Reducing or Eliminating Student Loan Debt

[kita]

Well, since everyone is hot and bothered about the issue of whether you should get student loans, I thought I could start a thread on a positive note.
What are your ideas on how to REDUCE or ELIMINATE your student loans?
My parents told me they would pay zilch on my college tuition, but I could live at home while I was in school. That worked great while I was in community college but there were no state colleges near enough for me to attend the last years. Everyone's story is different.

So, my ideas are:

Attend CC.
Get a small short term degree before attending a four year degree. I knew a girl whose father paid for her 2 year RN. She hated nursing. Her father's decision (they were asian and it was his choice) was that he would help pay for the 2 yr degree and THEN what ever 4 year degree she wanted. If she dropped out of nursing, she would get nothing. While I wouldn't agree with forcing a child to do something she hated, I was making $3 an hour working for the college and she was working 16 hours on the weekends making $15+ an hour. She said she would merge her accounting degree with the nursing and specialize in accounting for hospitals.
Find a job you can study at so you can work more hours.
I work at a group home for mentally handicapped adults. The overnight shift (10-12 hours a night) requires about 2 hours of cleaning, 2-3 hours of "getting the guys up in the morning routine". that leaves 6-10 hours of study time a night. I don't think you could work 7 days a week like this. but a couple of weekend shifts would leave you all caught up on your American Lit reading.

So, any other ideas? Not all ideas will work for everyone, but it will be interesting to see the list....

[Greebo]

Great thread idea!

[ladykemma2]

i had pretty good financial aid, so on the quarters when we weren't traveling, i had classes on monday, wednesday, and friday, and worked in a nursing home (CNA) on tuesday, thursday, and saturday. (edited: and any 3-11 shift, when they were shorthanded). my on campus apartment was across the street from the nursing home so it was handy.

my degree involved a lot of travel and camping. to study hummingbirds, or seagulls, or whatever/wherever my advisors needed to go.

[kita]

And isn't CNA one of the few certificates that an employer will hire you and then immediately pay you to get the classes? And it can be done in a summer?

[Contrary Housewife]

Getting a job definitely helps, though in my experience the pay and hours were low so I still had huge tuition bills. With some financial aid you can't work a real job and get payments at the same time, so you're limited on the hours you can work.

Check and see if there are limits on how much tuition you pay. The state school I went to had a cap at 12 credit hours (4 classes). So if I took a 5th class I didn't have to pay for it. Yes, it was extra work, and some semesters were rough, but I saved thousands each year.

[monkeywrangler71]

When I was in university some students worked as residence assistants, supervising their floor, and their room and board was paid for by the university.

[Neeley]

We enrolled DD in college while still in HS. At this particular university the classes can count for HS credit as well as college credit, if they are home schooled. The student has to take a core class like History, English, Biology, etc...not elective or upper level (junior or senior) classes. The university allows the students to take more than one class per semester, but they only discount the first class. Each class would normally cost $1200 per semester, but through the early enrollment program the first class taken each semester only costs $90. Students can enroll in their 9th grade year of HS, take up to three classes at the reduced rate per year (1 in fall semester, 1 in winter semester, and 1 in summer semester). By the time they graduate from HS most already have 12 classes completed costing them less than one class at the normal rate.

[kita]

I had forgotten about that. AP classes in high school (with passing a test) can count towards generals...ie core classes. And in college you can test out of some classes. I wonder if you combine them, you can take 4 years in 3. I know that there is a limit on how many classes you can test out of, but still. Combine that with AP and a few semesters with extra classes...would be nice.

[MomToTwoBoys]

I totally agree with you on the CC, Kita. People may look down on the concept of CCs, but to be honest they are a really smart way of going about getting a solid education. CCs enable you to invest in your college education at a smaller pace, also allowing you more flexibility to work to help fund your education.

Living at home with your parents past high school was something that most people scoffed at. However, I see that happening with older children here in Canada who happen to be going to college/university in the same city that they grew up in. This is really great, especially if your city/town has fantastic public transit. DH lived with his parents in downtown Calgary and took the C-Train to school at SAIT, which helped him out tremendously.

I'd also highly recommend that people take stepping stone degrees to get to the one that they really want. Want to be a doctor? Go to school to be a nurse first. It's a shorter degree time frame and the experience that you get by working in the field both before and during medical school works fantastically.

[ladykemma2]

And isn't CNA one of the few certificates that an employer will hire you and then immediately pay you to get the classes? And it can be done in a summer?

yes, certified nurse's aide is very handy to have.

[McD]

My high school was (still is) a dual credit high school. Classes were offered and taught by the local community college at the high school and dual credit was given. Only the basics were given while I was in school, but now kids can graduate as a high school senior/college sophomore.

Something that worked for me was that my military credits transferred to college credits--I had enough credits through the military that wehn I started my degree program, I did not have any gen ed requirements.

[kita]

That is so cool...what about scholarships? Does anyone know of good places to look for scholarships?

[bonnotsm9]

I lived with my dad the first two years of college, worked part-time, saved my income and paid my tuition and books with what I'd earned. During that time I never needed to take out any student loans.

I also took several AP exams which gave me several general ed requirements. In college, I didn't have to take English, History, or a foreign language because I'd tested out of them.

I had to take some time off from college because my dad decided to move out of state without me. When I did go back, I was married with children, but since I was independent of my parents by then, my financial aid was higher. My experience was that the higher you got in your coursework, the more scholarships were available through your department. By my junior and senior years of college, my tuition and books were paid entirely by grants and scholarships. My degree was in accounting at a large state university- I don't know how it worked at other colleges and for more popular degrees (accounting is not the most popular degree.)

[Denvergirlie]

I worked pretty much full time during college.
While in CC, saving money as I could as well as last two years to get 4 yrear degree. I also took a random semester off if I needed to make some extra money.
I would schedule my classes on two days of the week, say Monday & Wednesday. Take 2 day classes that met both days and and then a night class on each night as well that only met once a week.
I waited tables/ bartender/ store accountant, my work didn't have any issues changing my schedule every quater to work around my schooling.
In the last year I lived at home again, and did the same thing in terms of schedules but drove 2 hours each way back to major university to take classes.
One of my friends rented a room and stayed in unversity town 3 days a week and then went back "home" for the other 4 days. Rented room was cheaper than full apartment, minimized costs plus was able to keep his old job back in home town.

[frugalfriend]

Living at home while going to school is good, if at all possible. I did that. I also took much longer to get my degree, 7 years! But, it was worth not having any debt at the end. My parents didn't help with any of it, I was on my own too. It is possible. I went to a community college for 3 years and then on to a state college for 4 years, while working full time. I didn't make a lot (worked in retail mgmt. and then as an accounting clerk) but enough to pay for tuition, books, parking, car expenses, etc. because I lived at home for the first 5 years I was in college.