More Money Blog

Due to the credit crises and recent economic problems attending college and graduating with a 4 year or more degree may seem out of reach financially for many. However, if you know the right steps to take and are willing to work hard it can actually be very possible and graduating with little debt is easier than you may think.

Here are some tips based on my personal experience with college and finances during that time:

Don’t start out at a 4 year university. Tuition, living costs, and the difficulty of classes are often much higher at a university than a community college. 

Start taking college classes in high school, if possible. Many high schools today offer programs where students can take college classes in high school and get both college and high school credit for the same class. On top of that, the school often pays all of tuition and book costs. AP classes are also often offered in high schools and are worth taking to get college credit early.

 In my opinion, high school classes and high school in general is mostly a waste of time. Where I lived, the school/education system was horrible. High school classes were very lame, time wasting, and little was taught. After four years of work you get a high school diploma that is worth almost nothing in the work place. I think that after 2 years of high school, almost all kids could take and pass a GED test (basically the equivalent of a high school diploma) or begin taking college classes. 

Scholarships. Scholarships can often pay for most, if not all of tuition. While in high school, research scholarships offered by your state. In the state where I attended college, I was able to get a scholarship that paid for 75% of my tuition every semester by having a good SAT score and a good GPA in high school. If I had a little better SAT score and did some community service, I could have had a scholarship that paid 100% of my tuition plus paid for all my books. 

If your state doesn’t offer such of a generous scholarship program, apply for many smaller scholarships. Search the Internet for ones offered in your state. 

Only get public loans if you have to get a student loan. Do everything possible to avoid getting a student loan. However, if you must get a student loan, always go for public loans first. Try to get loans with a low interest rate that is at a fixed rate. Private student loans almost always come at a higher interest rate and that interest rate often goes up over time. 

Don’t fail classes. Of course, nobody plans to fail classes, but failing a class can be very costly. It almost always messes up your schedule, forcing you to stay an extra semester. It is also possible to lose scholarships because your GPA drops. Most colleges allow you to drop courses about half way through the class without receiving an F. Consider this option if you do very poorly on the first test and have little confidence about passing the class.

Many students seem to have problems with high level math classes. If math really isn’t your thing, try to be in a major that doesn’t require many math courses. Physics and calculus are very difficult courses, if you aren’t too good in math try to avoid these classes by picking a major that doesn’t require them. 

Don’t drop out. Do everything you can to avoid dropping out of college. Retake classes or change your major to try something new before dropping out. College isn’t for everyone and many don’t realize this until they are actually in college. However, do almost anything to avoid dropping out. If you have to drop out of college after you have built up student loan debt, it can take years and years to pay off the debt since you probably won’t have a higher paying job. Even if you declare bankruptcy, these loans won’t go away.

I would only recommend leaving college if you are offered a very nice paying job or are consistently making lots of money on your own through some sort of business. This is rare, but is possible. Even if this is the case, I would still recommend staying in college. Things can easily change and you may need a degree to get a good paying job in the future.

Stay public and in state. The tuition and other costs at private colleges and the out of state tuition at public colleges/universities are almost always significantly higher. If possible, always go with a public university in the state that you live.

Resell textbooks. Always resell your textbooks if you don’t need them. Most colleges offer some sort of buy back program. However, most of these buy back programs don’t offer much money back. Compare these programs to the price of used books on Amazon.com. Consider selling your books on Amazon.com if the prices there are higher than what your college is offering.

Also, try not to buy your books until after the first day of class. Often professors will recommend a book, but not require it. I even had a professor once that gave us a digital copy of the book, so nobody had to buy it. 

Consider online classes. Online classes are really a wonderful thing, in my opinion. You don’t have to wake up early in the morning to attend class, you can work on the class pretty much any time you want to, and it can free up a lot of time on your schedule. 

Some colleges offer entire degrees online. This can also save a lot of money, but you need to be very careful if you go with one of these programs. I would only recommend taking an entirely online degree from an actual in state university, and not some online program from a completely online university or a university in another state. Many online degree programs are poorly structured and don’t offer the same learning experience as attending an actual university. Some employers may also think less of online degrees over a degree from a more known and/or local university.

Housing. Housing is always a big part of your expenses and is almost never part of scholarships. If you live within a reasonable distance of the university, you can save big bucks by not getting on campus housing. 

Another thing that can save you big bucks is if you buy a house or condo close to the university. For most, this is impossible since they don’t have enough money at the time. However if somehow you are able to balance a job and school or your parents are willing to help out, it can work out very well in the long run. I would only recommend this under the following conditions, since it is a pretty big risk:

- You plan on keeping the house/condo for at least four years while you attend college.
- You have a relative or very close friend that could live with you and pay for part of the cost.
- You could possibly keep the house/condo after graduation if you plan on working near the university. Or having a younger sibling that could use the house/condo after you if needed.
- The housing market isn’t too overpriced or the economy too bad. Right now is a horrible time to be a home owner since prices are decreasing so rapidly.

During normal times, you should be able to make a good return on your money in 4+ years and sell the house/condo when you are done with it. This could possibly pay off all your student debt (if you have any) and put some money in your bank account if everything works out.

That is about all I can think of to save money during college. If you are in college or have kids going to college soon, I hope this article helps you out!