Applying for Federal Loans for Online College Students

Federal student loans offer distance learners the opportunity to pay for their online class tuition without draining their bank accounts or seeking additional employment. By filling out a single online application, you might qualify for federal student loans with reasonable interest rates and terms. Federal Student Loan Benefits Many banks offer private student loans. However, federal student loans are almost always the best choice for students who qualify. Federal student loans generally offer the lowest interest rates available. Federal loan borrowers are also given generous terms and might be able to defer loan payments if they return to college or are facing hardship. Types of Federal Student Loans The federal government offers several financial aid opportunities for students. Some of the most common federal student loans include: Federal Perkins Loans: These loans offer a very low interest rate and are available to students who demonstrate â€Å"exceptional financial need.† The government pays the interest on Federal Perkins Loans while the student is enrolled in school and for a nine-month grace period following graduation. Students begin making payments after the grace period.Federal Direct Subsidized Loans: Federal direct loans feature a low interest rate. The government pays the interest on subsidized loans while the student is enrolled in school and during a six-month grace period after graduation. Students begin making payments after the grace period.Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans: Unsubsidized loans also feature a low interest rate. However, these loans begin accumulating interest as soon as the loan money is dispersed. After graduation students have a six-month grace period before their first payment is due.Federal Direct PLUS Loans: The Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students is available fo r parents who intend to pay for their child’s education. Parents must pass a credit check or have a qualified cosigner. The first payment is due after the loan is disbursed.Federal Direct PLUS Loans for Graduate and Professional Degree Students: Adult students may also take out PLUS loans after exhausting the limits for other federal loan options. Students must pass a credit check or have a cosigner. Interest begins accumulating after the loan is disbursed. However, students may ask for a payment deferment while they are in school. In the case of a deferment, the first payment is due 45 days after the end of the deferment period. Online School Student Loan Laws Before 2006, many online students were unable to receive federal aid. In 1992, Congress enacted the 50 Percent Rule, mandating that schools qualify as financial aid distributors by offering more than 50 percent of courses in traditional classrooms. In 2006, the law was overturned. Today a growing number of online schools offer federal student aid. To offer aid, schools must still meet requirements, but the percentage of online courses no longer applies. Online Schools Offering Federal Student Loans Keep in mind that not all online schools offer federal student loans. To find out if your school is able to distribute student loans, call the school’s financial aid office. You might also search for the college’s federal school code on the federal financial aid website. Qualifying for Federal Student Loans To be eligible for federal student loans you must be a U.S citizen with a social security number. You must have a high school diploma, a GED certificate or have passed an alternative exam. You must be enrolled as a regular student working toward a certificate or degree at a school that is eligible to offer federal aid. Additionally, you must not have certain drug convictions on your record (convictions that happened prior to your eighteenth birthday don’t count, unless you were tried as an adult). You cannot currently be in default for any student loans you already have, or owe the government refund money from grants you were awarded. If you are a male, you must register for Selective Services. If you don’t meet these qualifications, it’s still a good idea to discuss your situation with a financial aid counselor. There is some flexibility with the rules. For example, some non-citizens are eligible to apply for federal aid, and students with recent drug convictions may be able to receive aid if they attend drug rehabilitation. How Much Aid Will You Receive? The type and amount of federal aid you receive is determined by your online school. Aid amount is based on several factors including your financial need, your year in school and the cost of attendance. If you are a dependent, the government will determine an expected family contribution (how much your family should be expected to contribute, based on your parent’s income). For many students, the entire cost of college attendance can be covered by federal student loans and grants. Applying for Federal Student Loans Before applying for federal student loans, set up an in-person or phone appointment with your online school’s financial aid counselor. He or she will be able to offer advice for applying and suggestions for alternative sources of aid (such as scholarships and school-based grants). Once you’ve collected the needed documents such as social security numbers and tax returns, it’s easy to apply. You will need to fill out a form called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA can be filled out online or on paper. Using Student Loans Wisely When you receive your federal aid award, the bulk of the money will be applied to your tuition. Any remaining money will be given to you for other school-related expenses (textbooks, school supplies, etc.) Often, you will be eligible to receive more money than is necessary. Try to use as little money as possible and return any money you do not need. Remember, student loans must be repaid. Once you finish your online education, you will begin student loan repayment. At this point, consider refinancing your student loans so you have one monthly payment at a lower interest rate. Meet with a financial counselor to discuss your options.

International Business And Multinational Corporations

The end of the 1980s experienced a visible change experienced in the literature concerning MNE functions and nature of business (Segal-Horn and Faulkner, 2010). Before 1980s, the main research in MNE field was about analyzing relation between affiliates and headquarters of the firm, and also decisions concerning making investment in foreign country, which was also experienced in Dunning’s work. After that, the focus was shifted to operations concerning coordination in management of a network of affiliates of an MNE and analysis of the competitive advantages received by these affiliates from the respective economies. Therefore, the last 20 years have experienced a very beneficial theoretical work in the field of international business and†¦show more content†¦Their main aim is to maximize the competitive advantage for the particular MNE through integration of global activities and local differences within each foreign unit. In the modern perspective, two main theories, i.e. network-based theory and knowledge-based theory of MNE, are prevalent, which are explained hereunder (Forsgren, 2008). The most importance sources of competitive advantage for MNEs are their affiliates. This is because affiliates establish a deep-rooted and long-term connection with their local partners and through this new knowledge information can be established. Such knowledge is implicit and is inserted in a particular context. Inserted or embedded knowledge itself is implicit and is also specific to a context (Pedersen, 2014). It is also entrenched in the inter-dependent activities of the employees and staff members who observe shared experiences as well as values. These traits cause more complexity and confusions in terms of barriers for transferability of such knowledge (Stephan, 2013). This affiliate embeddedness in relation with stakeholders within the business network actually opposes business contact made traditionally, in which firm used to make connections with only consumers and suppliers and relation used to end with the exchange (Lundan, 2002). Similarly, some of these relationships w ith affiliates are established gradually with the passage of time and thus higher level of

Introduction. The Idea Of Fairtrade Emerged In The Late

Introduction The idea of Fairtrade emerged in the late 1940s, which aims to rise the living standard of the disadvantaged producers and farmers in the developing countries. Providing sustainable supports to them, including investments, training, decent working conditions and better prices. The first Fair Trade label was introduced in 1988 to certify Fairtrade product and thus Fairtrade products become saleable in both supermarkets and other mainstream actors (Bezencon, 2011, p.61). This essay argues that producers and workers cannot gain notable benefits from Fairtrade. It will begin by looking at the Fairtrade minimum price and wages, then move on to the financial stability guarantee from Fairtrade Foundation and finally with the factors†¦show more content†¦Bezencon (2011, pp.64,65) states that the earnings of Fair Trade farmers will be protected by price floor set by Fairtrade Foundation to ensure selling price of Fairtrade certified products is higher than market price and independen t of the current market condition. Taking the coffee industry in 2013 as an example, despite the fact that coffee prices was low, Fairtrade farmers in Mexico, Peru, Tanzania and Indonesia sold around 8 to 26 percent higher, are mentioned in Fairtrade International (2016, p.1). It seems that Fairtrade farmers’ income can be secured. Yet data gathered in the Dragusanu et al. (2014, pp. 228-229) suggests a considerable proportion of crops produced by Fairtrade-certified farmers can be sold for the Fairtrade price: coffee (45 percent), cane sugar (54 percent), cocoa (61 percent), bananas (72 percent), and cotton (60 percent). It shows the exceptions do occur in the prevention of earning below the minimum price. As a result, Fairtrade growers cannot gain better price as the targets of Fairtrade and hence income stability cannot be guaranteed. Knowledge Application Finally, it can be argued that income generation training is ineffective for Fairtrade producers and workers. Fairtrade International (2016, p.1) reports greater proportion of Fairtrade famers received training than that of non-Fairtrade farmers. According to Bezencon (2011, pp. 64-65), training provided by Fair Trade is aboutShow MoreRelatedCoffee and Crisis Management Team21317 Words   |  86 Pagesimpact. Notify the Starbucks Crisis Management Team of the crisis and provide an initial assessment. General Response Priorities 4 Overview of Starbucks Coffee Named after a character in the classic story of Moby Dick, Starbucks Coffee has emerged as the world s leader in retail, roasting, and branding of specialty coffees for millions of customers worldwide since its 1971 founding in Seattle s Pike Place Market in the state of Washington. Still headquartered in Seattle, Starbucks CoffeeRead MoreInternational Management67196 Words   |  269 Pagesinteract and how businesses market, promote, and distribute their products globally. The same can be said for mass collaboration efforts occurring through digital, online technology for the development of new and innovative systems, products, and ideas. Both social networking and mass collaboration bring new power and influence to individuals across borders and transform the nature of their relationships with global organizations. As in the past, these developments underscore and reinforce the importance

Difference between IT and IS Management Issues Free Samples

Question: Write the Difference between Information Systems (IS) and Information Technology (IT) issues and how it will affect customer choice, continued Patronage, Brand loyalty, etc. Suggest how to attract New Customers from Competitors and any Other New Business Opportunities that May arise with such a set up. Answer: Introduction StayTogether is a hotel chain that is being set up after the grouping up of ten hotel chains that have decided to merge their business in order to deal with the market pressure that is levied upon low priced hotel accommodations. The management has decided that the hotel bookings will be allowed to be performed through a single site only along with a mobile application for the same. The document is a report that covers the management decision along with certain IS and IT issues that may come up. Recommendations on attracting new customers have also been covered. Management Decisions StayTogether Loyalty will be a customer oriented loyalty programme that will be launched to provide the customers with added benefits such as airport transfers, free of cost parking facility and free nights as well. The tariff for a particular hotel room will also cover the buffet breakfast and dinner from the restaurants that are listed on the site. It will allow the owners to earn extra on per guest. The charges associated with exclusive eateries will not be included (McBurney, 2015). Rebates will be provided if the travelers choose to travel with the partner airlines and credit will be provided for free nights or free meals. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) scheme will also be launched through which the customers may donate 1% of their overall expenses to a charity. It will however be optional (Orlitzky, 2015). Assumptions The hotel chains that will be collaborating with each other to come up with StayTogether have agreed on the policies, terms and conditions which have been documented in the form of a contract. The web development and setting up of the mobile application has been done. The decision has been taken on the share of profits and revenues that will be distributed to the individual hotels (Popp, 2017). The project will be finished in the estimated budget and schedule. The management along with the rest of the team will have the adequate set of skills to accomplish all of the project activities. Difference between IT and IS Issues IT and IS are usually used as inter-exchangeable terms; however, there is a difference between the two terms along with the issues that may be associated with each in terms of an organization or a project. Information System (IS) is primarily concerned with the quality and availability of the information that will be stored along with the several operations on the information such as its storage, management and organization. Issues around the overall management of information will come under IS issues. Also, there may be gaps in terms of the communication that may be encountered which will also be counted in the category of IS issues (El-Awad, 2017). Information Technology (IT) on the other hand will primarily be concerned with the technical infrastructure and its management in association with StayTogether. The use of the current technologies along with the identification of new technologies that will be required to be adapted will come under the issues associated with IT. Integration and collaboration issues will also be classified under IT issues (Bruni, 2014). IS Issues and their Impact on Customers There will be a number of IS issues that will be associated with the hotel chain and they may have a considerable impact on the customer choices and brand value. There may be a lot many attacks that may take place on the web application of StayTogether in terms of the security attacks and risks. These issues may be classified under three broad categories as: Confidentiality Attacks The information that will be present in the web site and mobile application along with the database of StayTogether will include the details of the travelers, their payment information, details of hotels, airlines details and many more. All of this information will be confidential in nature and attacks such as eavesdropping or tracking will violate the confidentiality of the information. Integrity Attacks There may also be attacks on the integrity of the information as the information may be modified in an unauthorized manner. Such as modification of the hotel ratings will cause loss to the business and will also bring down the customer base. Message and media alteration will be the two integrity attacks that may have a high likelihood (Chasserio, 2014). Availability Attacks There may also be attacks on the availability which will have the worst impacts as availability will be the prime quality that will be desired by the customers. The attacks such as flooding and impersonation attacks may impact availability. There may also be issues in adherence to the quality standards and best practices which may not be correctly done. It will bring up issues in the performance of the system which will bring down the level of customer expectations. There are several entities that are involved in StayTogether on the business side such as ten different hotels and their owners, management staff and operations staff. There may be difficulties in the communication that may take place between all of these entities and ineffective communication will bring in a lot many issues. The IS issues that have been listed above will have a negative impact on the customer trust and engagement as the frequent occurrence of the security risks and attacks will lead to adverse impacts on the customer information. Brand value and brand loyalty will also come down in the market as the goodwill will be negatively affected. There are several competitors in the market that are providing the customers with the same features and abilities that will have a competitive edge over StayTogether. IT Issues and their Impacts on Customers Apart from the IS issues that have been listed above, there may be several IT issues that may also exist in association with StayTogether. There will be a number of networking equipment along with other hardware that will be necessary to carry out many of the front end and back end activities. There may be issues in the performance of these tools and equipment that may impact the overall performance. Technical and operational error may lead to the situation of a failure (Antunes, 2014). It will be necessary to include several different components and operations as an integrated unit such as collaboration of sales team with development tools along with marketing and research will be necessary. Also, collaboration from third parties such as airlines agencies, restaurants and travelers will also be required. Issues in the integration of these components in terms of their technical functions and operational activities may come up (Secundo, 2017). The IT issues that have been listed above will have a negative impact on the customer trust and engagement as the frequent occurrence of the technical and operational failure will lead to adverse impacts on the customer information. Brand value and brand loyalty will also come down in the market as the goodwill will be negatively affected. There are several competitors in the market that are providing the customers with the same features and abilities that will have a competitive edge over StayTogether (Fengel, 2014). Strategies to Attract New Customers There are several strategies that may be used to attract new customers towards StayTogether and these strategies have been listed below. The customers who are not registered with StayTogether shall be provided with the first-time user discounts and offers such as cashbacks or reduced rates at the time of the booking. Such a strategy will make many of the customers to get associated with StayTogether and the quality of the services that will be provided will enhance the experience and engagement. Social media integration is one of the much in demand strategy and concept that shall be applied in case of StayTogether. The users in the present times have their accounts set up on the popular social networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and many more. Easy and convenient integration with these accounts will allow the management to understand the user choices and preferences and will allow the customers to integrate and share information to and from these accounts. Market analysis and study shall be regularly done to understand the unique features and offerings that are being provided by the competitors. Enhanced features and functionalities in a quicker timeframe shall be provided to gain competitive edge in the market (Wamba, 2017). There are several payment options that are now available and one of the latest modes of payment is through an e-wallet. There are several e-wallet sites and applications that have been set up which shall be integrated in the payment gateway of StayTogether to allow the users to sync in with the same. There may be additional offers that the users may avail with the use of an e-wallet. Social media marketing and advertising shall also be used to introduce the customers with the latest offering along with the details, reviews and comments from the other users (Brocke, 2014). New Business Opportunities With the collaboration of ten hotel chains together, there will be an enhancement in the business activities that will be observed. It will lead to the generation of new business opportunities as well. StayTogether may collaborate with the city guides and tour services to provide the customers with an itinerary of the place they shall be visiting. The business opportunity will allow the customers to perform all the actions from a single portal in terms of bookings and creation of itinerary which will enhance their customer experience. Mode of transport is necessary while traveling and customers will find it suitable if they will be provided with the opportunity to book the same in advance. StayTogether may collaborate with the transport agencies to allow the customers to book their preferred mode of transport (Giudice, 2016). There may be use of data analysis and data mining tools that may be used on the information associated with StayTogether portal which will allow the data analysts to understand the user choices and preferences along with the general trends in the market. It will allow the company with an opportunity to create new business values. Frequent customers shall be provided with additional offers and discounts on the bookings to allow them to use the services in a better manner. There has been a transformation that has been seen in the travel, tourism and hotel industry that has been seen. Creation of StayTogether with collaboration of ten hotel chains along with the web presence is one such example of the transformation that is going on. There will be a lot many new business opportunities that will be created with the setting up of StayTogether and its portal (Ferretti, 2016). Conclusion StayTogether is a hotel chain that is being set up after the grouping up of ten hotel chains that have decided to merge their business in order to deal with the market pressure that is levied upon low priced hotel accommodations. IT and IS are usually used as inter-exchangeable terms; however, there is a difference between the two terms along with the issues that may be associated with each in terms of an organization or a project. There will be a number of IS and IT issues that will be associated with the hotel chain and they may have a considerable impact on the customer choices and brand value. These issues will have a negative impact on the customer trust and engagement as the frequent occurrence of the security risks and attacks will lead to adverse impacts on the customer information. Brand value and brand loyalty will also come down in the market as the goodwill will be negatively affected. There are several competitors in the market that are providing the customers with the s ame features and abilities that will have a competitive edge over StayTogether. References Antunes, A. (2014). MUVE IT: reduce the friction in business processes, 20(4), 571-597. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-07-2013-0093 Brocke, J. (2014). Ten principles of good business process management, 20(4), 530-548. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-06-2013-0074 Bruni, A. (2014). Entrepreneuring together: his and her stories. International Journal Of Entrepreneurial Behavior Research, 20(2), 108-127. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-12-2011-0187 Chasserio, S. (2014). When entrepreneurial identity meets multiple social identities: Interplays and identity work of women entrepreneurs, 20(2), 128-154. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-11-2011-0157 El-Awad, Z. (2017). Entrepreneurial learning and innovation: The critical role of team-level learning for the evolution of innovation capabilities in technology-based ventures, 23(3), 381-405. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-06-2016-0177 Fengel, J. (2014). Semantic technologies for aligning heterogeneous business process models, 20(4), 549-570. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-07-2013-0085 Ferretti, M. (2016). Internet of Things and business processes redesign in seaports: The case of Hamburg, 22(2). https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-05-2015-0079 Giudice, M. (2016). Discovering the Internet of Things (IoT) within the business process management: A literature review on technological revitalization, 22(2), 263-270. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-12-2015-0173 McBurney, P. (2015). The Knowledge Engineering Review. Retrieved from https://www-cambridge-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/core/journals/knowledge-engineering-review Orlitzky, M. (2015). The politics of corporate social responsibility or: why Milton Friedman has been right all along, 1(1), 5-29. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ASR-06-2015-0004 Popp, A. (2017). Enterprise Society. Retrieved from https://www-cambridge-org.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/core/journals/enterprise-and-society Secundo, G. (2017). Entrepreneurial learning dynamics in knowledge-intensive enterprises, 23(3), 366-380. https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-01-2017-0020 Wamba, S. (2017). Big data analytics and business process innovation. Business Process Management, 23(3). https://dx.doi.org/10.1108/BPMJ-02-2017-0046