Education expenses at American colleges and universities along with other major global institutions of higher learning continue to surge ahead. For example, this year’s Harvard’s annual tuition and fees (excluding room and board) will set you back almost more than 19 times the 1975 cost. Despite the soaring costs, millions of American students and their families still believe that college graduates, on average, do still make considerably more than those with just a high school diploma. But not everyone is lucky enough to fund his or her education without without taking loans. Free Education University(FEU), founded by Matthew Einsohn help students free themselves from the burden of student loans. To understand more about what FEU offers and how students can do away with the need of entering the vicious cycle of loans, Times of Startups interviewed Matthew.
What inspired you to start Free Education University(FEU)?
It first started about 9 years ago when I was talking with friends at a gathering about our time in college and how things are going. One of the conversations that came up is how much we all owed after 4+ years of college.
First friend said,”$20,000″.
Second friend said,”$15,000″.
I said,”$0″.
They looked at me in shock and asked,”How did you do it?!”. I went on to explain my story of how I made this happen for myself. As I shared more and more of story, my friends expressed shock and amazement in both words and body language. Afterwards, they told me that they are thinking of going for their masters and wondering if I could help them find money. I was not sure I could teach it since I had never done it, so I told them I could not help them right now. I had many more conversations like this with friends, and noticed it was not something that happens often. I did not know that most people took out loans for school.
About a year later, I was going through my masters with no debt, and I was having the same conversation with my friends from the graduate program that I had with my friends from the undergraduate program a year prior. This time, my friends asked if I would ever consider doing a presentation at a conference that the graduate program puts on twice a year. This time I said,”Yes”. I felt ready to start sharing what I knew because I had taken what I learned during my undergraduate years and applied the concepts to my graduate program, and I had been successful. Additionally, I realized that it was a big deal for people to go through college without loans. Some people will tell you that student loans are an investment, and I can tell you that to most people it does not feel that way. Most people look at it as a necessary burden to move up in the world. With that said, hearing and seeing this for the second time, I knew I had to share what I knew.
It was three weeks before I am to give a presentation, and I am working on my story. I am writing down what I had done, and started asking why I did it in the first place. When I was 17 the only two things I knew was that I did not want to go to a local college because I thought I would never leave my house, and the idea of owing anyone anything. I felt that if I owed someone money then they had power over me and that I was not free. I wanted to make sure that I stayed free, and I would do anything to make sure I didn’t owe anyone.
After I gave my first, standing room only, presentation I knew that I was giving people the power to do what I did and be free. This was the true beginning of Free Education University. I was inspired to help people free themselves from the burden of student loans, because when they are free from that, they will do what they love and not just do something to make living, but they will do something to make a life.
Can you explain the curriculum offered by FEU in detail and how can a learner save tens of thousands of dollars from their education expenses?
The goal for the curriculum is to cultivate strategies, outline steps to achieve goals, push boundaries, and create awareness for future funding, all, while erasing the possibility of student debt. I condensed the last decade of experience into eleven courses that help people find the right supplemental financial programs in order to fund anyone’s education or any vocational training past high school. As we move through the material, I will be sharing my own stories on how I found money and helped others as well. These interactive courses will help you conceptualize yourself in enabling more success as you focus on those scholarships/grants that have meaning in your life. I will also help you refine your story in order to make you a memorable candidate when applying for scholarships. Not only will you walk away with resources, but I will strengthen your capability to source funding on your own, so that you go through undergraduate and graduate school without taking out loans.
Here is a link to complete details on the curriculum.
http://freeeducationuniversity.com/
What should be done to make education more affordable?
This is a difficult question to answer because there are many components and layers that involve many people. A lot of this topic is out of our control, and that is part of the reason I created Free Education University. I made something that gives people as much control as possible and gives them the means to work within the system that already exists.
We need something today. There are those that are working the political route to give every U.S. citizen free education or close to free like other countries do, but that could be years. There are many things that I am sure need to change before that happens.
What I know that is true now, is that there are millions of students or parents that are taking out student loans each year. I also know there are millions of dollars that go unclaimed in scholarship money each year. We should be taking advantage of opportunities that can help solve thing right now, not later.
That does not mean we shouldn’t fight for free education for all citizens, but we should be playing multiple short games and a few long games. As I say in funding 101, never put all your eggs in one basket.
According to CNBC, the gap between the cost of higher education and the growth of household income is widening in America. Between 2000 and 2013, the average level of tuition and fees at a four-year public college rose by 87 percent (in 2014 dollars); during that same period, the median income for the middle fifth of American households advanced just 24 percent. Therefore, the need for proper planning, to preclude the possibility of being in debt for a long time after you graduate, for funding education expenses is more than ever.
To avail $400 off for the curriculum use the Promo Code: JKC20
