College Admissions: 7 Ways to Cut College Costs by Up to $120K
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
1. Complete your degree in 3 years.
2. Apply to colleges where you fall in the top 10-20%.
Most colleges determine merit aid based on your GPA (some also use SAT/ACT scores and/or leadership roles). You are unlikely to receive much merit aid at your stretch schools, and you will often get the most at your backups. You can see GPA and SAT ranges to gauge where you stand at sites like Collegedata.
3. Opt for a Co-op.
Students earn significant money at paid internships through colleges with co-operative education programs. Purdue co-op students take home approximately $2300 per month and Cornell engineering co-op students around $3700 per month.
4. Cross the border or hop across the pond!
You can go to the FINEST colleges in Canada, Scotland or Ireland for about half of what it costs to go to most private colleges in the U.S. Tuition, books, room and board at McGill or St. Andrew’s total approximately $28,000 per year. Stack that up against George Washington University’s whopping $58,000 per year, and you could save more than $120K over 4 years.
5. Give back to your country.
Programs like the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), Teach for America, City Year and Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) provide funds during college or help pay off loans in return for a service commitment after college.
6. Stay in New England.
The New England Regional Student Program allows students to attend another New England state university, if a program of study that you wish to pursue is not offered in-state. Students from the Bay State can study Actuarial Science at UConn, Environmental Engineering at UNH, or Russian at UVM, just to name a few options. The savings? About $28,000 over 4 years!
7. Consider Community College.
Most colleges today have a number of core courses you must take. A great way to save money is to start out at community college fulfilling these requirements. Then, transfer after your sophomore year. Most Community Colleges also have articulation agreements with dozens of 4-year colleges that guarantee acceptance if you have a certain GPA (usually around 2.5).
Cristiana Quinn, M.Ed. is the founder of College Admission Advisors, LLC which provides strategic college counseling, SAT prep and athletic recruiting services www.collegeadvisorsonline.com.
Related Articles
- College Admissions: 5 Fixes for Low SATs
- College Admissions: Campus Visit Questions You Need to Ask
- College Admissions: 10 Western Colleges Worth a Summer Road Trip
- College Admissions: 3 Myths About the SATs
- College Admissions: 4 Ways to Avoid Application Rejection
- College Admissions: 4 Ways to Avoid Making the Wrong Decision
- College Admissions: 4 Ways to Increase Your Financial Aid Package
- College Admissions: 4 Ways to Survive Early Admissions
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It