6 Ways to Keep College Costs Down | brokeGIRLrich
There are a few tricks you can do as a college or high school student that will help keep the costs down for your college education.
1.) Take every Advanced Placement (AP) course your high school offers. Granted, if you’re not a good student, you may not want to risk your GPA, so a variation of this is to take every AP course you think you can actually pass; however, don’t forget that your grade in that class is completely irrelevant to colleges, all they want to know is your score on the AP exam. If you ask, you may also be allowed to audit a class and take it without worry about how the grade will effect your GPA, if you pass the exam, you’ll still get credit at most colleges.
2.) Consider the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) program. Already speak fluent French? CLEP that language requirement. CLEP tests take the subject matter covered over the course of a semester and distill it down into a final exam, if you pass, most colleges will consider that information you know and granted you credit for the course. CLEP exams cost about $80, considerably less than a college course, so if you look through the offered subjects and think you might be able to pass the test, why not give it a try. If you’re a homeschool parent, consider teaching towards these tests during their last year or two at home and you could save thousands of dollars in college fees. If you have a good idea of where you’d like to go to college, you can also search the school and make sure they accept the course and what you’d need to score to be accepted.
3.) Start out at community college. Is it fun to commute from home and go to college with a bunch of the same people you went to high school with? Maybe not. Is it the best financial decision you could make (short of getting a full ride scholarship somewhere)? Probably – especially if you don’t know what you want to major in yet. Community college costs a lot less than a four year institution and you’ll be able to take all your core class requirements there.
4.) Concentrate your school search around in-state institutions. There’s a big tuition difference between what you’ll pay to go to an in-state school versus out of state colleges.
5.) If you are already certain about what you want to major in and are a pretty good student, take extra classes each semester. A little asking around your first year will help you figure out which classes are the hardest and which are not. Often, if you can carefully balance them, you can take an extra class or two a semester and top that off with two or three in the summer and graduate in 3 years instead of 4. That’ll save you an entire year’s living expenses. Also, many colleges offer a credit “cap” – so while you may usually be told to take 12 or 15 credits a semester, your “full time” fees actually cover up to 21 or more credits.
6.) Meet with your advisor regularly, especially if you’re taking lots of extra classes, trying to graduate early, or taking courses at another institution during summer or winter breaks. Besides the courses you need in your major, every college has a diverse list of required subjects they want you to study to be well rounded.
If you’re trying to accelerate your degree, you’ll want someone who knows what to look for double checking your course choices. I remember getting to my final semester when I was trying to graduate a year early and realizing I’d missed one of the required courses. I had to beg a professor I knew to let me do it as an independent study. That could’ve been avoided if I’d been better at checking in with my advisor.
Your school’s admissions advisor can also provide you with information on your financial aid options, such as scholarships, grants, and loans. The advisor will help you to get the maximum amount of assistance possible by having you will out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. Once this form has been filled out, the government will determine your financial need and could give you money that you do not have to repay. The more free money you are able to receive from the government, the less you will have to pay out of pocket for your education.
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Well, there’s also the very basic tip of trying to get a scholarship. I think every student should start there for significant savings – other than that, liked the post!
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Oh gosh! Yes! I think I totally overlooked that since I had written a whole post on it the day before, but it definitely did deserve a spot on that list.
Here’s 3 that will really save you money that mysteriously, no-one talks much about:
1) Go to work for a manufacturing plant that will pay for your education. There is no shortage of them out there. It may take twice as long to get the degree but you will have steady income, zero college debt, and more than likely a guaranteed job upon graduation. And yes, these opportunities DO exist.
2) Go to a community college and then transfer to a 4 year school with your associates degree (that is key for all credits to count – remember, first and foremost college is big business). In my state, that is 8,000 in tuition for two years of coursework compared to $55,000 + for two years of tuition and room and board at a state school. That’s $47,000 Jack! You’re welcome.
3) Again, realize first and foremost college is big business. We send 3 times the number of people off to college every year than our workforce will justify. There is no more expensive career exploration program in the world than the American University system. Don’t go until you know what you want to study and evaluate the costs and your realistic job prospects for any given major. Plumbers in many areas are charging $100 + an hour and were paid to learn their trade. That’s just one example.
Great tips! I definitely advocate number 2. I’d never even heard of or thought of number 1 – I honestly thought all the jobs like that were gone already! Got any ideas of good companies for interested folks to check out?