Three Ways to Self-fund College
The idea that parents should pay for their children's college education is a nice one, but it's far from a reality for many students. Whatever the case may be, it's time to take a good look at your options for funding college on your own.
Turn over every stone.
If you're not a straight-A genius who could easily win college scholarships, there's good news: Check out these popular College Confidential threads to see which awards average and above-average students are aiming at. Are your parents retirees? Are you a first-generation student? Is your family attached to any church or community groups? (Seriously, there are scholarships for all those things.) The secret to scoring major cash is following every possible source of funding.
Instead of going straight to a four-year institution, many students are choosing to start out at an affordable community college and transfer later. If these are options that could work for you, just be sure you have a solid plan in place, and don't let yourself get sidetracked from your goal of earning a college degree.
Take what you can get.
Remember that not all valuable contributions are monetary（与钱有关的. It's time to sit down with your parents and have a serious talk about other expenses they might be able to help you with. You can save several thousand per year on housing. What about books, meals, and other expenses? Even relatively small savings can be a huge leg up in the long run.
A.Take an alternative route.
B.You don't need to be a genius to qualify for scholarships.
C.If they're fine about letting you live at home, that's great.
D.Think about if you can afford a price of around $10,000 per year.
E.Recent studies show a widespread lack of understanding of the real cost of college.
F.Similarly, some choose to take a year or two off after high school to save up as much as possible.
G.Some parents believe the responsibility of paying for college should fall on the person seeking a degree— that's you.
