7 Money Saving Strategies to Help You Graduate From College Without Debt
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Graduating from college debt-free can seem like a pipe-dream to those of us who grew up in a lower tax bracket. Too many high school students carry the burden of worrying about how to come up with the thousands of dollars required to afford higher education, and countless college students go into deep debt while trying to make the minimal funds they have to survive on stretch as far as possible. It doesn’t have to be this way for you.
In this post, we’ll cover:
Strategies to use during high school to position yourself for financial success
Money hacks to implement during college to keep money in the bank (and make more…)
Resources to assist you along the way
I graduated debt-free. With a master’s degree.
The path to a debt-free education is a lot closer than you’d think, but it requires a plan. Let’s get started charting that plan for you!
1) Earn College Credit in High School
If you’re still early in the game, this is definitely a strategy to pursue. The more credits you can earn while in high school, the less time you can spend on your degree in college. I came into college with 25 credits already under my belt, which was a major reason why I was able to complete my bachelor’s degree in three years. There are multiple options for how to earn college credit while in high school. The three major avenues are:
Advanced Placement (AP) Courses: This is how I earned my credits. AP Courses are college-level courses that are often taught as additions or replacements of certain required high school courses. If you score high enough on the end-of-year AP exam, you may be able to receive credit from your university of choice.
International Baccalaureate (IB) Programs: Students may be able to receive credit if their school offers these special programs designed by international universities.
Dual Enrollment: You may be able to take a couple of classes at your local community college while still enrolled in high school for less than half the typical cost or at no cost at all. Check with your school district for resources and details on your local program.
2) Rigorously Apply for Scholarships
Seriously. This could save you. During your senior year of high school, apply for scholarships regularly and apply for A LOT of them. Even if a scholarship is only worth $500, there are probably not many applicants for that very reason, so it’s smart to apply anyway. A few hundred dollars for 30 minutes spent on an application is a great return on a small investment. Great search engines for scholarships include Scholarships.com, Cappex, Chegg, and Scholly.
Another awesome resource if you suck at essay writing or just need a touch of editing is EssayEdge. They’re a top-tier company with editors from IvyLeague schools, so it’s no wonder they’ve been praised by the New York Times as “the world’s premier essay editing service.”
Becoming a top competitor for scholarships also requires making some strategic decisions during high school. Think academic - high GPA, high standardized test scores - but colleges are also interested in your extracurriculars and leadership abilities. Organizations want to give scholarships to genuinely good people. So do what you love - lead a student organization, volunteer at your local Boys & Girls club - it doesn’t matter what you do as long as your paper trail shows that you’re a leader who genuinely cares about others and takes action. If you’re thinking about the best strategy for making yourself a strong competitor for selective schools and scholarships, check out “Well-Rounded or Angular Applicants… Which Is Better?”
However, test scores and GPA are definitely important factors as well. If you want to ensure your SAT/ACT scores won’t be the reason you miss a fantastic opportunity to graduate debt-free, the Princeton Review has the best test-prep programs on the market with guaranteed minimum test scores and expert instructors.
For more info on how to write scholarship essays and ace interviews, read
3) Negotiate With Financial Aid
As you receive financial aid offers from schools, don’t be afraid to call a university’s financial aid office and politely request a better offer. Simply affirm your interest in their school and explain that you received a better offer from another institution, but you would like to give them a chance to improve their offer. Sometimes universities are able to offer more aid as the year progresses because applicants decide to attend another university. This allows the university to have flexibility with leftover funds. Don’t be too disappointed though if the answer is no, it was worth a shot anyways!
4) Rent Your Textbooks
Textbooks can turn into a huge expense if you don’t know where to look. Very seldom do I buy a textbook required for a class. In reality, the only textbooks you’ll ever really need to have on hand may be reference books or textbooks on foundational theory concepts. Then again, you could probably easily do a quick Google search to refresh your memory if you needed the information after the course was over. The source I use most often to rent my textbooks is Chegg. Chegg Textbooks offers competitive prices with thousands of titles, as well as a user-friendly interface for online reading. You can also arrange for your book rentals to be shipped to you if you prefer to use physical textbooks. A discount option for textbook rentals that I wish I would’ve known about sooner is Knetbooks, known for its affordability. All of these options are great choices if you’re looking to save on your textbook bills this year.
5) Pursue a Lucrative Degree
What your mother may or may not be telling you but is definitely thinking. I’m glad you love to study the ancient carvings of Mesopotamia, but please don’t major in it! This is way more important than you might think. Worst case scenario, you have to take out a loan to pay for college. Poo. Now you have two priorities: secure the best interest rate on the market, and pay it off as fast as possible.
Well, finding the best rate is easy with a site like credible.com, which lets you comparison shop between lenders so you can find the best deal available. So first priority - check! Secondly, the last thing you want is to be paying off thousands of dollars of student loan debt when you’re barely making enough to scrape by. Focus on picking a profitable major you’re interested in, and minor in your passion. Remember that you’re not signing a contract saying you must work in this field for the rest of your life, but you’re always in a better position if you can pay off your debt fast so you can have more financial flexibility in the future.
6) Paid Internships
Research shows that college students who work less than 20 hours per week while attending school have a higher GPA on average than non-working students. If you choose to work during college, here are your best options:
Freshman year, find a job at the campus library, a local restaurant, the tutoring center, etc. where you can begin making extra money and offsetting the cost of your living expenses. You most likely will not be able to land an internship yet because of your lack of experience, but the time will soon come!
Start applying for paid internships during the spring of your freshman year. This is often when application deadlines for summer internships come around. Undergraduate internships are available during the summer as well as during the traditional semesters, and can pay pretty well. A typical hourly wage is around $15, but I’ve heard of students making as much as $25 per hour. Of course, this all depends on the company and your degree progress, but in short, paid internships can bring in some serious cash!
7) Minimize Housing Expenses
Housing expenses can really dig into your budget. One way to get free housing is by becoming a Resident Advisor (RA). An RA is often responsible for facilitating dorm-activities and ensuring that campus policies are followed. Resident Advisors often receive free housing and a meal plan!
If being an RA is not for you, there are other ways to cut down on living expenses. One way is to move off campus with roommates. I attended NC State University in Raleigh, North Carolina, and housing costs are rising quickly in this area. My sophomore year, four friends and I rented a house in a residential neighborhood about 10 minutes from campus. Best decision I’ve ever made. I had to share a room, but my rent was only $360 a month! I stayed in that house for the rest of my college career, and it was way cheaper than getting an apartment. This is a highly effective way to cut your living expenses IN HALF if you’re willing to sacrifice a little privacy.
Finding a way to pay for college can be daunting. The truth is, it doesn’t need to be. Carving out your path toward a debt-free education only requires strategy and the right resources.
If you’re still in high school, make the investment in standardized test prep materials. Seek out leadership positions. Employ the help of professional proofreaders to ensure your scholarship essays are authentic, powerful, and error-free. The hard work and investment is worth it.
If you’ve made the leap into college, the amount of money in your bank account is strictly determined by how you manage it. Choosing a profitable career path, arranging affordable housing, seeking out the best internships, and renting your books from Chegg or Knetbooks are all wise decisions that no one can force you to make. The rewards from these opportunities will only reveal themselves if you are willing to take them.
So which of these action steps will you take today?
If you would like further details on each of these strategies as well as access to more money hacks to help you graduate debt-free, I’m offering a FREE workshop with access to more in-depth information on the topics above as well as
The best methods for writing essays that actually win money
Senior year application timeline checklist
How to answer the 3 most difficult scholarship interview questions (with EXAMPLES)
College money hacks to cut down on living expenses
