use affiliate marketing networks like LinkShare or Commission Junction to browse hundreds of companies with affiliate programs.

Get your fans involved. Give your loyal and dedicated readers an opportunity to show their support. Post a donation button from online payment services like PayPal or the Amazon Honor System, and set yourself up to receive monetary donations.

Sell blog-branded gear. If asking for a handout isn’t your thing, slap your company logo on T-shirts, coffee mugs or caps and create your own online store. CafePress offers you more than 50 products to choose from.

What Are You Waiting For? Express Yourself.

Know the best places to find a bargain? The best sports bars to watch a game? How to make the most out of your college loans?

Launch a blog. It’s so easy you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it before.

Just go to any popular blog platform site, like WordPress, Blogger, MySpace or Weebly, and create your blog for free. And let your love of all things you make the extra cash for you.

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