How to Pay for College

By Dr. Lisa M. Wiśniewski 

There are many things to consider when making the decision to attend college. This includes what program of study you would like to pursue, how to balance school with the rest of your life, and how long you would like to attend college for. One of the most common questions about college is how to pay for college. This can also be a major barrier to entering college because of the cost of tuition, lack of resources to fund a college education, or being unaware of programs available to assist with funding a college education. 

While paying the tuition to attend may be the major area of concerns, there are additional financial considerations that may need to be addressed before attending college. The first is, balancing personal finances and college finances. For the personal finances, this includes items such as paying for housing, food, and transportation. This includes all personal needs. For the college finances, this includes all the items associated with college such as tuition, books, study materials (ex. internet at home, school supplies, or paying for services such as tutoring), or conference fees. The second item is time available to work. Most college students are working while they attend school. Once enrolled in college, the time in class takes away from time to work. This typically means a decrease in the number of hours that students can work and a decrease amount of money that they make. As a result, this can impact their lifestyle and opportunities. Lastly, students are concerned with how much money they will make after graduating with a degree. This is a major unknown as students will not know where they will work until after college, therefore not knowing how much money they will make. This topic is important to review options of paying back any student loans that are acquired during college. This may be another barrier in the process of enrolling in college. 

While there are many financial concerns about college, there are many benefits to attending college. This includes the knowledge that is gained in completing course work, the completion of a goal, and the financial opportunities that are possible after obtaining a college degree. There are also resources that can help with financing a college education. There are a few options to consider paying for college. Here is a quick list of some of these options: 

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) 

In the United States, FAFSA is the most common way to fund a college education. This provides federal funds to finance a college degree. Students will need to complete an application to see what their eligibility is. The department then notifies the student what their options are. This can be a combination of grants and loans. Given the complexity of this, it is important to share this information with your school so a financial aid officer can help to explain the differences, understand how much money a grant or a loan is, and what these funds can be utilized for. Students can then decide about how much of the money they will take. It is no cost to apply, and you do not have to accept all the money. It is worth filling out and checking out what the options are. Here is the link to the website: https://studentaid.gov/

Employment 

In the modern era, most students are working while they are enrolled in college. This is due to the economic times and the necessity of the cost of living. Also, many students are coming back to school later in their lives. As a result, it is likely that they have additional responsibilities such as maintaining a household or have their own children. It is important to review what benefits your employer has for education. Some employers will support their employees through providing tuition funds, scholarships, time off work, or opportunities to use other funding sources to pay for the cost of college. It is important to review these options and find what resources are available. 

Scholarships 

Scholarship is another great way of funding a college education. This is typically money that is given out to help students cover the cost of tuition or to pay for needs (ex. to purchase a computer for school). As a result, scholarship money is money that does not have to be paid back. There are many organizations that give out scholarships to students. It is important to research and review all types of scholarships. This can include scholarships available at your school or through outside organizations. There are several organizations that provide scholarship money. Take the time to research this. It may be time consuming, but it may be financially helpful to take this time. 

I hope these tips can assist with getting the financial resources to complete a college education 🙂