by Roman Y

Created on: February 22, 2010

Paying for college is not an easy thing to do, especially these days.  Even though economy is struggling, colleges are clocking a record inflow of application, meanwhile cost of the education is going through the roof.  So besides the competition of getting in to a college, many face difficulty affording the education.

There are a few traditional ways of paying for college.  Those include financial aid and family members, who are in the position to help.  One may also get lucky and get a scholarship based on excellence in sports or education.  However, in the current environment and most likely going forward, other ways to pay for college need to be considered.  My favourite option is the one mentioned last in this article, so read on!

Here we go…

One option is to get an employer to cover all or some of the cost associated with the college. 

Another option  to get some cash is to sell your used college books to get some money back.  After all, many will probably agree that much of the cost while in college comes from buying those very expensive books.  At the same time it might be worth buying a book with a group of friends and then making copies, which tend to be cheaper overall.

We know that getting a loan from the bank might be either hard to do or expensive to do (fees, interest payments, etc).  If your immediate family or extended family is not in the position to gift you money for the college, ask them for a loan with a better overall conditions, such as interest rate, payment options.  This option may be one of those win-win situations for the whole family.

Cut down on part-time and go to school full-time if possible.  Part-time tends to cost more as you pay per credit.  In many colleges if you have a full-time schedule you pay a certain price.  This may also allow you to stretch your schedule to include extra classes, which may also lead to fewer semesters needed to graduate.

There are few other ways to pay for college.  However the last one I would like to share with you is my favourite.  If you are married or have a partner, whose job pays for college and yours does not, take same classes with him/her.  This way you basically are getting 2 for the price of 1 education.  You pay for the semester fully, while your partner gets the money back from the employer, hence 2 for the price of 1.

Education costs are high and are likely to continue to grow, but there are ways to combat those increases.  You just need to find the best one for your situation.

Learn more about this author, Roman Y.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.