by Juan Leer

Created on: April 04, 2007   Last Updated: July 23, 2009

Paying for college is a very difficult proposition for most people, especially if you are not rich. For people like myself, whose parents were unable to help pay for tuition, it was very difficult to fund college. It can be a very difficult and stressful thing. The price of going to college is rising every year, making it harder and harder to pay for. But there are some things to help you out to make college a little more affordable.

- Merit-based scholarships - If you do well in school (so you have to start with this right when you get in high school), and can get good test scores, you can get some merit-based scholarships, which are great. Apply for as many of these as possible, because you just never know what you might get. This will obviously take some work, but if you are serious about college, then you will have to put a lot of work in.

- Need-based scholarships - There are also many scholarships that you can get just by applying and having financial need. This is an especially important way to help for college "if you're not rich." They know that it can be difficult to fund college if you are not rich, which is why there are things like this in place to help those people out.

- Student Loans - Many people like to avoid loans as much as possible (for good reason), but out of all debt, they're one of the best forms of it. That is because interest rates for student loans tends to be pretty low, especially if you are getting like a Federal Stafford Loan. Also, with federal loans, the interest will not accumulate while you are in school, and you don't have to start paying off the loans until you graduate.

- Grants - If you're really lucky, you can get awarded a grant, which is basically free money for school. This is mostly need-based, and can be a great help. Along with scholarships, this is the best way to pay for college, because it doesn't cost you anything! I have gotten Pell Grants each of the past few years, and it has been absolutely vital for me to help pay for college. Without it, it would have been very difficult.

So college is certainly expensive, but there are definitely ways to help pay for college. Don't stress out, explore all of the options, and college can be affordable for you even if you're not rich. You'll have to put in some effort to find out the different ways to help, but it certainly can be done. Even though college is a large investment, it is generally worth it in the end if it helps you find a job you enjoy for good money.

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