Three Ways to Pay for College

By Steve Sheehan

If you've been looking at colleges recently, you've probably been shocked at the expense. Just who in the world do these people think they are charging so much? If you want to go to college, though, you're going to have to come up with a way to pay, and this article is here to help.

As it turns out, there are three major ways of funding your college education. The first way is to simple earn or save enough money to pay for college straight up. Secondly, you can have money given to you, in the form of scholarships are grants. These are great! Finally, you can borrow money from several sources.

First, let us discuss the savings options. To save enough money for college, you need time. Starting early is the best way to go if you possible can (and I know many can't). You also want to make sure your money is tax sheltered, so look into getting a so called 529 savings plan. These can be set up at many banks and financial institutions.

Scholarships and grants are another great way of getting the money you need. In these cases, the money is simply given to you. Of course, you do need to be eligible for the scholarship, which means that you need to fit the criteria for the scholarship. However, there are all sorts of scholarships out there, so you probably fit into at least one of the listed scholarship categories. Be sure to apply, though! Many people don't, and loose out on free money.

If you still don't have enough money, you'll need a loan. Student loans are one of the nicer types of loans you can have, but you'd still rather remain debt free if possible. There are two types of loans, goverment and private. Let's see what each has to offer.

The standard Stafford loan is a typical example of a government backed loan. These loans are easily obtained, but may not have enough money to cover all students. Still, these loans are vastly preferable to most other loans, as they have quite a few forgiving options. If you don't have enough money from these, you'll have to go with a private loan, which may or may not have very good terms in comparison. Always shop around if you're going with a private loan.

So, I hope you can see that there are a myriad of options to help you pay for college. Good luck!

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