How to Find Ways to Pay for College

It's difficult when finances interfere with your desire for an education, but you need to plan your decisions well if you want to win. With the costs of a college education rising roughly 7-8% a year (compared to general inflation at around 4%), I can definitely understand why many adults can feel divided on the issue of going back and some recent high school graduates hesitate.

Growing up knowing that my parents could not fully afford to pay for my college education, I had to do a lot of planning to be able to go. After going through the whole process, I hope I can offer advice on things I did right as well as thing I wish I'd known about earlier:

1) Stop by the financial aid office of the college long before you plan to start.

With many forms of financial aid, you need to give yourself plenty of time to apply. If you're not aware of it already, you should definitely fill out a Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) to find out if you qualify for any federal or state grants. You can find more information about this at www.fafsa.ed.gov

2) Apply to any scholarship the college offers that fits you.

It's tedious sometimes, but think of it as getting paid a lot of money to fill out some forms-the more you fill out, the more the odds are in your favor that you'll receive some of them. It is also good at this time to research any off campus scholarships or tuition reimbursements through your job. Be careful when researching scholarships on-line and definitely never pay for a service that claims they can do all the searching for you because you can do the same thing yourself for free.

3) Even if you've never bought anything on-line before, it is worth checking the Internet for your textbooks.

Allow plenty of time for the book to get to you if you use standard shipping(at least 2 weeks if possible) as media mail seems to get slightly slower due to high volume during textbooks seasons. E-mail the merchant ahead of time before you order and request postal insurance to protect your purchase if it's over $20.

4) Consider getting your "core" classes at a smaller community college.

If I had not gotten scholarships to a 4-year university, I would have done this. Most states have standards where larger universities will accept credits from community colleges. Often you can get the same courses for half the price and then move on to your major at a more expensive college. This takes some research, so you may have to make some phone calls and talk to people at both locations to make sure things will work out right without any hassles.

5) Find a job that provides tuition reimbursement.

This can vary by field, but companies such as UPS often offer tuition reimbursement to even part-time employees as part of a benefits package.

6) Borrow only if you need it.

Student loans are very low interest, but they can still impact your cash flow as you pay them off. It's better to try to have some money saved up or work while you're going to school if you can handle it. It's harder at the time, but you'll be in better shape long-term.

7) Consider your purpose for returning to college.

Learning is a very worthwhile thing to do in life, and I'm definitely in favor of people going to college if it helps them achieve their goals and dreams. What you have to be careful of however is spending a lot of money in relation to what you're going to get back in return. For example, I've had friends spend $100,000+ on a education and end up with $20,000/yr jobs in that field. That's obviously a harmful situation financially. There are ways of turning it around, but I think a person should factor that into their decision-making.

More Tips:

• Unless you find them helpful, I was able to do without study guides for most subjects. In most cases, the actual textbook will be needed however. Don't risk not getting them and later finding out you need them for assignments.
• If you're really on a tight budget, sometimes college and university libraries will keep spare copies of the textbooks that you can't check out but can use inside the building.