GradSense A Tool For Your Future

GradSense A Tool For Your Future Photo by Simon Cunningham on Flickr.com According to the Project on Student Debt, 71 percent of college graduates in the class of 2011 had student loan debt, with an average of $29,400 per student. With the average debt increasing by six percent each year, these numbers can be very scary for undergraduate students, especially for those planning to continue on to graduate school. Debt is one of the biggest issues on the mind of your average college student, and many don’t know how they’re going to handle their increasing financial problems. Luckily, the Council for Graduate Schools (CGS), in collaboration with TIAA-CREF, a national financial services organization, has created a new tool called GradSense that is designed to help students manage their debt and plan their financial futures after graduation. “The GradSense website is really designed to help students make decisions about their finances with respect both to graduate education and undergraduate education,” said Daniel Denecke, Associate Vice President for Programs and Best Practices at CGS. According to this press release, GradSense’s primary tool is the Debt to Salary Calculator. The Debt to Salary Calculator combines two data setsâ€" federal data on education debt, and federal data on the median salaries for specific occupationsâ€" to help students get a comprehensive understanding of what their financial status really looks like. Photo by Tax Credits on Flickr.com “We’re bringing together two national data sets that have not been unified before,” Denecke said. “It’s designed to help students borrow money responsibly and to think about their future and the value of higher education.” Using the Debt to Salary Calculator is very simple.   Students simply enter their degree type, desired field of study, and preferred career. Then, they get to see what the average debt for students graduating in this degree field is, plus the low, middle, and high salaries that they can expect within their desired occupational field. “GradSense provides students with crucial financial information that was never easily accessible or available before,” said Debra W. Steward, president of CGS, in a press release. “This clear, customized tool empowers students to make more informed decisions about their educational and career pathways.” GradSense fills a need that federal data sets can’t. Although the government does provide information on education debt and median salaries, the information is in separate databases, making it hard for students to find, access, and, most importantly, compare. The Debt to Salary Calculator combines this information in a way that makes it very easy for students to use and understand. GradSense also provides a number of other tools for students to use to fully understand their monetary status after graduation. The site includes advice for repaying student loans and transitioning from school to career. In addition, it features tips for evaluating job offers, as well as a compound interest calculator, which shows what the long-term effect of common financial decisions (like that daily trip to Starbucks or your weekly Chinese food ritual) is. Photo by Tax Credits on Flickr.com “We’re trying to help students figure out the long term impact of some choices, like living more frugally, making your coffee at home, or buying a frozen pizza instead of going out,” Denecke said. The site is extremely accessible, and is designed to be easy and understandable for students to use. Complete with helpful links, colorful graphics, and an easy-to-navigate system, the site is the perfect tool for any student who is having trouble with their finances. GradSense was created as a part of CGS’ Enhancing Student Financial Education project, a program, in collaboration with TIAA-CREF, which gave grants to 15 colleges across the country, ranging from Cornell University to The Ohio State University to the University of South Florida, to try to develop programs that will help students create successful financial plans for their future. The project also has 19 affiliate university partners. The project was created because CGS saw a growing need for students to learn how to deal with debt. The goal of the project is to help encourage students to continue their schooling by showing them the value of pursuing higher education, specifically graduate school, and how getting a degree could transfer into future earnings. Photo by 401(k) 2013 on Flickr.com Although CGS designed the program to be aimed at graduate students, it is an extremely useful tool for undergraduates as well. “Each of the graduate deans on the campuses that we’re working with is partnering with the head of undergraduate programs at their university,” Denecke said. “We’re working to develop programs that will address the needs of both graduate and undergraduate students.” Because the project was just launched, there is still a lot of room for the tools to evolve and grow as users give feedback to the company. “We’re just really excited to be working with institutions to be very proactive in helping to address the financial situation that students are finding themselves in these days,” Denecke said. “We’re looking forward to developing this tool throughout this project.” If you’ve been wasting your valuable college years worrying about whether or not you’ll ever be able to pay off your loans, then GradSense is definitely the tool for you. Stop worrying, and start really planning for your future.