If you are a high school student interested in a doing a study abroad program, whether it’s to further your language learning or just for the experience of living in another country, now is a great time to do it.

As a high school student, you have a few options:

yfu-usa.org – Youth For Understanding USA
This is a great organization geared at helping teens gain a global perspective by interacting with people from different cultures. You can gain fluency in a new language and also enhance global career opportunities. This organization helps line up students, host families and other volunteers involved in the process.

cci-exchange.com – CCI High School Study Abroad Program
This organization has been helping students with study abroad programs for over 25 years. Some of the countries this organization has placement are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden and more.

educulture.org – ECI – Edu Culture International
This organization specializes in organizing study abroad for Americans to Spain, France and Costa Rica. They facilitate a complete language and cultural immersion program.

ayusa.org – Ayusa
This organization helps facilitate study abroad for high school students. They offer placement in the following countries: Australia, China, Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain & Switzerland.

Study abroad can be a great experience for teens to not only gain valuable cultural experience, but improve foreign language ability as well!

With the current economy, many people are finding it more lucrative to work as a freelancer than to find employment somewhere.

Here are some of the top job boards:

Elance.com – This is one of the largest freelance work platforms online. They have over 30,000 jobs posted every month.

oDesk.com – This network has a huge community of freelancers and jobs posted. They have 1000′s of jobs posted and a relatively easy to use interface for bidding and completing jobs.

Scriptlance.com -Scriptlance caters to programmers. There are over 200 new projects posted daily to their easy to use web interface. If you are looking for freelance programming, design or even writing work- try this site.

GetaCoder.com - This site has great resources for designers and programmers and writers. The site can be a bit difficult to navigate and get used to, however it worth the effort since getacoder.com can help freelancers land some really great positions.

With the advent of speed reading, there are now students taking advantage of those techniques and using them to study faster and more effectively to free up their time for other pursuits.

Speed Studying Training Tools:
Speed Study Technique ebook and The Ultimate Study Guide

Do these speed studying/speed reading techniques really work?

It’s Real – There are a few basic techniques that involve environment, skimming, meta guiding (guiding the eye with finger or pointer) and schematic processing, which gets into brain mapping and other advanced techniques of training the brain to comprehend faster.

Some businesses claim to be able to train people to read 5-7 words per second with computer programs and other types of training. 

Often public figures and leaders will take speed reading courses in order to keep up with all of the reading that is required of them for their positions of leadership.

PhotoReading is a course that claims to be able to teach people how to read up to 25,000 words per minute.  However, these techniques have been critized for not being realistic or accurate based on observations of the readers.

There are a few resources that have come out recently that claim to be able to help train students to study faster like this
Speed Study Technique ebook and The Ultimate Study Guide.

Condensed Courses – There are a few courses out there also that will effectively teach you the topic you are interested in, like anatomy, physiology, art, language, computer skills and more. Some of these courses will help you learn the material fast and then you can focus on completing your class assignments instead of focusing only on learning the material like this Human Anatomy and Physiology Study Course.

If you find yourself spending lots of time studying and reading, consider investing some time into learning some speed reading skills and free up some time for other things!

1. Learn New Marketable Skills – If you choose to increase your level of education, whether it’s through taking individual classes online or getting a new degree at a brick and mortar school, the additional skills will help you find more work. Sometimes it’s not even just about finding a good job as much as it is increasing your skill level to the point that you can charge more to do freelance work. In this economy, many people are finding it easier to find new freelance work than it is to find a new job.

2. Make Your Resume Stand Out – If all of the competitors for your potential job have bachelors degrees in the field, but you specialize in that field with a masters degree, you can really increase the odds of being selected for that job. Having a masters degree or even a bachelors degree, creates more job security for you than having no degree.

3. It May Be Free – If you can qualify, you might be able to govenment grant or scholarship to pay for school, which would mean no loans to pay back. Worst case scenario, you can take out government subsidized school loans, but only after you have completed your education and are in a better position to get a job or do more freelance work.

4. It’s Better Than Being Unemployed – If you can’t find a job, being in school is a much better option to spend your time doing that wasting months or a year or more, looking unsuccesfully for a job.

5. Networking – Often, getting involved with a University’s education program can help you start networking and meeting more people in the field who can potentially help you get the job or contracts you are seeking.

If you are on the fence about whether you should spend you time getting more education, consider the benefits of more schooling and how that can affect your financial security over the next 20 years.

Here is a list of Brick and Mortar Universities in CA that offer online degree programs in various different subjects:

California Institute of Integral Studies
– http://www.ciis.edu/

California State University, Dominguez Hills
– http://dominguezonline.csudh.edu/

California National University for Advanced Studies
– http://www.cnuas.edu/

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
– http://www.continuing-ed.calpoly.edu

California State University, Chico
– http://rce.csuchico.edu/online

California State University, East Bay
– http://www.csueastbay.edu/ecat/current/i-140online.html

California State University, Sacramento
– http://www.csus.edu/atcs/

California State University, San Bernadino
– http://www.csusb.edu/

California State University, San Marcos
– http://www.csusm.edu/el

Independence University
– http://www.independence.edu

Southern California Seminary
– http://www.socalsem.edu

University of California, Davis
– http://extension.ucdavis.edu/unit/online_learning/

University of California, Riverside
– http://www.extension.ucr.edu

University of La Verne
– http://www.ulv.edu/ulvonline/

University of Southern California
– http://tel.usc.edu

Vanguard University of Southern California
– http://www.vanguard.edu/eec

Keep in mind that even if you live in California, when considering an online degree, you don’t necessarily have to go through a university in your state. You can also consider colleges and universities in other states as well. Even with the out of state tuition figured in, you might actually save money getting your degree through another state college or university.

If you are looking to start an online degree program and you live in Texas, you might want to consider applying to a program through a school that is actually located in Texas. Although you can do an online degree program through most any other school in the country. There are some reasons why you might want to work throught a local school.

Here is a list of Brick and Mortar Universities in CA that offer online degree programs in various different subjects:

Central Texas College

http://online.ctcd.edu

North Central Texas College

http://www.nctc.edu

Northwood University, Texas Campus

http://www.northwood.edu

Texas A&M University–Commerce

http://www.tamu-commerce.edu/itde/

Texas A&M University–Kingsville

http://www.tamuk.edu/distancelearning

Texas Christian University

http://tcuglobal.edu

Texas State Technical College Waco

http://www.waco.tstc.edu

Texas State University–San Marcos

http://www.studyanywhere.txstate.edu

Texas Tech University

http://www.de.ttu.edu

Texas Woman’s University

http://www.twuonline.com

The University of Texas at Brownsville

http://www.utb.edu

The University of Texas at Dallas

http://som.utdallas.edu/globalmba/

The University of Texas at El Paso

http://academics.utep.edu/online

The University of Texas at San Antonio

http://dlat.utsa.edu

The University of Texas at Tyler

http://www.uttyler.edu

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin

http://www.utpb.edu/reach/

University of North Texas

http://www.untecampus.com

West Texas A&M University

http://www.wtonline.wtamu.edu

Finding Private School Loans – Here are a few companies that can help you pay for college expenses, such as books, laptops, living expenses such as housing and more. Sometimes financial aid doesn’t completely cover the costs associated with attending school full time.

Here are our top recommended sources for covering your school expenses:

SimpleTuition.com – Simple Tuition can help you get private loans for school expenses that financial aid doesn’t cover.

There are many companies that offer private school loans, make sure you shop around and apply with those places that offer reasonable terms, low interest rates that will allow you to easily pay the loan off when you are finished with your education.

When Does Repayment Start? – Find out when repayment of the loan begins.  You don’t want to have to start repaying the loan back before you are ready.

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While you are in college, you are going to spend a great deal of your time studying. It may be a good idea to consider some of the study resources that are available to you. This article offers a wide variety of study resources for college students.

To maximize your study time, you will want to take advantage of all of the study resources you can. Here are the best study resources for college students:

The Library
The public library is an excellent resource. The quiet allows you to study in peace and the books provide all of the material you will need to complete papers. Many libraries also have computers, computer training, and Internet access, all of which can come in very handy-especially if you don’t have your own computer.
You will also find that librarians make good study resources as well. They know their way around the library and can point you in any direction you need to go.

Your School
Depending upon the college you attend, there may be study resources right on campus. Visit the school office to find out what type of facilities may be available to you.

The Internet
The World Wide Web is the ultimate study resource for anyone-especially college students. It doesn’t matter what you are studying or what you major in, there is something out there for you. Thankfully, you should be able to find the Internet virtually anywhere-libraries, the school’s campus, maybe even your own room.

A study group can be wonderful-when it is productive. Unfortunately, many study groups become so unorganized that they can hinder a student’s performance. If you are thinking about forming a study group, you don’t want to miss out on this article.

Some schools require study groups, while others just encourage them. Regardless of your school’s policy, joining or forming a study group is almost always a good idea.

Why Study Groups
Study groups can be your saving grace when you are in college. Because there is so much new information to take in, it can be helpful to get together with a group of people who have heard the same information. Together, you can continue class discussions, prepare for tests, or help each other write and edit papers. A study group is a lot like a support system, which is exactly what you sometimes need to get a job done.

Forming a Study Group
If you are interested in forming a study group, you first need to determine how large you want it to be. If it’s too large or too small, it may be hard to get anything accomplished. Five or six is usually a good number for a study group.

Your next step will involve determining who you want to join the study group. You will want to include people that you will be comfortable working with. You may also want to choose fellow students that have something to contribute to the group.

Study Group Tips
Here are some tips to ensure that your study group is effective:
• Use meeting times to study, not socialize.
• Create study strategies.
• Encourage everyone in the study group to contribute.

Looking for study tips? Here are ten study tips you can’t (or shouldn’t) go without.

Note: Take a look at this speed studying guide – This is a great resource for tips on how to study faster and more effectively. This guide also provides techniques that will help you speed through college degrees.

Study Tip #1 Take your study time seriously. Set a schedule and stick with it. Don’t let anything distract you.

Study Tips #2
Find someplace quiet to study where you will not be interrupted. The library is a great choice.

Study Tip #3
Take good notes in class. It will be much harder to study if your notes are illegible or unorganized.

Study Tip #4
Use highlighters to mark your books and important passages within your notes. When studying, you will know that you need to pay special attention to highlighted items.

Study Tip #5
Set study goals before you begin and make every attempt to accomplish them.

Study Tip #6
Join a study group. By studying with others, you can get more done and pick up on things you may have missed.

Study Tip #7
Do not procrastinate or leave your studying until the last minute. This will only cause stress and lower your productivity.

Study Tip #8
Use flashcards when you study. Nothing works better when you need to memorize a great deal of information.

Study Tip #9
If you don’t understand something in class, ask the teacher to clarify it for you. This will save you from using your study time to struggle through confusing material.

Study Tip #10
Motivate yourself with rewards. They don’t have to be big or expensive, they just need to make you feel good.

Do you need more money for school? Here’s a great resource for getting new student loans or student loan consolidation.