The following post is by MPFJ staff writer, Melissa Batai. Melissa is a freelance writer who covers topics ranging from personal finance to business to organics to food. She blogs at Mom’s Plans where she shares her family’s journey to healthier living and paying down debt.
If you’ve been to college, you know how expensive it can be. I graduated from college 20 years ago, and even with a scholarship that paid all of my tuition and fees at a community college for two years AND generous grants when I transferred to a four year institution, I still, after graduate school, left college with $20,000 in student loan debt. It took me 13 years to pay off that debt.
Now, college is even more expensive, and, unfortunately, out of reach for many perspective college students. In his recent State of the Union address, President Obama said that he wants every student to have access to a free, two year community college education providing that they maintain at least a 2.5 GPA and take at least a half-time load of classes.
Most experts don’t think this will happen.
Even if it doesn’t, there are still ways that you can get your education for free or at a greatly discounted price. Keep in mind, not all of these tips are simple, but they all do help you reach the end goal of a low-cost education.
Take advantage of a “Promise” opportunity
Many locations are now offering free college tuition. For instance, the Kalamazoo Promise offers all Kalamazoo, Michigan school graduates who reside in the district of Kalamazoo County a free college education at a Michigan college or university. The student must have graduated from a Kalamazoo district high school and must maintain at least a 2.0 GPA in college. The amount of tuition received is prorated based on the number of years a student attended a Kalamazoo public school. (If the student only attended a Kalamazoo high school, he’ll receive 65% of his tuition paid. If he attended K-12, he’ll receive 100% free tuition.)
However, Kalamazoo isn’t the only place offering this type of promise. All El Dorado High School students in Arkansas are offered tuition in a program very similar to Kalamazoo’s. In addition, there is the Pittsburgh Promise. (CollegeSavings.com).
Sometimes an entire state offers free tuition including West Virginia and Tennessee. What’s interesting about Tennessee’s Promise is that homeschool students are also eligible.
Become a resident of the state first
If you have your heart set on attending an out-of-state college, there are ways to overcome the high cost of out-of-state tuition. If you’re willing to delay starting college, you can move to the state after high school and get a job. Most states require that you live and work in the state for a year before being considered a resident for college application purposes. After you’ve met the year requirement, apply for college. If you’re accepted, you will only pay in-state tuition.
Work at the college you want to attend first
Another option is to work at the school that you want to attend. Many colleges offer tuition discounts to employees. If you work full-time at the college or university, you may be able to get your tuition for free.
Of course, you’ll still be working full-time while getting your degree, so you likely won’t finish in four year. You may take as many as eight years to complete your degree, yet when you have it, you will likely be debt free.
Another option is to have a parent work at the university or college so that she can get free tuition for her dependents. My husband is currently employed at a university, and our plan is for our children to attend the university that he works at so they can get their tuition for free. Of course, our kids can decide to attend a different university, but we won’t be able to help them much financially.
Take advantage of employer-based tuition programs
Another option is to work for an employer that will help pay for your college education. For instance, if you’re an elementary school teacher with a bachelor’s degree, your employer likely will help you pay for a master’s degree. There are also many employers who will help their employees pay for a bachelor’s degree.
Consider an honors scholarship to a community college
There are many, many community colleges that offer honors scholarships. I, myself, received one when I attended a community college. I had to have an interview, write an essay, complete an application, and submit my transcript and ACT/SAT scores. I was awarded free tuition for two years, which helped me financially. I hate to think how much more I would have had in student loans if I hadn’t been accepted to this program.
Being in the program gave me the opportunity to take smaller honors classes with a lower student-to-teacher ratio. In addition, the program, along with my GPA at the community college, helped me transfer to a top university in my state.
Apply for scholarships
You may think it’s not worthwhile applying for scholarships because you don’t have a 4.0 or higher GPA. However, there are many scholarships available, and not all of them are based on grades alone.
You may be surprised how quickly the scholarships can add up, even if they are only for small amounts. “One mother forced her daughter to apply for two scholarships every day as if it were her job. She didn’t have great grades, but kept sending applications in—winning enough to pay for the first three years of college alone” (America’s Money Smart Family).
Attend a free college
Yep, you read that right. There are free colleges out there. Some of them include:
- College of the Ozarks,
- Berea College,
- Curtis Institute of Music,
- Alice Lloyd College,
- Webb Institute,
- Deep Springs College,
- United States Military Academy,
- United States Coast Guard Academy,
- United States Naval Academy,
- United States Air Force Academy,
- United States Merchant Marine Academy (US News).
As you may guess, admission to these colleges is highly competitive.
In addition, the old adage “Nothing in life is free” does apply to these schools. For many of the colleges, students are required to work on campus 10 to 15 hours a week. In addition, there are sometimes residency restrictions. For instance, Alice Lloyd College only offers free tuition to students who live in the Central Appalachian service area.
Finally, those who get a free ride to the United States military academies must also serve in the military after graduation.
Join the military
If you are interested in the military but can’t get into one of the elite military academies, you can choose to join the military and, as a perk, benefit from tuition discounts or even free tuition. How much you receive and when depends on many factors.
Another option is to join the military after you complete college. The Army, Navy, and Air Force all have plans to help you pay off your loans. For instance, “in the full-time-duty Army, soldiers can qualify to have their loans repaid by the Military at the rate of one-third of the loan for each year of full-time duty served (maximum loan repayment is $65,000)” (Today’s Military).
Even though, in 2012, 7 out of 10 students graduated with loan debt averaging $29,400 (The Institute for College Access and Success), it doesn’t have to be this way. If you’re willing to compromise on your college choice and take a non-traditional path to college, you CAN graduate without college debt, regardless of the passage of Obama’s free community college tuition.
How about you all? How do you plan to, or how did you, keep your own college costs low?
Share your experiences by commenting below!
***Photo courtesy of http://pixabay.com/en/dartmouth-college-campus-school-292587/
