To be honest, I have no idea why I am writing this post! I think my subconscious mind wants me to check if there is any substantial increase in the feed count………but jokes apart, I feel that college and grad studies in particular can get really expensive and for many, would accumulate into thousands of dollars in debt. To tackle the seemingly ever increasing financial burden; there are a few pointers available which I am posting here as such with little or no modifications. The points here are particularly useful for US citizens who qualify for in-state tuitions and federal student loans! However, the basic techniques to save up on costs remain the same for everyone!
· Credit cards are your biggest challenge. If you can resist their allure and be strategic about their use, you could graduate without hefty interest rates on excessive balances hanging over your head.
· Paying Too Much for Your Education: Consider public college/university; If you’re in the process of choosing which schools to apply for and you are a US citizen, you may want to consider attending a community school or college for your freshman and sophomore years, especially if you’re still trying to figure out what you want to do with your college degree or even what to major in. You could end up paying big bucks for your general education requirements before you’ve fine-tuned your educational palate. By starting out at a community college, you can get your core requirements out of the way and even try out classes in several different departments, knowing it’s not costing you what most universities would charge. You could potentially save yourself thousands of dollars and graduate with less student loan debt. Once you have a major in mind and a focused course load that directly applies to your degree, you can spend your junior and senior years at the college of your choice. You’ll get your diploma from a four-year college or university, but you’ll have saved money in the process, and your student loans will be more manageable when you graduate.
· Stay home for two years. If community college isn’t for you, consider attending your hometown university and applying the same mentality. Save money with two years of in-state tuition, get your basics out of the way and then move on to greener pastures at the out-of-state or private college of your choice. Just be sure to ask which credits are transferable when you’re enrolling for classes, so you don’t end up behind when you make your move.
· Dead set on four years at a private or out-of-state university?
You have cost-cutting options too. If you’re interested in off-campus housing, for example, see if your school offers a free shuttle service to neighbouring apartment complexes like the University of Texas at Austin does. You could save money on gas and a parking decal and save time by not having to circle endlessly for a parking spot. You can also cut school and living costs by shopping around for cheap textbooks or buying things like toilet paper, shampoo and other everyday basics in bulk.
· Spending Your Student Loan Money on Non–School-Related Things: Student loans are for school only. As you go through your financial aid package and you’re deciding how much of your student loans to accept, keep in mind that when you sign your promissory notes, you’re certifying that you’re only going to use your student loan money for school expenses. If the only reason you’re maxing out on your student loans is because you want to finance a new plasma TV or upgrade to an iPhone, you’re doing something your signature on legal documents specifically says you won’t do. Remember that you’re going to be paying off those loans for the next 10 to 30 years. Once you get that loan check, after your tuition and other school fees have been paid, you might feel like you’ve got a nice surplus to go all-out on a back-to-school wardrobe, but what happens a few months down the road when you need a couple more books that suddenly got added to your syllabus? Or four years later when you realize you owe $20,000? So when you’re mulling over your college budget, make sure you use your financial aid wisely and only for your educational expenses. And if you don’t need the money for school—a true investment in yourself—don’t add to your debt. The latest gadget won’t help you land a great job, but your education will. Don’t underestimate what you need. On the other hand, it’s OK to take out the full amount of your student loan if you need to pay for necessities like books, a parking permit or student health insurance. Don’t skimp on your student loan money just to end up charging school expenses to your credit card, which could carry an interest rate three times as high as your federal student loan and which you’ll have to start paying back right away—unlike your student loans, which you can usually postpone repaying until you’ve left school. Your goal should be to graduate with as little debt as possible so you can be free of your credit cards and student loans in a few years instead of realizing you’re 40 and still paying off that Xbox you bought 20 years ago. The less debt you accumulate now as a college student, the closer you’ll be to financial freedom when you have to go out into the world and stand on your own two feet.
For students from US, Stafford loans, Federal Student Grants (FAFSA) and other financial agencies are available!
Source: http://www.nextstudent.com/ , http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/
