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For the past several months, we’ve focused on the unique “stops” on our new Road Map to Student Success. Imagine America scholarship recipients and prospective students can now map out their education and professional vision on our new mobile app and website experience. In this issue, we’re going to pull over to the fourth stop on the Road Map and discuss smart financial planning. Even though this isn’t one of the first stops we discuss with students, it might be the most important. After all, making thoughtful (and educated) financial choices can relieve tons of unnecessary stress that can result from poor planning and rushed decision-making.

If you’re an educator, adviser or counselor, make sure you tell your Imagine America students about our Financial Planning Made Simple (FPMS) tool. With this video, and our additional resources, we help teach students how to:

Dissect their budget

This tool gives students clear direction on how to separate school expenses from living expenses. From there, students can figure out how much money they need to borrow, as well as what kind of scholarship aid they may qualify for. We want students to borrow as little as possible while taking advantage of all the scholarship opportunities that may be available to them.

Use our dashboard

What good is a financial planning tool if it isn’t user-friendly? Frankly, we make it pretty darn simple for students to understand the information and use the resources we’ve provided. That’s also why we created our new mobile app. Students are so busy that they’re always on the go.

Be on the lookout for alerts to the latest information

We realize the importance of constantly updating information and resources for students to absorb. After all, this is how they stay in tune with what’s going on in their chosen career. When we have updated information about financial aid opportunities, or tips for financial surviving and thriving, we make sure to alert our Imagine America members.

Understand financial aid options

Before students agree to accept government or private loans for school, we want them to understand the terms they’ll be held to when it’s time to repay. Our FPMS tool explains the differences between various types of financial aid, including:

• Federal and private loans (the most commonly used forms of financial aid)
• Grants — such as our Adult, Military and High School Graduate scholarships
• Work-study program — This is a federal program that includes part-time work opportunities for students to earn additional income

Want financial planning that fits your life?

That’s another practical feature of the FPMS tool. Students can model various scenarios that reflect their specific life situations. For instance, students can see what their situation might be like if they went to school but didn’t have to work. Or they can look at what their work/school financial situation might be like if they worked while in school, as well as explore a scenario where they’re responsible for their school expenses only.

After students check out our FPMS tool, it’s time to “hit the road” and review our Imagine America Scholarship opportunities, if they haven’t done so already. With our new student experience, the benefits of membership go way beyond the $1,000 in aid students may qualify for. With our new direction, mobile app and growing resources, we’re excited to help more students than ever make the best financial decisions as they pursue career education, training and, ultimately, career success.