How to tackle the cost of college
Everyone knows that the cost of going to college is getting more expensive by the year. Tuition costs have grown about 6% annually, and in 15 years, the cost of just one year of college could exceed $100,000. Students and their families are constantly on the hunt for ways to cut costs when it comes to furthering their education. There are a lot of ways to make getting an education more affordable, but, how you prepare, and when, can have a huge impact on how much you’ll have to pay for your degree.
Cut down on tuition
It’s important to be aware of how expensive college is, especially depending on where you want to go to school, so read up about the cost of colleges around the world. Sit down with your family and decide what a realistic price range for your tuition is or should be. This will help narrow your search when looking at schools and can eliminate anything you’ve decided is too expensive. Once you know how much your tuition is going to be each year, apply for as many scholarships as possible and see what you can do to graduate early. You can save a lot of money by finishing your degree in three or three and a half years instead of four.
Manage your lifestyle
The cost of college doesn’t stop at tuition. There are so many other expenses that you have to face while going to school, including room and board, meal plans and supplies. Some ways to tackle the cost of college are:
- Rent your textbooks online instead of buying them brand new at the bookstore.
- Look into options for living off campus. An apartment can be much cheaper than on-campus housing, especially if you’re living with friends.
- You can also save money by not having a meal plan and cooking your own food.
- Pick up a part-time job to earn a little extra spending money.
These are just a few things you can do to save money on school, but for more tips check out this list.
Be prepared for after graduation
You may have to take out a loan or two to pay your way through college, but paying it back won’t cross your mind until you graduate. You’ll have to start paying your loans back six months after you’ve finished school, so make sure you have a plan. Start by paying off the interest that has accrued on your loans while you were in college. Then decide how much you can afford to pay back monthly and try to pay more than the minimum required if you can manage it. Set up auto-payments to avoid any late fees and figure out if refinancing your student loans is the right option for you. This blog post by Earnest helps you figure out if now is the right time to refinance.
College is a huge expense, so it’s important to be prepared and know what you can do to save money. It’s not fun being a broke college kid and it’s even less fun being broke out of college, so plan ahead, do what you can to cut costs and work hard!
Guest post by the creative team over at https://www.earnest.com/blog/
I really want to go back to school in order to change career paths but cost is a very real issue. I earned an educational award from doing americorps but that can also be used for paying existing debt and that seems more pressing.