The average cost of public college tuition for the academic year 2019-2020 is estimated to be $10,440 – with its private counterparts averaging around $36,880 – which goes to show just how expensive college education has become in today’s world.
Essay assignment help experts notify this has created a lot of unforeseen socio-economic problems; most importantly student loan debts since more than half of the young American adults have taken some form of debt for their education.
The choice of college depends a lot on the family’s educational as well as financial background, the area of study, the availability of financial aid programs, and whether the student would need to relocate to another city or state to attend the desired college.
As an aspiring student who wants to achieve academic excellence, you would need to decide early on the choice of subject and corresponding options for colleges so that there is a set goal ahead of you to work towards.
A little bit of planning could make a world of difference and save you a lot of student loans. Here are some tips to help you plan better. On the surface, it seems clear that public colleges are financially more affordable as compared to private colleges but there has always been a tough competition to get into a good public university.
It is basic supply and demand – if more students want to attend a prestigious public university with reasonable tuition fees, the higher the merit score needs to be for the prospective student to be admitted. Private colleges do provide a wider range of subject areas and greater capacity to absorb the students but all that comes at a cost.
1. Apply for Financial Aid or Scholarships
Once you have decided on the area of study, search for programs that are partially or fully funded so that you have a considerable financial burden off your shoulders, to begin with. There are a lot of websites and exclusive search portals where you could get more information on which colleges and universities provide scholarships for what subject areas.
2. Work Part-time
Working part-time might offer some refuge from constant penny-pinching and stressing about an unforeseen expenditure. You can find different jobs within your neighborhood like mowing lawns, babysitting, working odd jobs at the local businesses, or work online as a freelancer.
3. Set up a ‘College Fund’ donation box
In addition to the aforementioned tips, you may also ask your family members and extended relatives to donate money into your ‘College Fund’ box, bank account, or more specifically college savings account. Instead of gifts or grand birthday parties, what’s a better gift than that of higher education from your family?
Keep updating them on the contributions on a regular basis so that everyone knows how far the goal remains.
4. Sell off all non-essential possessions
As a young student, it might be a lot to ask of you to only survive on essential items but this is one thing that might decide your future for the better. All of us have a lot of unused for a long time, unworn, outgrown, and yet expensive and not-so-expensive-but-functional possessions that just seem hard to part with.
But with a goal in mind, you could collect all such items and put them up for sale. If might not sound like much but every penny counts.
5. Participate in cash-winning contests
Keep a lookout for any contests where you could win cash prizes. If you have any extraordinary talent, be it in academics or arts, you should definitely try your luck and add to your college savings fund in case of winning.
There are a lot of competitions being held on an annual or monthly basis like the Americanism Essay Contest, Junior Composers Award, Think Challenges where you could win up to $10,000.
For all these tips to work, proper planning and an abundance mindset are required. With meticulous budgeting and employing saving strategies to curb expenses early on in life, every aspiring student could dream big without feeling restrained by financial obstacles.