College on a Budget - How to Keep Student Loans From Overwhelming You
As college tuitions continue to rise and scholarships and grants don't seem to be keeping pace, increased college loans have become the only way many students continue their studies. The problem is that you end up with $20-40,000 or even more in loans and you are starting off in a new job at the low end of the pay scale. Students graduating with an advanced degree may be as much as $100,000 in debt.
Do you want to have that kind of debt right out of school? If not, here are a couple of hints that can help you minimize the student loan debt. Where are you planing to go to school? Everybody wants to go to their first choice college and for many, that is a private, high-profile, high-cost college.
Collegeboard.com estimates the average cost of attending a private college during 2007-08 at over $23,000 per year. For a public college or university, the average cost is a bit over $6,000 and for a two year community college, just over $2,300.
Go to a local state college or university, especially for the first couple of years. Resident tuitions are usually much lower than that charged to out-of-state residents. Take your basic courses there and get great grades, then you will have a good chance of transferring to the name school and getting even better financial aid, since you have a proven track record. Of course, once you've been there for awhile, you may just decide that the state school really is pretty good and continue on to finish your studies there.
Cheaper still, go to your local community college first. Many courses will be transferable to a four year college, and the cost per course is far below that of the four year schools.
Consider joining the ROTC program, which can provide you with full tuition as well as a monthly living allowance. You'll need to commit at least four years to active duty in the Armed Forces as an officer. Some careers, such as Air Force pilot, may require a longer period of duty.
For more ideas on cutting down the loan debt load, go to College on a Budget
Technorati Tags: College Loans Financial AidPaying for College Minimizing College Loans
As college tuitions continue to rise and scholarships and grants don't seem to be keeping pace, increased college loans have become the only way many students continue their studies. The problem is that you end up with $20-40,000 or even more in loans and you are starting off in a new job at the low end of the pay scale. Students graduating with an advanced degree may be as much as $100,000 in debt.
Do you want to have that kind of debt right out of school? If not, here are a couple of hints that can help you minimize the student loan debt. Where are you planing to go to school? Everybody wants to go to their first choice college and for many, that is a private, high-profile, high-cost college.
Collegeboard.com estimates the average cost of attending a private college during 2007-08 at over $23,000 per year. For a public college or university, the average cost is a bit over $6,000 and for a two year community college, just over $2,300.
Go to a local state college or university, especially for the first couple of years. Resident tuitions are usually much lower than that charged to out-of-state residents. Take your basic courses there and get great grades, then you will have a good chance of transferring to the name school and getting even better financial aid, since you have a proven track record. Of course, once you've been there for awhile, you may just decide that the state school really is pretty good and continue on to finish your studies there.
Cheaper still, go to your local community college first. Many courses will be transferable to a four year college, and the cost per course is far below that of the four year schools.
Consider joining the ROTC program, which can provide you with full tuition as well as a monthly living allowance. You'll need to commit at least four years to active duty in the Armed Forces as an officer. Some careers, such as Air Force pilot, may require a longer period of duty.
For more ideas on cutting down the loan debt load, go to College on a Budget
Technorati Tags: College Loans Financial AidPaying for College Minimizing College Loans
Labels: college loans, community college, financial aid, paying for college, ROTC, state college, state university
posted by Ken MacKenzie at
8:51 PM
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