Marty Steffens, SABEW Chair, University of Missouri
John Strauss, journalism professor, Ball State University
SABEW continues its beneficial and productive association with the College Connect project, which began in spring 2010 at the Society’s home at Arizona State University and has since involved students from the University of Missouri and Ball State University. Each student is involved in sharing their experience with managing money to fellow students.
The project is funded by the Denver-based National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) and is being conducted this semester at Ball State, located in Muncie, Ind.
John Strauss, BSU journalism professor, will be the adviser and is heading a team of Ball State students. Like adviser predecessors, Mark Scarp (Arizona State) and Marty Steffens (Missouri), Strauss is a media veteran. He is a former reporter and columnist at the Indianapolis Starand also does professional work in radio in Indianapolis. He advises the Ball State Daily News in Muncie, which has won numerous awards for news content and design.
As before, students were chosen who have very different points of view. The Ball State group consists of Sarah Boswell, Benjamin Dashley, Kelly Dickey and Victoria Ison.
Topics range from dealing with family financial crises to how much outside employment a student should undertake during the academic year to what should be done with leftover financial aid after tuition is paid.
Last semester, students from the University of Missouri, Columbia, participated in the program under the supervision of Professor Marty Steffens, who occupies the SABEW Chair in Business Journalism at that institution.
Students writing for the College Connect program speak from their own experience and direct their remarks to their peers. That’s the essence of College Connect — letting students connect to others through their experiences in handling and managing money and credit.
Like adviser predecessors, Mark Scarp (Arizona State) and Steffens, Strauss is a media veteran. He is a former reporter and columnist at the Indianapolis Starand also does professional work in radio in Indianapolis. He advises the Ball State Daily News in Muncie, which has won numerous awards for news content and design.
College Connect: Back home again – saving your sanity while still saving money
By BENJAMIN DASHLEY, Ball State University
After living on your own for most of a year, it’s no fun to move back in with your parents.
I’m doing it this year to save some money while I complete an internship only 20 miles away from my dad’s house, but it’s the first time I’ve done that since high school. Read the full story…
College Connect: Getting Into College: An Expensive Story
By ANDERS MELIN, University of Missouri
I don’t buy many of the arguments coming from Republican politicians and activists, but they frequently touch on one subject that I can only fully agree with; that bureaucratization and documentization of the United States is a real problem and a massive waste of resources. Aside from filing taxes, the endless errands at the DMV, and trying to obtain citizenship, there is an even more perfect example of this faulty system that becomes a burden of ordinary citizens – college applications. Read the full story…
College Connect: The cost of a summer internship
By CODY LAGROW, University of Missouri
Spring always brings new beginnings. For most, the season represents opportunity, growth and improvement.
But ask a college student what spring means, and you might get a different answer. Read the full story…
College Connect: The hidden cost of education
By STEVEN RICH, University of Missouri
A graduate assistantship is like a gift from the heavens. If you get one at MU, it entails 10 hours of work a week for a full tuition waiver. As an out-of-state student, this was absolutely enticing. Read the full story…
College Connect: Growing Up and Paying Taxes: Pricey welcome to the adult world
By VICTORIA ISON, Ball State University
In the last month, I’ve had to make more adult financial decisions than ever before: three, to be exact. I paid taxes, prepared to buy a car and decided to live off campus. Read the full story…
College Connect: Jobs in college double as career experience
By SARAH BOSWELL, Ball State University
As long as you’re paying your way through college — as nearly half of us are — you might as well make it worth your while by picking up real skills along with a paycheck. Read the full story…
College Connect: Sometimes good news comes with a price tag
By CODY LAGROW, University of Missouri
Spring always brings new beginnings. For most, the season represents opportunity, growth and improvement. But ask a college student what spring means, and you might get a different answer. Read the full story…
College Connect: You Got To Spend Money To Make Money
By ANDERS MELIN, University of Missouri
It was a late evening in early August of 2007 that I first stepped onto American soil at the airport outside of Charlotte, N.C. Read the full story…
College Connect: Smart shopping – beating back the lure of the impulse purchase
By VICTORIA ISON, Ball State University
The tomato basil potato chips are begging to be bought. In a colorful, crackly bag, sitting prominently beneath a sale sign, they scream “we’d be perfect for your party!” Read the full story…
College Connect: Conference cash may not always be there, but you can still make the contacts
By KELLY DICKEY, Ball State University
I was thrilled when I found out this year’s American Copy Editor’s Society, or ACES, conference would be held in New Orleans. Thoughts of meeting professionals, attending workshops and maybe taking a little trip down Bourbon Street rushed through my head. Read the full story…
College Connect: Health Insurance: Pay the premiums and avoid the pain
By VICTORIA ISON, Ball State University
It’s easy to say. Get covered: when sickness strikes and you don’t have health insurance, physical or financial ruin is likely to follow. Read the full story…
Spring break planning calls for caution
By SARAH BOSWELL, Ball State University
Spring break, that welcome pause before the last weeks of the semester, also offers the risk of financial pitfalls and other trouble amid the fun. Here’s our list of quick tips and lessons learned from other students. Read the full story…
College plans survive family’s financial storm
By BENJAMIN DASHLEY, Ball State University
All too quickly it was gone. Years of money set aside for my education – tucked away into supposedly safe investments, mutual funds, bank accounts. Gone. Read the full story…
By SARAH BOSWELL, Ball State University
You probably know somebody like my friend Kayla. She’s a college senior who’s been putting herself through school while working about 25 hours per week – at various times as a restaurant server, teaching dance lessons and even wrangling kids at a daycare. She and her boyfriend live together and share expenses. He also works part time at a supermarket meat counter. All that work hasn’t changed one fact of college life: The bills pile up fast. The boyfriend is $40,000 in debt, and Kayla isn’t sure exactly how much she owes. Read the full story…
Sweet as they may be, tuition refunds aren’t free money
By BENJAMIN DASHLEY, Ball State University
The other morning I found a $700 check written to me. I didn’t work for it, I didn’t steal it. The check, of course, came from the loan I took out to pay for school. It’s tuition refund time, when thousands of us find ourselves with the money left over from our student loans after tuition is paid. So what do you do when 700 bucks suddenly falls out of the sky? Read the full story…
Coupon Clipping Can’t Make a King
By VICTORIA ISON, Ball State University
Chex Mix, Yoplait yogurt, Cheerios – these are snacks my family enjoys at the mercy of the Sunday paper. Clipping coupons is my mother’s regular chore and my papa’s particular pleasure. For him, saving a few dollars and cents on groceries turns a trip to the grocery story into a triumph. Read the full story…
By DAVID WIETLISPACH, University of Missouri
It’s one of the great conundrums of college — going away for school, gaining independence, and … being stranded. For many, getting anywhere in a college town, or getting from a college town to anywhere, can be a tricky proposition. It was my reality for two years of my college experience. But, if you’re on a budget, and determined to travel, you’ll find that there are plenty of options. Read the full story…
By KELLY DICKEY, Ball State University
In my family, college wasn’t an option – it was just part of the plan. Even at age 5 I remember my folks saying that a four-year university was in my future. And being the upper-middle class family we were — it would be on their dime. Read the full story…
Learn to barter and be generous in college
By LAUREN STEFFENS, University of Missouri
Going to college is expensive, but there are the ways to save. I’ve found that every day there are a lot of discretionary expenses – where to go for lunch, how much to spend going out, buying clothing. Read the full story…
College on Coupons- clipping can save!
By DAVID WIELISPACH, University of Missouri
Let’s face it. Trying to get by in college is a great lesson in economics. Making dollars stretch just far enough for food, rent, utilities and fun, is a perfect primer in the laws of supply and demand — or scarcity and want. But, when you approach the problem of making dollars seem more than they actually are, good old-fashioned couponing comes to the rescue. Read the full story …
Study Abroad Dreams – making the cost worthwhile
By ALEX SAGI, University of Missouri
My dream took five years to come true and started while browsing the web to find my college home and career path.
I wanted to live at the center of the political and economic world, meet its leaders, tell its stories and breath in its culture. As a high school junior enjoying American history and government classes, I was smitten by the University of Missouri’s opportunity to report from the parliament in Brussels, Belgium. Read the full story…
By DERON DALTON, University of Missouri
When I returned from NYC to Kansas City, Mo. I was broke. I was worried about how I was going to pay second month’s rent and have money in my pocket for whatever I needed for when I returned to Columbia, Mo. Read the full story …
By KAITLIN LOUKIDES, University of Missouri
Two weeks ago, I graduated from the University of Missouri with my degree in Broadcast Journalism in one hand, and an unpaid internship in the other. Read the full story …
By CANDACE SAUTMAN, University of Missouri
Never let money play a factor in pursuing your dreams, or so we’re told.
That notion sounds nice, but money typically plays the largest factor. This has become increasingly clear during my time here in New York City. Read the full story …
by Lauren Steffens, University of Missouri
One of the biggest decisions a college student makes is whether to join a sorority or fraternity. There’s a lot of pressure on some campuses, where 40 percent of students are members of a Greek organization. Read the full story …
By Candace Sautman, University of Missouri
This semester, I decided to not go to college, and gain valuable work experience in New York City. I had interned here over the summer, and a magazine editor I met offered me the great chance to intern this semester – though no pay, which is common. Since the summer job was paid, I did have some savings, but as it turns out, not enough. Read the full story …
By Candace Sautman, University of Missouri
My dad is a single parent, so I only have him for support. In order to support my decision to stay in New York City this semester for an unpaid internship, a family friend decided to call him to see if he would change his mind about offering me some kind of financial support. Read the full story …
College Connect: Not the time to tie up money in CDs
College Connect: Finances are a big part of the job hunt
College Connect: You can have what you want, even in college
College Connect: Are joint bank accounts a good idea?
College Connect: Learning to build good credit the American way
College Connect: How to open a bank account in the U.S.
College Connect: It’s Spring break –Let’s make some money!
College Connect: Jumping into financial risk when benefits changed
College Connect: Buying Our First Place: Little House, Big Decision
College Connect: Saving requires doing the little things
College Connect: Using Smartphones to Save, and Help Manage Your Money
College Connect: New GI Bill restrictions helped many, but hurt some (like me) in the process
College Connect: Students’ Points of View on Personal Finance – Part Two
College Connect: Adjusting to a new currency
College Connect: Holiday shopping not always a ‘deal’
College Connect: Students’ Points of View on Personal Finance
Society of American Business Editors and Writers
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Arizona State University
Suite 416, 555 North Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85004-1248
Phone: (602)-496-7862 Fax: (602) 496-7041
E-mail: sabew@sabew.org
©2001 - 2012 Society of American Business Editors and Writers, Inc.