LIMS+Financing+101

= To avoid the stress and frustration that money matters often bring, it is important to plan for all costs that you will incur. = =When you attend the LIMS informational meetings, one thing will be made abundantly clear: there is no financial aid available for the LIMS Cohort students through Chicago State University. There is no need to complete and file a FASFA form. Be prepared to finance your education through self pay or private loans.= =There are two pathways to certification. You can either pursue the LIMS endorsement or the Master's Degree. Please remember that this program is not yet endorsed by the ALA, so if you think you may want to leave CPS sometime and work in a non-school library, you may want to weigh the pros and cons of other accredited programs. Give careful consideration to which program will best meet your career goals. If you plan to become an elementary school librarian, an endorsement will supplement your current certificate. If you plan to work as a high school librarian, you must have a Master's Degree in Library Information and Media Science. Either way, endorsement students and Master's students will be placed in the same cohort and matriculate throughout the courses together. All courses are chosen for you and will follow a specific sequence. At present, LIMS students take three courses per semester. The courses are consecutive and are each six weeks in duration.= =At present, the cost per semester hour for graduate level courses is three hundred dollars. Expect to pay $900.00 per class. There is also a $50.00 technology fee. Remember, payment can only be remitted in the form of money order or cashier's check. Further, you cannot combine the tuition payment and technology fee and submit just one money order. The payments must be separate. Don't forget to factor in the fees for the money order or cashier's check into your costs. Payment is due on the day of the last class session to register for your next course.= =So far, there has only been one textbook required per class. The average cost of LIMS textbooks are $80.00 per book. A cost effective alternative is textbook rental. Rental fees take the book down to about $35.00 dollars to rent for the duration of the semester. Lastly, all LIMS students are required to register for a LiveText account. This serves as an eportfolio and all of your assignments should be posted to your LiveText account. There are three LiveText student membership options: Standard Edition is $98.00, the Field Experience Edition is $113.00, and the Learn 360 Edition is $128.00. Be sure the read the description of each of the membership packages and select the one that fits your needs. Congratulations on being accepted into the LIMS Cohort. Be prepared for an intensive program.=