Online Classes Experience a Surge in Interest Despite the Struggling Economy
To Help Students Finance College Courses, eLearners.com Offers the Debt-Free College Guide, a Comprehensive Database with More than 300 Financing Options
Hoboken, New Jersey (July 23, 2009)―As the economy struggles to rebound, colleges and universities are experiencing a surge in interest. According to a June 2009 report from the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, a majority of schools (62 percent) are seeing an increase in the number of inquiries and applications received. eLearners.com, a Web resource of EducationDynamics, which connects prospective students with online classes, has experienced this as well. In fact, for online education and teaching programs alone, interest has increased by nearly 60 percent from January to March of this year, compared with the last three months in 2008. To accommodate this interest and help prevent financial aid from being a roadblock in returning to school, eLearners.com offers the Debt-Free College Guide. The guide, located at http://debtfree.elearners.com/, is a one-stop financial aid resource with more than 300 opportunities.
“With millions of people out of work, many are searching for a way to retool themselves to gain a competitive advantage in this tough job market,” said Terrence Thomas, executive vice president of marketing for eLearners.com. “However, what often keeps people from following through is a lack of financial resources. That’s why we’ve gathered hundreds of different ways to finance a college degree into one easy-to-search location.”
The Debt-Free College Guide provides a complete database, with customized state-by-state listings of available grants, scholarships, and tax incentives. It also offers the most comprehensive list of loan forgiveness programs on the Internet. These programs encourage students to pursue educational goals that will lead to employment in specific need-based occupations, such as working for volunteer organizations, federal and state governments, teaching or practicing medicine. In exchange for service in these fields, part or all of a student’s loan debt can be forgiven, be it from a traditional institution or from an online university.
In addition to the Debt-Free College Guide, eLearners.com offers hundreds of full-tuition scholarships to one of eight accredited online schools through the Career Stimulus Package (http://www.careerstimulus.com). The online schools providing the scholarships are American Public University, Ashworth College, Bryant & Stratton College, Capella University, Ellis University, Everest University, Virginia College, and Western Governors University. To apply for a scholarship, applications must be submitted to http://www.careerstimulus.com by October 31.
For more information on financial aid options and online classes visit http://www.eLearners.com.
About eLearners.com®
eLearners.com is one of several high visibility websites operated by EducationDynamics. Since 1999, eLearners.com has been successfully connecting learners to online education, including online degree and certificate programs, specialized career training, and a variety of online courses. For prospective students, eLearners.com provides a powerful search engine for users to find thousands of online program offerings, as well as educational evaluation tools and financial aid resources. For colleges and universities, the eLearners.com website offers a low-cost, performance-based method to provide national exposure and increase enrollments in their online learning programs. For more information on eLearners.com, visit http://www.eLearners.com.
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