SAU Honors College

The SAU Honors College was founded in 2003 by Dr. David Rankin, president of SAU. Dr. Lynne Belcher served as founding director and is retired from SAU. The Honors College seeks and admits qualified students who seek to pursue a serious academic program with equally gifted peers and committed teachers. Honors classes are small and provide academically enriching opportunities for students and the faculty who teach them. Currently, SAU enrolls nearly 170 honors students and graduates about 66% of admitees in four years or less. Anyone interested in applying to the Honors College or seeking further information should contact the director, Dr. Edward P. Kardas at epkardas@saumag.edu or at 870 904-8897.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Raigama, Thurisha: Credentialing


            People say credit cards are scams. However, Going to college or university is the biggest scam in the United States.  Higher education is an integral part of everyone’s dream. We all led to believe that it is going to lead us to a better future. But instead, it leads to a future of pain and misery.
            Today, more and more college or university students increasingly must finance their higher education through student loans. Sadly, the number of students who are already or will have to deal with debt collection on their student loans isn’t insignificant.
            While federal loan debt may stay crucial to students in recent years, one of the most troubling segments of student lending is the private student loan sector. These loans often carry high and variable interest rates. Therefore, many students end up paying much more than what has been lent. Often, private lenders do not offer the generous payment options or the lower rates federal lenders do. Also, student debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy regardless of the lending body. It remains as long unless it is completely paid off, especially so as the U.S government has taken increasingly aggressive measures to get borrowers to pay up their debts.
            Many factors have contributed to the dramatic increase in student debts including the global economic recessions. The recent economic downturn led to significant cuts in state higher education funding that led to a rise in tuition fees. Indeed, because of the overwhelming debts, many graduates are not being able to wait for higher paying jobs and are forced to take lower paying jobs in order to stop the payments and interests from ballooning. 
            Despite of these issues, higher education remains critical for millions of students and their families. In fact, the impact often extends beyond the students, burdening their families for decades.

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