How am I ever going to afford to pay for college?
It's a sad day that most of us experience, but never talk about. It happens to you shortly after graduating high school. Your parents have supported you your whole life, why would they not support you through college? Then, they finally tell you. They need to start saving for retirement, and have no more money for you. You are on your own now.
Finally, reality hits in and you feel the sinkingness as you start thinking about how much debt you will be going in. Where are you going to come up with $40,000 plus for college? You thought that by this age you would be on your own and living it up! Now, you are slowly beginning to realize that this isn't going to be the way you thought it would. You now have to decide if you are going to live poor and in debt in order to get your lifestyle, or you can choose to be debt free at the expense of some major sacrifices. The choice isn't easy, but there is a solution to help ease the burden on you.
How to Pay for College
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This article is for those of you who will need some financial help. Being humble and telling someone you need help is never easy, but if there is money available for you then why not compete for it? There are scholarships, government grants, and student loans available that all contain their own specific merit or need based requirements. I hope this information can help you get started in the right direction.
Your first option is the government grants option. Government grants for college include grants like the Pell grant program, as well as nursing student loan repayment grants. You can see a complete list of government grants for college at the CFDA government website. The nice thing about these types of government grants is that your colleges financial aid department can help you apply for them. However, most don't help you apply for all types of funding.
Second option is for you to look into private scholarships and private grants for college. Corporations, private foundations, and even individual grant makers all give away grants and scholarships. The problem is that these grant makers do not advertise their offers, and therefore you need someone who searches for these offers by hand. I personally perfer using the Foundation Center Online where you will be able to see most if not all of the private grants for college and scholarhips available. They offer their hand updated directory service for about $10 bucks a month. As stated above, most college financial aid offices do not work with people like this, so if you are interested in private sources of funding you will need to do the work the right way and do it yourself.
Your last option is the student loan option. Unfortunately, most student financial aid officers make you think it's your first and only option. Remember, these people are there to do a job, and that is to get you in their school. Low interest student loans may sound like easy money, but once you realize that you will be spending your whole life paying off this debt you may have second thoughts. Do not be afraid to tell your folks that you are not going to college right away because you cannot afford it. You do not want to be a debt slave, especially not in this economy. There is no guarantee that you will get the job you desire just because you have a degree. Use your head, if you need a loan, go to a community college, and take out a small loan. Need a lot of money? Perhaps a small loan with a lot of grants and scholarships is the right direction. Just whatever you do, do not go into debt unless your heart and your mind tell you it is the right thing to do!
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College Grant and Scholarship Resources:
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