Going to 4 year university, next fall 2013 but; How do I effectively pay for college without the use of student loans?

[dsjj251]

1. You must be a full time student to qualify for federal financial aid, most scholarships and the School's own aid package.

2. sign up for an many scholarships as possible.

3. Join clubs, many schools will offer transfer scholarships for students who are actively involved in clubs (TSA, Phi Beta Lambda, Phi Theta Kappa etc.)

4. A 3.5 GPA is always nice, that is usually the threshold to get an institutional scholarship at most schools

5. 26 on the ACT, this will get you a scholarship that will pay for atleast half of your yearly tuition

6. Student Support Services, many schools have programs where you do volunteer work and it pays for your college as well as offering tutoring, counselling, special seminars, job training/skills and so on.

7. BUY USED BOOKS, some schools have specialized additions for their campus , but its really a trick just to make you pay the extra 100 dollars at the campus book store. Buy your books online from Amazon or from a graduating student( i say that because they will sell their books for cheaper as they dont need the money to buy new ones)

8. choose classes wisely. If you do not need a class that has a technology/lab fee, then dont take it, just sign up for the equivalency. That could save you 50 to 100 dollars a class. for example, Choose physical science over biology because the lab fee is less.

if its out of state, i assume you will live on campus, shop wisely for a dorm. The prices can be a huge difference, One door could be 5,000 a year while the other across campus could be 2,500. You might have to leave earlier to make it to class on time, but that extra 2,500 is worth it.

[sware2cod]

Consider getting a full-time job at a company that offers tuition assistance. Find a company that pays more than 50% for classes and one that allows you to take classes that you need. Some companies limit your major based on whether that company hires people in that field. (If you want a degree in the medical field you will want to work at an emmployer that has such medical related positions, even if you work in their mail room or in their customer service center.)

Many comanies started putting annual limits of their tuition assistance plans...suCh as they pay the first $3000/year max.

tuition assistance is a benefit and would be listed in the benefits area of a companies HR web site.

Realize there are IRS tax credits that cover the f $2500/year for 1st 4 years of schooling for money you spend on schooling. These are going to go away when we fall off the fiscal cliff for 2013, but they will most likely get reinstated when an agreement is made.

Back in the day, I got a 4 year degee paid for 100% by my company tuition assistance plan. I went to an expensive private university . There was no dollar limit and they paid 100% of tuition and fees if you got a C or better. I paid for books myself and also I worked full time, so paid for my housing/food as well.

The negative - you work full-time so college is going to take longer than 4 years to complete. It takes a lot of time/effort to work full time and go to school part time. You try to take as many courses as you can else it will take forever to complete your degree. I used to try to take 2 courses/semester where I think 3 courses was considered full-time.

The positive - you graduate and you are already well along in your career because you worked fulltime while going to school. And zero debt for school.