Paying for college

[avanover]

A simple question. How do you pay for college in the most debt free way? Or is it debt necessary? If so, how the hell do you get out of it once you're out of college? You may have some fancy degrees but it doesn't guarantee a job. Let's say you took the risk and didn't get a job in this failing economy. What would you do then?

There's a relatively cheap local college in my area. It costs $445/credit. Usually to complete 12 credit hours (full time student) takes about 18 weeks (a semester). So a month is probably about 2 credit hours. A part time job pays about $300 a week assuming $10/hr and 30 hrs a week. How does one pay for college while keeping a decent living?

 

[Nerd.]

For my Bachelor's degree, I just worked my butt off. I had two and three jobs at all times. I never slept. I ended up in the hospital. Graduate courses are more expensive. I am half-finished and in debt. I will have a lot of debt when I'm through. I'm writing a book. It should help to pay it off. Then I can go back into debt for the PhD. It's a flawed system, but it's my system.

 

[Ermine]

I figured I'd do my bachelor's degree debt free, by going to a 4 year college that's only $1640 a semester, get awesome grades in order to get a scholarship for that, and work full time when I'm not in school. I guess it helps that my parents are helping with room and board. But there are also need based grants if all else fails.

As for the graduate degree, I figured I'd aim for a career that pays well enough that I can pay off the loans in a reasonable amount of time.

 

[avanover]

I'm not able to get grants because my father makes too much. But in practical reality it's not that much. Thanks for the replies. It's good to see what people actually do. I'm an all theory kind of person...

 

[snafupants]

Make sure the college is accredited in your state and that you do not exceed the number of transfer credits if you plan on transferring to a university. More to the point, federal stafford loans feature around a six percent fixed interest rate which you will have ten years to pay off; that interest starts six months after graduation for the federally subsidized loan. So, you could do that...

 

[del]

I'm not able to get grants because my father makes too much. But in practical reality it's not that much. Thanks for the replies. It's good to see what people actually do. I'm an all theory kind of person...

My cousin's parents made too much as well, and what he did was just worked until he was old enough to not be claimed as a dependent -- I think 23 or so. He lived cheaply and had a bunch in savings and got himself his four year degree without debt.

 

[avanover]

My cousin's parents made too much as well, and what he did was just worked until he was old enough to not be claimed as a dependent -- I think 23 or so. He lived cheaply and had a bunch in savings and got himself his four year degree without debt.

Aha! A backdoor... too bad it requires that you basically waste a few years. :/ Could be serendipitous though.

 

[James Black]

I got student loans to pay for it. Once I hit 23, I got a bit more money from grants, although I'm still taking out student loans: debt is debt, and I'm most likely going the MD path because, well, I'm not going to be overly happy in any field, and being an MD will offer me some challenge, let me make a difference, give me some feeling of an upperclass job, and quite important to me, unfortunately, get me out of the hellhole that is my family's standard way of life.

 

[J-Spoon]

I grew up poor, which helped on the need-based grants end. Merit-based scholarships can definitely help, if your grades are good - I'd ask the school counselor who should have reams of information about applying to various local, state, and federal merit scholarships, which helps. Gates Millenium is a particularly good one, if you qualify. Work study is another option, though that is also need-based. Federal Stafford and Pell grants are basically loans you can defer until you are done with school, can be quite effective in a jam.

Private institutions are famously pricey, but they also have huge endowments which the better ones funnel into grant programs. I'd look to see if you qualify.

Regarding the 23 cutoff for financial independence - you can also become an "emancipated minor" before the age of 23 under some circumstances, where you are not counted as a dependent and thus it's your income that will be considered for financial aid, not your parents'. Not sure what the requirements are, you'd have to look into that.

 

[Dansk]

Work work work work work work work work.

There was no point during my degree when I didn't have a job. In my fourth year I had three of them at the same time, which likely contributed a great deal to the decline in my marks.

I highly recommend becoming a res don/RA/whatever it's called at your school. Gets you free room and board and usually a meal plan as well, then your only expense for the year is tuition and spending money.

I made it out nearly debt-free, only having borrowed a couple thousand from my parents. Now I'm in Korea making tons of money to pay them back before I go back to school next year for a Masters. I fully expect to go wildly into debt this time, since I want to be able to concentrate on my studies and actually do a good job of them now that it really matters. At least I know I can always get back out of debt easily by teaching English again.