Paying for College
Figuring out how to pay for college can be one of the biggest financial burdens
in a young person's life, or their parent's lives. For the student, your goal is to get an education, so you
can get a good job, so you can make lots of money, right? So why is
the cost the first thing you have to worry about when seeking an education, or "Where is the money coming from?" Sounds like a
"catch-22", doesn't it? For parents, there are loans you can take out specifically for education expenses for your children. There
are also programs like Upromise which allow you to leverage
every-day expenses into college savings. Join Upromise for free and let hundreds of America’s leading companies help you save for college.
Fortunately there are several ways to offset these college bills, and even ways to delay your bills until after you have graduated. Remember, Financial Aid is just that; "Aid". You may not be able to pay off your entire college cost, but you can reduce the amount that you personally have to come up with. You can pay for college costs using
- Grants
- Grants should be your first choice for paying for college costs because you don't have to pay them back and your only risk is not qualifying. Grants are available to students.
- Scholarships and Fellowships
- Scholarships and fellowships are also "free money" but you will most likely be directly competing with many other future students for these funds.
- Student Loans
- Once you've acquired all of the "free money" you can, a Student Loan can help you cover the remaining cost of your education. Student Loans can come from either Government or Private sources and you can, in most cases, delay payback of the loan until after the student has graduated.
- Student Part Time Job
- A part time job can help provide extra income for books, supplies, food and even help pay off your tuition bills.
There are many sources of money for college available to someone who is willing to invest a little time and effort. The good thing is, the more time and effort you invest, the less you may end up having to come up with, or take out a loan for, to pay for college expenses! By combining any or all of these options, you can generate a good or even substantial amount of money towards paying off college education costs before you have to borrow some. A great resource to have in your arsenal is the Financial Aid Resource Publication from the U.S. Department of Education
To say that there's an "average" cost of college expenses would be making a lot of assumptions regarding variables that the parents or attendee will need to decide on. There are private colleges, and public colleges. You may choose an "in-state" college, or an "out-of-state" college. All of these factors play into determining the cost of a college education. College tuition costs can range from $1000s per year into the $30k, $40k or even higher ranges. You should also factor in room & board, books and other supplies, and general living expenses. According to College Board, tuition and fees were up roughly 6 percent for the 2006-2007 school year. In-state students can expect to pay nearly $12,800 for tuition, fees, room, board and extras. Out-of-state students are looking at almost $22,800.
You have to apply for grants, scholarships, and loans. Unlike many loans, the applications for grants and scholarships are usually somewhat involved and may require several different financial items (tax returns, pay stubs, etc) in addition to the application. Many scholarship and grant applications require letters of recommendation from former teachers, community or business leaders, or others who can speak knowingly of the applicant. They may also require essays or other written pieces from the applicant as well.
You can know which colleges want you before you apply! EdSoup is a great
complement to the traditional (and time consuming) college search process.
This student matching service lets you control the types and number of colleges
that will contact you.
Let great colleges find you!
