Internships and Co-ops

Internships rock the house because you’ll gain experience while getting free or reduced-cost college. Most internship programs pay you for your hours put in which will offset your college expenses. In some cases, corporations will hire you, pay you for your internship, AND pay for the college courses that relate to the job you are working or the career you are gearing up for (related to working for their company, of course).

Co-ops are similar to internships, but they usually involve you as a student alternating semesters working for a company and going to school full-time. Co-op jobs are paid (often at amazingly great rates for the types of work you do – they usually pay far better than the dorm cafeteria or the campus store), and sometimes the company will also pay for your college classes as well.

To get an internship or co-op, you’ll need to:

• Approach your school counselor for contacts
• Apply for the internship or co-op opportunity
• Interview for the opportunity
• Commit to a specific amount of time (it could be all of your college experience or for as little as a semester)
• Keep your grades up! (Most internships and co-op programs require you maintain a specific GPA)

Early College Class Programs

This is how I got two full years of free college, so I know it works. Many high schools will let you attend college classes at a local college or university during your junior and senior year, and they’ll pay for your tuition and books as well. You’ll have to coordinate such that the college classes you take will count for your high school course requirements (for example – I had to take a college health course to cover my high school’s health class requirement—and that’s a course I probably never would have chosen on my own). Curious about this option?

• Meet with your school counselor and ask about available programs
• Compare these to your school’s IB or AP classes (you’ll probably have to pay for the AP exams, where as you probably won’t have to pay for anything if you take the early college courses)
• Ask about online options as well as classes on campus
• Make sure you communicate with your school counselor so you take classes that cover your high school graduation requirements
• Keep your grades up! (Most of these programs require you to maintain a certain GPA)
• Make sure you can handle the transportation and schedule issues inherent in taking college courses

Grants and Scholarships

Whether you’re a star athlete or not, there are grants and scholarships available for just about every type of student out there. You’ll be amazed at the wide variety of grants and scholarships available for the taking. Grants and scholarships provide money to be used for college tuition and supplies, and can come from the college or university or from other charitable foundations. While you know there is stiff competition for scholarly and athletic scholarships, you might not know about the quieter scholarships – the ones with less competition.

If you want to get a scholarship, you’ll need to:

• Start scoping out scholarships early – in the beginning of your junior year
• Meet with your school counselor for information about scholarships
• If you’re athletic, choose an obscure sport like lacrosse or rugby – you’ll be more likely to get a scholarship because there’s less competition for obscure sports than for popular sports like football or basketball
• If you’re musically talented, specialize in a less popular instrument, like the baritone, so you can nab a music scholarship with a college
• Get involve in the more obscure high school clubs, like debate, and apply for debate scholarships
• See if you qualify for a scholarship due to your ethnicity, socio-economic status, or unique heritage (There are plenty of scholarships available for minorities or low income families)
• Apply to many scholarships, and put your all into the application
• Apply for the scholarships that require extra work—like writing an essay or submitting a video (You’ll face less competition)
• Apply for the low-paying scholarships (Again—you’ll face less competition, and you can rack up quite a few offers if you apply to several of these)

Military Service

If you’d like to serve your country and receive a free college education at the same time, check into military service/education packages. You can sign up with any branch of the military and exchange years of military service for tuition aid. As of Fall 2011, the standard tuition assistance rate is $4,500 per year. The money is paid to the college of your choice (for classes, on a per class basis).

If you’re interested in using military service to gain free college, you’ll want to:

• Visit a military service branch office
• Talk to your school counselor about options
• Investigate the different branch options to determine which will best suit you

If you’ve already served in the military, you may want to look into Post/911 GI Bill benefits, GI Bill benefits, the Reserve Education Assistance Program, the Veterans Educational Assistance Program, and the VA Work-Study Program. If you are a dependent of a veteran, you may want to investigate the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance Program.

Free College Summary

As you can see, there are several ways to get free college. Talk to your school counselor for options and start investigating possibilities online. Watch out for scams such as websites who want to charge you money in exchange for information about grants, scholarships, and other such programs, and research all options carefully before applying. You’ll find plenty of free college options if you just take the time to do your research.

Graduate degrees are being pursued by professionals who see them as a means to increase their salary potential and improve their professional expertise. But how do you pay for it? You should explore the following options:

Complete the FAFSA

The first step in securing funds for higher education is to complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). This application is required if you plan to receive any funds from the government or take out student loans to pay for your education. Colleges also require you to fill out the FAFSA before they can disburse any funds in the form of grants, loans, or work study.

Loans

Borrowing to finance your graduate degree is always an option. There are two types of Graduate Stafford loans: subsidized and unsubsidized. Subsidized loans are awarded based on financial need. You will not be charged interest before you begin repayment or during periods of deferment. The federal government “subsidizes” the interest during these time periods. Unsubsidized loans are not awarded based on financial need. Any eligible student can take out unsubsidized Stafford loans. You will be charged interest from the time the loan is disbursed until the time the loan is repaid in full. You may borrow up to $20,500 per year of graduate study. A word of caution: before you incur debt, you should familiarize yourself with the repayment information and check the repayment calculators to assure you will be able to repay these loans.

Grants and Scholarships

You can check at Meritaid.com for scholarships associated with your institution. This site allows you to search by major or by college and gives you grant and scholarship information related to each. Many graduate degrees have specific grants set aside for graduate students in certain areas of study. Do some research regarding your field of study and investigate private scholarship opportunities on scholarship sites such as FastWeb.com.

Fellowships, teaching assistant positions, and research assistants

Once you have been admitted to a graduate program, ask about and apply for fellowship positions if they’re available. These are awards funded by government agencies for students studying specific fields, most of which have a research component. In addition, ask the head of your department or program if there is research or teaching assistantship positions available while you are pursuing the degree. These are paid positions and can help defray the cost of your degree.

Tuition reimbursement

If you are getting a graduate degree to enhance your knowledge of something that’s related to your current area of employment, check with your employer to see if they offer tuition reimbursement. Many employers will reimburse you for graduate tuition if you get a B or higher in the courses you are taking.

Continue working

Many students opt to continue working part-time while pursuing their graduate degree. This income can not only help pay for the degree itself, but provide you with necessary living expenses. You could also consider attending classes while retaining your present full-time job and utilizing the “pay as you go” option. This might increase the time required to complete your degree plan, but graduating without debt is certainly an attractive option.

If you are interested in discovering how much you can expect to earn once your graduate degree is completed, you can find that data at Payscale.com. This information will help you determine if the long-term benefits of the degree outweigh the costs based on your expected salary increase.

Have you considered a graduate degree? We can help you find the right college.

Ralph Nader’s proposal

If Ralph Nader had his way, he would eliminate athletic scholarships. Why? He believes that colleges exploit the athletes and have lost the focus of what college was meant to be: an institution of higher education.

Nader’s League of Fans made their case last week:

“Clearly athletes on scholarship are pro athletes. Professional sports means ‘pay for play,’” says Ken Reed, senior issues analyst for League of Fans. “Athletic scholarships are financial inducements to play sports at college. Basically, they are one-year contracts between an athlete and a coach. Coaches can literally fire athletes for poor performance or injury. As such, a scholarship athlete’s first priority in college is to play sports. Education is a secondary consideration. Paying for young people to come to college campuses to focus on sports – not education – is perverse.”

Here’s the bonus: The benefits of eliminating the athletic scholarship at the college level continue at the lower levels of sports in our country. The high pressure, win-at-all-costs mentality that permeates our youth and high school sports programs is often “justified” as the price necessary to earn a college scholarship.

An entire industry has developed in the youth sports arena –club teams, personal trainers, etc. — to prey on families’ dreams of an athletic scholarship. The lure of the elusive athletic scholarship is the primary – sometimes the only – marketing tool these youth sports entrepreneurs use.

With the allure of college athletic scholarships, the focus in our youth and high school sports programs has increasingly been on the development of elite athletes vs. participation for all. Intramurals and physical education programs have been scaled way back during today’s childhood obesity epidemic, while varsity high school programs, which serve only a small percentage of the student population, remain sufficiently funded.

It would be difficult for anyone to disagree with these affirmations. But just simply stating the facts and proposing elimination requires a deeper knowledge of how college sports scholarships play into the college process.

The NCAA’s response

Nader’s proposal caused such controversy that the NCAA issued a statement:

“Mr. Nader’s proposal is off-base on so many fronts it is hard to know where to start. The 145,000 student-athletes who receive athletics related financial aid each year are in fact students first — as evidenced by the fact that in almost every demographic they graduate at higher percentages than their counterparts in the general student body. Moreover, less than two percent of them will ever play professional sports. The assertion that student-athletes who receive athletics aid are professionals defies logic — they are students, just like any other student on campus who receives a merit-based scholarship.”

Referring to athletic scholarships as a form of merit-based scholarships drives home their point. However, its irrefutable that these scholarships are abused and often out of balance with other merit-based scholarships.

The bottom line

Everyone will agree that the system is flawed. But it’s no secret that only a very small percentage of students receive athletic scholarships, especially full rides. It’s also important to note that athletic scholarships are not just those for football and basketball. There are scholarships for fishing, golf, lacrosse and some even lesser known sports. Eliminating all athletic scholarships casts an awfully large net that will affect more than just those college athletes who are in the public eye.

Nader makes a valid point but looking at the overall picture bears some additional thought. If athletic scholarships were eliminated altogether, the top athletes from high schools will simply bypass college and play professionally until they are eligible for the draft. Is bypassing college truly the outcome and message we as a nation want to generate?

As my grandmother once said, “You don’t throw out the baby with the bath water.” Calling for reform is definitely warranted, but perhaps total elimination is a bit extreme. Nader, however, believes his proposal is valid and plans to approach Congress in the future. It’s unlikely the extreme will happen; but it might open a debate and cause some much-needed reform. Only time will tell.

Do you think athletic scholarships should be eliminated? Leave us a comment and let’s start the conversation here.