I’m trying to help my younger cousin figure out how to pay for college, and the whole process feels way more confusing than it should.
They’ve already filled out FAFSA, looked at the obvious scholarships, and are trying to avoid taking on a huge amount of loans. The problem is that most advice online seems to repeat the same things: “apply for scholarships,” “go to community college first,” or “work part-time.”
For students who are actually in college right now, or people who recently helped someone pay for it: what’s an underrated way students are paying for college right now besides loans?
I’m especially curious about options people don’t talk about enough, and that you would tell them to look into before they go taking private loans.
How do people pay for college; Looking for underrated ways that are easy for students to overlook
byu/mudpies2 inStudentLoans
Posted by mudpies2
27 Comments
You take on massive amounts of crippling debt and then have your wages garnished until you’re 55.
Quit looking for hacks.
Eh, hate to be that guy but he can “apply for scholarships,” “go to community college first,” or “work part-time.”
There’s no cheat code or anything waiting. To pay college tuition you either need to ask somebody else to pay for it (military service, athletic or academic merit scholarships, etc), get credits somewhere cheaper, take a loan, or make the money.
It’s just expensive now. No getting around it, and he has to plan around those options. I went through something like this a few years ago and while well intentioned, the older folks trying to get me to find some “creative alternative way” were functionally distracting me from working towards what actually would get me there.
Do I know anecdotes of people who pulled off different paths? Sure. But it was either something illicit or some luck-based opportunity that wasn’t replicable advice.
Regrettably, Feet Pics. You can also sell your used socks/shoes.
I just saw the university a friends kid goes to gives free tuition to people w parents making under 200k so maybe that would help?
If they’re attractive and female? OnlyFans. Attractive and male? Stripper.
Have them look hard at employer tuition benefits. Not just Starbucks/Amazon type stuff either: hospitals, banks, city jobs, insurance companies, even school districts sometimes pay tuition. It’s not free-free because you’re working, but it can cut loans way down if the schedule is survivable.
I guess the “hack” is national guard or reserves. Then your college is paid for
Community college to reduce total cost, risk dying for your country to make it free, have income to pay for it, take out loans, these are the options
Oh sure, there’s loads of cheap, easy, and underrated ways to pay for college. The reason everyone else in the country saves carefully, applies around, works through it and takes out loans is because they’re all morons who never thought to ask.
It sucks but college is just expensive and there’s less help available than there should be. He can follow the options already listed in your post or he can get an employer to pay for it. Starbucks will reimburse online tuition at Arizona State, and I think some other companies have similar programs. The military can help too.
Otherwise, reduce expenses as much as possible, work, apply to scholarships, and take out loans.
If they’re already enrolled or close to choosing a school, tell them to ask about school-specific aid appeals and completion grants. Financial situations change, FAFSA misses context, and some colleges have small internal funds they don’t advertise much. A polite email to financial aid + the department advisor can genuinely matter.
See what your state offers. Minnesota offers two years of free community college for every graduate. Then, if there are certain programs that are understaffed, see if areas have full rides or loan forgiveness for those programs. Here in Minneapolis and Saint Paul there is a residential college program for teachers. I know there’s something for nurses. Even mortician schools are willing to subsidize work. Same thing goes for trade schools if your person is interested in the trades.
Go to school for something that qualifies for PSLF. I had a friend that paid off all their student loans by going carless and living with their parents for a few years after college, just throwing as much as they could at the loans.
I earned my AA and part of my BA at a community / state school was was $300/ class while working part time then switched to a state university for the rest of my BA that is $800/ class. I work full time, go to college online. I’ll need loans for my masters degree and the Pell grant pays for some. There’s no cheat code
Teaching assistant positions , work study, athletic scholarship to sports like softball, cross country swimming etc, the military, getting klep testing and community college credits transferred . Get your textbooks through interlibrary loan or dirty pdf
If anyone has any ideas or disagrees with me please comment, but idk what you’re looking for besides what you’ve already mentioned.
It really does come down to scholarships, loans, or self financing/having your family pay for it. If you don’t have massive scholarships or a family to pay for your school (most people I’d imagine), your options are loans or self funding (work/savings). If you can’t pay for it yourself, you have to consider the ROI on your degree and how much you’re going to need to take out in loans. Same thing if you’re already in school. It may be worth pushing through, it may be worth taking gap years to save and pay off current loans. It depends on your situation.
IMO taking out anything more than 30K (40-45K when you start paying) for a bachelors is not a good idea. Even if you think it’s worth it, why not do CC first? Why not save thousands of dollars for the same future job? Working and going the CC route are good pieces of advice, and there’s a reason so many people suggest this to those entering or already in college. Trust me I wish I would have listened when I was in school.
The only other thing I can think of in terms of different possibilities is the military, but that’s obviously not for everyone. Even then, you’d still be working and going to school at the same time. Or you could just work in the military and use the gi bill for school when you get out, but that could be years after you join. They don’t cover your tuition during school w/o working unless you’re in post grad (med, law, vet, etc) or have a specific ROTC scholarship.
In my case, I worked full-time (and my employer offered tuition reimbursement, which was a huge help) and took classes only when I could afford them/fit them into my schedule. I did take out one student loan, but I only took out the bare minimum that I really needed. I didn’t take the full amount offered. Did it take me a lot longer to finish my degree? Yes. Did I have any fun during those years when all my time was spent in school/working/studying? No. But I graduated with very little student loan debt whereas other kids my age took out multiple huge loans, didn’t work at all, and didn’t pay a penny towards their loans until long after they had graduated while the interest rates made their amount due skyrocket.
My younger brother did something similar, although he only worked part-time, but did start off at a junior college to complete his prerequisites. So he also graduated with a small amount of student loan debt that was paid off quickly.
Get a job somewhere that offers online degree programs for free. Chipotle is one of them, I think Starbucks has one too.
Community college, clep exams, schools like WGU. You have to be drive and self motivated
my family makes below the poverty line so I get a hefty amount of fafsa refund every semester
There are some state-specific programs that can help pay back student loans, but they are location-dependent. [https://www.earnest.com/blog/all-the-states-that-will-pay-off-your-student-loans](https://www.earnest.com/blog/all-the-states-that-will-pay-off-your-student-loans)
Go to community college first. Get grants or scholarships. Work part time. Or don’t go to college work full time for a couple of years and save money for college. Is the only way. Otherwise you’ll need loans. here is the thing though if you get loans just for tuition is a lot better than getting loans for daily expenses too. Or find a rich uncle or aunt that can help you. sadly it has become more difficult to afford college in recent years. Oh yes I almost forgot you can get a job at a place that sponsors or helps pay for school. .
Taking the time to actually apply for scholarships is probably the most underrated way to pay for college.
You keep seeing the same advice because there are only so many ways to make money.
There is no clickbait magic bullet here. The answer really does come down to “cut costs where you can” and “try to get more money where you can to cover it”, and yes there are absolutely still students who manage to avoid student loans entirely *without* parental support
Depending on where you live? Yes Community College can be the answer. My home state of California has the Promise Grant which can cover the tuition/fees for community college for 2 years, and if you’re paying out of pocket it’s currently $46/credit. You can get an associate’s degree for transfer and get a guaranteed transfer to a CSU system campus (though not necessarily your first choice) and finish up undergrad in 2-3 years. The CSU system schools have tuition/fees in the $7k-$9k range for the most part (Cal Poly is the outlier at UC system pricing) so yes actually you can cover that via federal student loans (if you don’t qualify for the Cal Grant nor Pell Grant) and a part-time job if you have a cheap/free housing option like living with parents/family
Work part-time on-campus is a great route too, especially if you can get a job that is a resume booster. Tutoring for your department looks great. Being a grader looks fantastic on a resume too. Some campus desk/reception jobs let you study when it’s quiet. There are plenty of part-time job options that aren’t food service
I agree with others comments. Get a job somewhere that helps with tuition, go to community college first, maintain a part time job, then try to enter university with no debt.
Continually apply for scholarships from the colleges and from outside the colleges. Dont be afraid to email the appropriate college office and voice how you cant afford it. Youd be surprised but this is a great way to get your college to reduce your tuition through scholarships.
I put myself through school at a UC (in state for me) back when minimum wage was 4.25 an hour. I lived at home and commuted an hour each way to school. I worked 25 to 30 hours a week. For 4 years my life was work study eat sleep. I missed holidays for 4 years because that was when you get 1.5 hourly rate. I had to switch out of a major I loved into an easier major because I didn’t have enough time to study for my first choice. My first jobs were hard to get but it’s really easy for me to earn a high income now. I also bought a townhouse by myself at 24 because I had no loans. I tell my kids there’s only two choices- hustle now or hustle later. The earlier you start hustling the easier your future life will be. I am taking care of my kids education so they don’t have to do what I did.
Move to Germany for college.
Look to see places to work that pay for school.