how did you pay for College?

[historyincognito]

I was wondering how many people went to college and took out loans, or on the flip side payed for your College out of your pocket?

 

[blackribbon]

best way is to find a community college and pay as you go...

 

[vanillaicecream]

My parents supported me at first. Then I applied for a scholarship.

 

[Bobthemotorcycle]

.

 

[historyincognito]

Hey I am 34 and going back to college, I would like to see where the Lord takes me. Yes I am taking a online class during the summer. I am planning to pay out of pocket all the way through.

 

[KitKatMatt]

I was extremely lucky my first go, a family member had put aside 10,000 for me in a college fund. I'm very, very grateful for their generosity. Other family members were helped like this, too.

I'm about to go to college again though, and I'll have to apply for every grant or scholarship I can get my hands on.

 

[TheGirlOnFire]

We don;t pay here in Scotland, Education is Free for everyone to access not just the rich or middle class

 

[Blue Wren]

University is free in Sweden. I am in the US, for a year, on an exchange programme, that does cost money. I received, a scholarship, for all of it, including the airfare. This was great luck. I do still have to pay for the language courses I'm taking at the university, but, they are not so expensive.

 

[KitKatMatt]

The thing I'm worried about the most in going back to school, is how I am going to afford my health insurance. It's not terribly expensive, but if my income is 0 then it's too much.

I'm planning on going to college full time and quitting my job. I've tried working and going to school before, and it was impossible, so this is weighing heavily on me. I would go into debt in just a couple of months because of medicine and doctors expenses without it.

 

[Blue Wren]

How does "Obama care" work? Could you qualify for that, KitKatMatt?

As a foreigner, I was required to buy private insurance, for the year I'm here. It was expensive. I think, US citizens, they are eligible for insurance now, if they cannot afford it?

 

[KitKatMatt]

How does "Obama care" work? Could you qualify for that, KitKatMatt?

As a foreigner, I was required to buy private insurance, for the year I'm here. It was expensive. I think, US citizens, they are eligible for insurance now, if they cannot afford it?

I am already on a plan introduced after the ACA passed (and am super happy with it) with a subsidy, and I might be able to get an even better price at the end of the year when I put in new information to get next year's subsidy, but I'd still have five months of payments until that point. And if the subsidy provided with my new status as unemployed and a student doesn't drop it even lower than it is now, I'm not sure if my family can help (they're all seniors and on social security income, which is pretty hard to stretch).

Depending on how much you earn, you can get a subsidy. Mine is a huge help because I only make minimum wage. The real cost of my plan is over $250 a month, but with the subsidy it's $72. I don't know how much it would be once I am unemployed and a student, though.

 

[High Fidelity]

Student loans. Loan system here is decent so it doesn't bother me.

 

[Nanopants]

I took full advantage of community college, lucked out with room and board, was awarded some grants and took out a small loan.

 

[JojotheBeloved]

Grants, Scholarships, Awards, Private donations from church community, and a lot of work on my part... and I still had to finish it off with loans.

 

[JackofSpades]

Is it possible/easy to study part time in college in US? Or is it same prize that way? I mean, that way person could work part time and study part time at same time, at least in theory

 

[blackribbon]

KitKat ... talk to your insurance rep because with 0 income I believe you will qualify for medicaid at no cost and you don't have to wait until the end of the year because you will have a "change of life" when you stop working so can get the different insurance mid-year. I would start talking now so that you already have the facts when it is time and it is one less thing to deal with at the time.

Some colleges also offer discounted plans to students at their school. Ask in the counseling office about this.

As for online classes (not an online degree program) and it took every bit as much effort as my on campus classes with the same due dates. The difference was I didn't have to sit in a class with a liberal instructor (psychology class) and I could do my work and weekly submissions between midnight & 2am after my kids were in bed. We had to submit essays on topics weekly and then comment on at least two other people's submissions along with taking tests which required reading the text book. I can't remember if our tests were timed, but I know the instructors had the ability to time limit them and make it so that you couldn't come & go from an exam if they wanted to. After that class, I decided most classes were easier to take in person. Though my microbiology instructor still had us take weekly quizzes online so that he didn't have to use his class time for those. Now online university degrees often don't carry the same credibility as schools with campuses and many employers or universities don't consider them "real" degrees so they may make it difficult to get the job you want or more advanced degrees. Do your homework if an online school is being considered and "buyer beware".

I didn't qualify for an financial aid beyond loans at the community college level because I already had a bachelor's degree. However, paying my own way was significantly cheaper even without the aid. I did apply for and get a scholarship almost every semester after I was accepted into the nursing program.

And guess what...there are a lot of people going to school full-time and working full-time because they don't have any options. I know a significant number of my nursing school classmates were single moms getting very little help from anywhere....and they would come in and do 8 hour clinicals at the hospital, change and run to work a full shift as a waitress or something similar....and others would come to class after working 8 or 12 hour night shifts as nurse's aids in the hospital. The school did have a rule that you couldnt work the midnight shift before coming to a morning clinical...but when you have to put food on the table and keep the electricity on, some people just did what they had to do.

 

[iluvatar5150]

My parents paid for it.

best way is to find a community college and pay as you go...

The truth of that statement is wholly dependent upon what you want to study, what your lifestyle is currently like and what you'd like it to be like in the future. For a lot of people and a lot of subjects, it's not remotely the "best way."

 

[AwesomeSock]

With money.

 

[blackribbon]

My parents paid for it.



The truth of that statement is wholly dependent upon what you want to study, what your lifestyle is currently like and what you'd like it to be like in the future. For a lot of people and a lot of subjects, it's not remotely the "best way."

If you are tight on money, it is the best way to get the first two years out of the way... and I am not sure what kind of lifestyle wouldn't fit a community college. I have a 4 year degree from a major university and just finished my nursing program at a community college...and the quality of the instructors at the community college matched the quality of the university...often better because they had real life experience and understood that we were all under tight budget and many were working full-time. It was not a lesser education. I will have to do one more year online to get my bachelor's in nursing from a 4-year university but that is considered a cakewalk and mostly busywork since I am already an RN. That one year is going to cost more than double the total of 3 years at the community college.

If you are going into a highly specialized program, then save the classes in your major for the 4 year school but take all the general studies classes at the community college and save the money. It isn't worth graduating in a field where you are going to make less than $50,000 /year and having literally tens of thousands of dollar in debt. That is a hole that is very hard to dig yourself out of .

I knew the OP was a "non-traditional" student meaning that he wasn't fresh out of high school with mommy and daddy paying his way. I didn't even have the first time around and paid my own way with loans, scholarships, and a job...but it still took 10 years to pay back my loans. Graduating without any loans this time, is a major relief.

 

[keith99]

If you are tight on money, it is the best way to get the first two years out of the way... and I am not sure what kind of lifestyle wouldn't fit a community college. I have a 4 year degree from a major university and just finished my nursing program at a community college...and the quality of the instructors at the community college matched the quality of the university...often better because they had real life experience and understood that we were all under tight budget and many were working full-time. It was not a lesser education. I will have to do one more year online to get my bachelor's in nursing from a 4-year university but that is considered a cakewalk and mostly busywork since I am already an RN. That one year is going to cost more than double the total of 3 years at the community college.

If you are going into a highly specialized program, then save the classes in your major for the 4 year school but take all the general studies classes at the community college and save the money. It isn't worth graduating in a field where you are going to make less than $50,000 /year and having literally tens of thousands of dollar in debt. That is a hole that is very hard to dig yourself out of .

I knew the OP was a "non-traditional" student meaning that he wasn't fresh out of high school with mommy and daddy paying his way. I didn't even have the first time around and paid my own way with loans, scholarships, and a job...but it still took 10 years to pay back my loans. Graduating without any loans this time, is a major relief.

If you have a major in the hard sciences, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, then your classes in your major start at latest second quarter. That was my case in Physics, but that was only because you needed the math to do the physics, so majors math classes started the first day.