Volunteering Can Help You Get Into College And You Can Earn Debt Forgiveness After You Graduate!

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Volunteering has a meaningful, positive impact on your community. But did you know that it can have many benefits for you, too? Colleges want to see a complete picture of you, and real examples of your commitment, dedication, and interests. Voluteering provides colleges an opportunity to see you differently than other applicants. They see you as involved and concerned with regards to the needs of society.

Whether you build houses for the homeless or mail flyers for a local politician, you'll experience the real world through hands-on work. You can use this experience to explore your major or career interests.

Some schools offer academic credit for volunteer work through service-learning. This is a teaching method that integrates hands-on learning (through service to the community) into the school curriculum. It's available in high schools and colleges, as well as in earlier grades.

Colleges pay attention to your life inside and outside the classroom. Your extracurricular activities reveal a great deal about you, such as what your interests are, whether you can manage your priorities and maintain a long-term commitment, what diversity you'd bring to the student body, and how you've made a meaningful contribution to something.

There are many people, places, and organizations that need volunteers. Here are some tips for getting started:

· Look around your community and in the phone book to see what programs are there. Call and ask if they need help.

· Visit your city or town website. It may list volunteer opportunities in your community.

· Contact your local United Way, cultural arts association, student organization, or another association that can point you in the right direction.

· Ask your library, church or synagogue, and/or community colleges if they sponsor any volunteer groups.Typically, volunteers complete their commitments without the thought of receiving any extrinsic benefit for that work.

There are also volunteer programs that can help you pay for college after you have graduated.

Programs include:
· AmeriCorps: Upon successful completion of a term of service, members are eligible to receive a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award ranging in value from $1,000 to $4,725, which may be used only to pay college costs or to repay student loans. Americorps members may also be eligible for housing assistance or for a pro-rated part-time award if full-time service is not an option.

· Peace Corps: The Peace Corps is an international volunteer organization that places individuals in areas of need all over the world. Students who receive a Perkins Loan may be eligible to have a portion or their entire Perkins loan cancelled. In addition, students may defer their other student loan payments while they are serving in the Peace Corps. Peace Corps members also receive a living stipend and housing payment as well as adjustment assistance when they complete their assignment and return to life in the United States. Peace Corps members may be able to use their time in the Peace Corps to earn a Master's Degree.

· National Health Service Corps (NHSC): The National Health Service Corps provides medical care from doctors, nurses, and other health practitioners in some of the most underserved communities in the United States. The NHSC offers a competitive scholarship program designed for students committed to providing primary health care in communities of greatest need. Scholarship recipients serve where they are most needed upon completion of their training.

· College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 (CCRAA): Congress has made it possible for high-debt, lower-income graduates to manage debt repayment through an income-based repayment plan. In addition, Congress has created a new program through which public servants including all government workers and all employees of all non-profit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code are entitled to have a substantial portion of their educational debt forgiven after making modest repayments during ten years of full-time employment. Together, these two new programs will enable student borrowers to choose their careers without being unduly influenced by their debt burdens and will enable governments and non-profit organizations to retain talented professionals who would otherwise be forced to resign after two or three years and seek higher-paying jobs so that they could repay their student loans.

Check out the following websites to learn more about causes and to find volunteer opportunities near you.

* SERVEnet.org
* NetworkforGood.org
* Idealist.org
* VolunteerMatch.org
* DoSomething.org


Volunteer service can be a tremendously rewarding experience and provides a person with valuable experience for future career choices. Volunteering can not only help get you into an A-list college, but it can also help you pay off or eliminate your college debts.

Disclaimer: Advice provided by CollegeForKatie.com is for informational purposes only. Material changes can and do occur. Programs, plans and definitions may change. Therefore, we encourage you to do your own research as we accept no responsibility for the information provided here.

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