Paying for College: Three Methods

In today's nasty economy it is really easy to brush off college as too expensive or too time consuming. Tuition rates are continuing to rise and employment is continuing to fall. However, it is still a fact that those with a Bachelor's degree or higher will earn exponentially more money than those with only a high school education. This is why it is important to exhaust all possibilities when it comes to earning a degree from a good school, including taking out student loans.

Financial Aid and You

There is no reason to think that you are alone in your struggle to afford college. In fact all major universities have a Financial Aid office dedicated to finding funds to send each and every student through their school. The professionals in these offices will work out a plan with you in order to meet your needs as far as education as well as living expenses are concerned for the duration of your time at their school. Financial Aid can help you earn scholarships, pay tuition on an installment basis as well as apply for different types of loans from both the federal government and private lenders.

Scholarships

Obviously your best bet to pay for college is a scholarship which will pay part or all of your tuition fees for you with no obligation for repayment. One of the best methods of obtaining a scholarship is through a special skill such as a sport or musical instrument, though academics are of paramount importance as well. You need to maintain a high GPA and make sure to get the highest score possible on standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT in order to increase your chances for scholarship money.

Installment Plans

Another option that you may take up is to pay your tuition in installments instead of all at once at the commencement of a semester. By breaking payments up into smaller chunks you may be able to find a part time job that can cover these costs. This plan can also be used in conjunction with scholarship money if you do not get all of your tuition paid or you can take out a loan for part of your tuition and then pay the rest as you go.

Loans

Student loans are the most common method used these days to pay for college. Obtained either through the federal government in the form of Stafford loans or through private banks, the advantage of taking an educational loan is that you do not need to repay it until you complete your study - either through graduation or disenrollment. You are also given very low (often fixed) interest rates that help to keep your monthly payments low when you land that first post-graduate job.

Using the internet is a great place to start to look for student loan money and the private lenders who offer it. There are several financially-based websites that will allow you to compare rates and loan amounts among several lenders as well as discuss the repayment plans that you will use after graduation.

Never Give Up

With the abundance of information available online about loans and scholarship options, there is no excuse for not going to college. Yes, the economy is bad right now, but that is all the more reason to get that leg up on the competition. A college degree is a great first step towards making that happen.

Joycelyn Crawford is the author of this article. For more information about Bad Credit Easy Loans and Unsecured Loans please visit EasyLoanForYou.com

Five Options for Funding Your College Education

Fall is finally coming around and it is time to head off to college, but how are you going to pay? Luckily, in today's financial world there are several ways to help pay for college.

1. Financial Aid- this is the best way to pay for college because the money is provided to you through the government. There are several types of government aid available but to be eligible for any aid, a student must fill out a FAFSA to receive any type of free aid or student loan from the government.

2. Grants- this is a type of free money available to those who apply for it. Grants are also usually given through the government to people who have filled out their FAFSA information. There are many grants available but a popular grant is known as the Pell Grant. The Pell Grant is given to individuals based off of their income. The lower the income the larger the grant and this is only true up to a certain amount. The maximum amount is determined every year based on the government's decision.

3. Federal Loans- this is a very popular way to pay for school. Every student is eligible for a certain amount of federal student's loans, to help them pay for college. This is also done through the FAFSA, and this is how a large amount of students pay for their schooling. Federal loans are split up into two types; subsidized and unsubsidized. A subsidized loan means that the government will pay for tuition while you are attending college.

4. Private Loans- Sometimes a student will choose a private school or a more expensive state school. In this case, federal student aid will not always cover the full cost of tuition. A student or his/her parents can take out a private loan to help cover tuition costs.

5. Scholarships- This type of funding is really important to the college payment circle. There are thousands of scholarships available to students of every age, race, and academic status. Some colleges offer students academic scholarships and athletic scholarships. Websites are available to help students search for the best scholarships available.

However a student decides to pay for college it is important to check into every resource. Filling out the FAFSA is the very first stop in earning free money for college. The FAFSA also allows a student to see if they are eligible for work study through their college of choice. Keep in mind that there are also deadlines to meet when filling out the FAFSA for scholarships, grants, and federal student loans.

Joann Carlisle is a writer who enjoys sharing her tips and experiences with information that she is knowledgeable in. For more information about student loan debt, Reduce Debt Faster

College Student Loans: Follow These Borrowing Essentials

Going to college is a very exciting time for young adults all across the world. We also know that it's quite expensive, and there's a very large need for everyone to understand a few things about borrowing money. College student loans have been extraordinarily helpful for a myriad of students, who are looking for funding, but it comes with a major responsibility; you have to pay the money back with interest. For all of the responsible students out there, there are even more that may have a little trouble with paying back their student loans.

Here are some tips that can be of some assistance:

Borrow What You Need

This cannot be stressed enough. One of the easiest ways to assure some kind of trouble with student loans is to take too much money. While it may be tempting, and definitely a few justifications for it, it's best that it's simply not done. Calculate your education cost, the amount that your family will allocate to your education, as well as any awarded aid that you've received. From there, you can determine how much you'll actually need, not exactly the amount that the institution is willing to offer you. Of course, you don't have to accept all of the money that you happen to be offered.

Shop Around

When you're looking into student loans, you quickly come to understand that you have more than one option. And while there are definitely options, not all of them are the best. If you're thinking about alternative loans, you'll need to compare the fees, repayment options, borrower benefits, as well as the interest rates. There are times where these loans may be better than primary loans, and your college may recommend some lenders. Only you can decide whether they'll be the best for your endeavors. Also, be sure to check out a few Student Loan Comparison calculators, as they may be able to help.

Get a Job

If you're working, you simply won't have to borrow as much. While this may definitely make this a bit tougher for some students, it's a great way to assure that you're not paying a lot of the money back. Also, it helps the student learn a bit more responsibility, which may help them do better in school. In fact, most students who have some sort of job in college do quite a bit better than those who don't have a job at all.

If you're thinking about acquiring some student loans, it's best to understand some of the ways that will keep you from paying a lot of money back to the lender.

There are many student loans available online, visit my site to learn how to get a student loan the easy way.

What Is the "Real" Cost of College? The Answer Will Shock You!

We all know that sending your kid's to college although necessary, is very expensive. Unfortunately, many parents are shocked when they discover the real costs they never considered and it's often too late to do anything about.

So what are these costs? First, let's start with the Colleges themselves.

Estimated Cost of Attendance

Every college by law has to post their estimated annual Cost of Attendance on their school's website. The cost of attendance is much more that tuition and room & board. There are books, lab fees, travel expenses and other miscellaneous fees(this is where they throw everything else, even fees not yet know). This seems pretty straight forward right?...Wrong!

If you ask any parent who has sent their kid's to college if the quoted cost was higher or lower that what they really paid, the answer is always "We paid much more then we expected!' -100% of the time.

The single biggest cost factor though is how long it takes a college to graduate your child.

Parents are still under the false assumption that college is a 4-year financial commitment. The reality is that 53% of colleges cannot graduate their students in less than 6-years! Do you know for sure the schools you're planning on sending your kids to will hit the 4-year target? If not, your costs are already 50% higher that you may have thought! What is really shocking is that the colleges do NOT post these statistics on their websites so most parents are blind to this massive price variable.

Cost of Financing the College Costs

Statistically, less that 10% of families have saved enough money to send ONE of their children to college for ONE Year. This means that 90% of families have to finance the entire college bill (each year for each child) and 10% have to finance almost all of the college bill for one of their kid's and all of the bill for the rest!

Furthermore, most parents are unaware of how costly college loans are. The traditional Student Loans are 6.5% but are capped at $31,000 TOTAL for the entire time in college. The rest has to be financed by the parents at a rate of 7.9% plus 4% in fees! Each loan has a scheduled 10 year repayment period after graduation.

Let's do the math...Assuming 4-years in college @ $25,000 per year=$100,000 But, if loans are needed to pay the bill, your costs will look like this: $31,000(Student Loans) @ 6.5% repaid in 10 years=$42,240 Plus $69,000 (Parent Loans) @ 7.9% repaid in 10 years=$100,022 Total Cost=$142,262 Cost to Finance an already expensive college education= $42,262!

Wouldn't you rather spend that money elsewhere?

Opportunity Costs of Choosing the Wrong College

Many families, especially the middle and upper middle class families make all the wrong moves when choosing the college to spend their hard-earned money at. Unfortunately, the consequences are crippling for student and parent alike.

Opportunity cost of choosing the wrong college can be defined as the loss of potential gain elsewhere by NOT making better strategic choices. Examples of this opportunity cost would be:

How long it will take a college graduate before they land a job. This is caused by a college having a poor career placement history and limited opportunities for career advancing internships. If you child chooses the wrong college and it takes 2 years to get the job they always wanted, the opportunity cost would be Salary NOT earned over that 2 year period. If their staring salary is $35,000 then the opportunity cost would be $70,000 ($35,000 x 2 years waiting for a job)Poor college financing choices and the negative impact on your other life goals. Using the financing example above, the opportunity cost would be $42,262. This is YOUR money that you no longer have available to pay other household expenses, pay for other kid's activities or fund your retirement goals.Comparing colleges without considering their discount probabilities for your family. Let's assume you are considering two colleges with very similar sticker prices ($25k per year). With strategic student positioning & leveraging, College A will discount their price by $5,000 per year. This is a $20k savings over a four-year period. The opportunity cost of choosing to send your child to College B is what that $5,000 could have done for you elsewhere. In this example, let's use retirement. If you are 50 years of age and you plan to retire at 65, your opportunity cost on your future retirement would be $42,013 ($5,000 saved at 6% for 4 years and compounded until retirement @ age 65).

It is absolutely essential that you consider each and every one of these costs BEFORE you settle on a college.

Ignoring any of these cost factors is simply too expensive.

Ken Schreiber is the Host of 'College Bound' on AM560 WIND in Chicago.

If you would like additional information about Paying for College Without Draining Your Retirement, visit http://www.collegefundingexperts.com/ to access additional information and special consumer reports.

3 Good Ways to Pay for College Without Loans

Being in college brings more than education. Students are dreaming of a professional career and a successful life. In finding their way to college, most people nowadays just depend on loans. They have no money, although; they still want to have a high level education. With the economic crisis and recession we are all facing now, many borrow from banks. This is indeed not a very wise decision to make. An average college student must have five figures of income in order to finance his or her education and pay it back successfully upon graduation. Many struggle in borrowing as well as paying off their debts upon entering the workplace.

However, there are many ways to pay for college even without loans. While student loans have low interest rates to help students reach their dreams, they should only be part of the overall plan in paying for your education. Financial aid might be the easiest solution to parents' concerns in financing tuition fees in the short term but somehow, it will be the hardest in the coming years when paying debt back is a priority. Here are a few options available in helping students to pay for their educations, as well as their parents to prepare for college expenses without borrowing more than is absolutely necessary:

First, there are many scholarship offers made by different companies. You should be keen and fast in applying for scholarships. Also, you need to apply as early as possible when applications are first starting to be accepted. You must show off your talents and skills because not all scholarship grants are based on the academic performance of a student. You do not have to be genius. You do not have to get top grades to avail of one. Also, there is no discrimination in getting a scholarship. Scholarships are designed to promote the well being of students.

Second, you can actually work for a portion of the money to pay for college tuition. During your summer or school breaks is the best time to look for a job. You may also consider working in your school part time, but you must also know that there are limitations. You should consider attempting to have a balanced work-school life. Be sure that school comes first with additional work time second. The good thing about working while in school is that you will be able to explore what you really want to become in the future. Having a job will help you earn money and save up for college and related expenses while lessening the money you will have to borrow.

Additionally, you can check to see if your employer offers tuition assistance or reimbursement. Many employers have a tuition reimbursement program for working students which helps to lower your overall debt.

Get started keeping your expenses down right away. Here is a list of popular scholarships for you to start your research with an you can read more about how to pay for college without student loans in this article. Anything you can do to borrow less will make starting your future that much easier.