There are a number of ways that one can avoid student loans. But for most students there is no silver bullet. If you want to reduce the amount of student loan debt you have upon graduation or even eliminate it altogether the largest factor is picking the right college.
Choosing to go to a particular college has a lot of factors. But because of the ENORMOUS cost of higher education, it is my opinion that you should look at the cost of the education second.
The first thing you should look for is if that particular college offers the degree path that you are wanting to pursue.
I don’t want to see you saddled with decades of student loan payments simply because you made some really poor choices at 18 or 19.
Here is a list of the types of colleges a student could attend (depending on their degree choice) in order of least expensive to most expensive.
Community College or Vocational School
When picking the right college, there are a lot of choices.
First, if you want to go into a trade, a vocational school is a great way to do it for a relatively low cost.
Also, most vocational/trade schools are two years. So that means that you can be done in a relatively short period of time.
As far as community college is concerned, don’t knock it! I went to community college before transferring to a 4-year university.
Community college is also a GREAT way to drastically reduce the amount of student loan debt that you might take on.
First of all, there are a lot of community colleges out there and it is likely that there is one close to you.
And second of all, they are very inexpensive (compared to four-year schools). The average community college costs about $3,800 per year! That means that for less than $10,000 you can get an associates degree and either be done with school altogether or transfer to the university of your choice.
If you intend on transferring to a four-year university, just make sure to contact that university as well as your community college to make sure that your credits will transfer properly.
In most cases they will, but make sure.
Public In-State Universities
The next best way to avoid student loans when picking the right college to attend is to attend a public in-state school.
The average cost of a public in-state school in the US for 2023 is about $10,600 per year.
That is nearly double the cost of community college.
So if you can, and if your degree path allows it, consider attending a community college for the first two years and then an in-state public school for the second two years.
If you do this then your average cost would be about $28,000.
But if you decided to go to the four year school for all four years, then your cost would be more like $42,000.
But going to a public school is not as costly as the next one on our list.
Public Out-of-State Universities
If you really want to see the cost of higher education go up, go to a public out-of-state school.
The average cost for an out-of-state school is about $23,600. Yikes.
Simply by crossing a state line, you can expect to more than double the amount that you pay in tuition.
Do not go to an out of state school unnecessarily!
Yes, there are some cases where you might need to go to an out of state school for a graduate program.
Usually with law school, medical school, veterinary school, dentistry school, etc. you will need to go where you get in and simply bite the bullet of the cost.
But if you are working on an undergraduate degree, just stay in-state. Don’t cross the state line.
Private Universities
Here is the big one. If you really want to spend the rest of your life paying off student loans, then consider going to a private school.
Yes, there are scholarships (there are scholarships to all types of schools). And if you get scholarships to pay for a private university then by all means, do it!
But if you don’t have the money to pay for college, do whatever you can do to minimize the student loan bleeding that you will endure after graduation.
Going to a private school is incredibly expensive.
The average cost of a private university is about $39,000 PER YEAR!
Don’t go to a private school unless you have a way to pay for it or get SIGNIFICANT financial assistance.
Paying $120,000 for a bachelors degree simply because it was from a private school is wild. Especially since you could have had the same education from a public school for ¼ of the price.
Final Thoughts
I understand that most people will not be able to avoid student loans fully. College is just simply too expensive for most people.
However, do whatever you can to slow the bleeding and get the best bang for your buck when it comes to your education.
You can do it!
I am here for you!
Until next time!
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