Seeking a Degree: this phrase means that you either have a high school diploma or GED and are now carrying on your education at an institute of higher learning in an attempt to get an AA, AS, AAS, and maybe any higher degree that comes after an AA.
If you're one of the billions of people "seeking a degree" then you realize that tuition alone can cost well over $3,000 a year (and that's just an in-state rate for a college, not a university... much less an out of state university!) Then on top of tuition fees you have book fees, living fees, food fees, transportation fees, phone bills, credit card bills, and even the occasional money burning emergency. So let's face it, unless you're a kid attending an Ivy League law school on Mommy and Daddy's penny... you need to find a way to pay for college! One of the most pushed options is to take out student loans because they have a bit lower interest... but by the time you graduate, you'll still be in debt up to your eyeballs. Over the years, all those small interest rate student loans start to pile up and after graduation day, you're left with a big bill. So here are some other options:
If you're reading this and aren't actually in college yet, (aka you're a high school student) check with your school and local college to see if they have a dual enrollment program. This will enable you to start working on your AA degree while finishing high school and the state will pay for your tuition and book fees (unless you are private/home schooled, then you have to buy your own books). So by the time you graduate high school you should also be ready (or near ready) to graduate with your AA degree as well... and you didn't have to pay for hardly anything!
After high school (whether you dual enrolled or not) you have to start paying your own fees. Now, I suggest to try your best not to touch student loans! I just completed my first year in college (not including two years of dual enrollment) and haven't gone anywhere near a loan. How do I pay for college?
Well, firstly, I have a job. Not a good paying job (minimum wage... VERY minimum wage) but still a job. So I put the money I earn aside and use it for tuition, books, fuel, and food. Obviously though it doesn't stretch very far. So on top of my job, I applied for a 4 year state sponsored scholarship (I won it out of high school) and that pays 75% of tuition which helps a pretty good bit. I also applied for a well known agricultural scholarship available to high school seniors. So with two scholarships, I was pretty well covered for my first (non-dual enrolled) semester. But after all that, where else can you find scholarships? My choice: scholarship search engines. Now I'm not talking search engines like Goggle and Bing, I'm talking search engines specially made to find scholarships. Here are the editor's choice:
www.fastweb.com
www.moolahspot.com
www.cappex.com
www.scholarships.com
My two favorites are Fastweb and Moolahspot. Every month or so each of these engines will even host their own scholarship you can apply for. I've been with Fastweb for over a year and just recently joined Moolahspot, I've been with Cappex almost as long as Fastweb but have found that a lot of times they bring up the same schoarships. These search engines find scholarships specific to your major, college/university, talents, interests, and many other things. In short, I guess you could say they look for "custom scholarships". For instance: I'm an Agriculture major (Animal Science), I love to read & write, I was in 4-H, and am a first generation college student. So these search engines are going to look specifically for scholarships that have something to do with agriculture, reading, essays, 4-H, or first generation students. Another good scholarship website is www.scholarshippoints.com :)
Aside from scholarships, you can also apply for Financial Aid. all you have to do is fill out a Free FAFSA Application and enter it. If you are eligible then you will receive money from the government every semester to help you pay for tuition, books, housing, transportation, and everything else you can think of! To find the application, just go to www.fafsa.gov
So yeah, in summary, the best ways to pay for college are:
1) A job
2) Scholarships
3) Financial Aid
Now that I've hopefully simplified the process of finding scholarships for you, go out there and start applying! I wish you the best of luck!
~RebelYell
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