College is becoming more and more expensive by the year, and sadly this means that fewer people are able to afford the education that they deserve. However, with these tips you could be saving a considerable amount on your education, and hopefully giving you more of an edge in that competitive job market.
Consider community colleges: Many people frown upon community college as they don’t believe that they offer the best education. However, did you know that community colleges are now better at providing education than they were in the past? So why not attend your local community college and take just your core classes? This is great for earning credit towards your degree. It also means that you won’t be wasting time at your final college on core classes, and thus not having to spend as much money on accommodation. Remember, community colleges are generally cheaper as well, so you will be saving money on the courses that you undertake.
Transferring for degree: When you want to complete your degree you can always transfer from the community college to the place that you want. Remember, you have a much greater chance of being accepted for the degree as you would have already completed a substantial portion of education. Your final degree will also be issued by the college, and that is what you tell employers. Remember, people still have the false impression that community colleges are some bad entity, and you can just show them a degree from your newest college, they don’t need to know you attended community college.
Clep out of core classes: You may not have heard of this, but did you know that you can ‘CLEP Out’ of the Core classes at community college? This is going to cut down your costs of attending college by almost one third. You can drop one of your core classes and take a CLEP examination it is place. This accounts for the same amount of credit of the course, and it is accepted by colleges and universities up and down the country as a legitimate amount of credit. This is so much cheaper than attending normal courses, and this is one of the main reasons why people start off at community college. There are a lot of CLEP examinations out there, so make sure you choose the right one.
Of course, one of the biggest benefits of attending a community college is that it is easy to commute to, that is if you choose one that is in your local area. As you will be breezing through courses here, that will cut down the amount of time that you need at the location where you obtain your final degree, thus not having to pay as much out for things such as accommodation, food and socializing. You could potentially save thousands of dollars as a result, which is by no means a small amount.
Buy second hand: Did you know that many of the things that you need for your college can be bought second hand? This includes course materials and books. Normally there will be a shop local to the college which sells second hand books, so why not get your list and root through the selection there? Alternatively you can visit websites such as Amazon, or even eBay in order to pick up your course materials. From time to time you will find students listing books that they have for sale on college noticeboards, so check those out. Bear in mind they often sell out quick though!
Following along the same path of second hand books, there are plenty of websites online which have been set up especially for this purpose, although this time you won’t be purchasing second hand books. Instead you will be purchasing brand new books which you resell back to the website at a fixed price at the end of the semester, you will often end up getting a much higher price than you would normally have received if you sold them second hand, and thus you will putting a substantial amount of money back in your pocket.
Take advantage of college library: Often, many college libraries will stock the ‘core’ books that you need for your course. These will go quickly however. This is a great way to save money as you will not have to shell out much money when you borrow them. But as I said, you need to be quick as a lot of other college students will have exactly the same idea.
Take advanced placements: Another option you have is to start taking Advanced Placement, or AP classes and exams whilst in high school. This will be free or incredibly low priced. The benefit of these courses is that not only will they work to help you get a place in a much better college, but they will also work as ‘credit’ towards a course, which means that you would ultimately be shaving off some time whilst you are at college, and this is going to save a considerable amount of money in the long run. Each college has a difference stance regarding advanced placement credits, so check them out beforehand. Despite these different ‘stances’ however, all colleges will accept them as a means to help you graduate early. Discuss the options of AP with teachers at your school, although of course they will only let you take classes and exam if they really feel that you are excelling at a subject.
This is just a quick highlight about you can save a considerable amount of money to aid your progression towards your degree. They only may be small costs that you save, but it certainly adds up!
If you follow just a few of the tips above then you will be able to save a considerable amount on your college education. This means that when you leave college you will have cut down on the amount of loans that you have by a considerable amount, and as a result, you won’t feel ‘tied down’. Good luck 🙂
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