Written 
Did you know you don’t have to pay for college?
Sure, you have to pay for tuition, room, board, and books. But that money does not have to come out of your pocket.
If you take the time to plan for college, you can graduate debt free, or very nearly so. To do this, you will need tenacity and foresight. You will need to put in a lot of hours doing research. You will need to work hard to ensure you have very little debt when you graduate.
Don’t tell me it’s impossible. Don’t tell me I’m dreaming.
I am the reality. I went to college debt free.
My friends joked that I was being paid to go to college. It was true. I always received a refund at the end of the semester. My scholarships totaled more than my tuition.
What my friends didn’t joke about was the fact that I began researching scholarships in high school. They didn’t joke about the fact that I worked all through college. They didn’t joke about the fact that I knew my family couldn’t afford to pay for college. They didn’t joke about the fact that I had to plan for college, because I knew I would have limited options if I failed to plan.
Disclaimer: I took out a loan one summer to study abroad. I paid that loan back in full while I was in graduate school. I also paid off my car.
No, I didn’t pay for graduate school either. Yes, I worked all through graduate school. Yes, I was debt free when I received my Ph.D.
How did I do it? With hard work, planning, researching, and applying to every scholarship I was even halfway qualified for. I also maintained good grades, and studied hard for standardized tests. I set target scores for the PSAT, ACT, SAT, and GRE. Then, I studied every day and did my best to achieve those targets.
There are scholarships, grants, and fellowships for every kind of student, for every individual from every walk of life. There are funds for students who have jobs, good grades, high test scores, solid records of community service, a parent in the military, have been in foster care, or experienced other hardships in their lives. There are scholarships for artists and musicians, poets and dancers, gamers and aspiring farmers. There are even scholarships for people who can trace their ancestry to another country or an historical event.
You don’t have to pay for college or graduate school. You can graduate debt free. Let me show you how.
50+ Funding Opportunities
Here are more than 50 opportunities that will help you fund your education. There are thousands more out there. This is just a taste of the funds available to you.
Ancestry
American Indian Graduate Center
Amish Descendant Scholarship Fund
The Jackie Robinson Foundation
Arts and Entertainment
Floyd Mayweather Jr. Foundation
House of Blues Music Forward Foundation
Easy and Odd
Graduate School
Jacob K. Javits Fellowships Program
Josephine de Karman Fellowship
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
Jobs and Employers
Most major employers offer scholarships and tuition assistance programs to their employees. If you are currently working, find out how you can quality for your company’s program. If you are not currently working, research employers in your area and find out what they have to offer. Then get a job at one of these employers, and work towards qualifying for their scholarships.
Languages and Linguistics
Critical Language Scholarship Program
Life Events
Certified Nursing Assistant Classes Near Me
Certified Nursing Assistant Free Training
Jeannette Rankin Women’s Scholarship Fund
National Collegiate Cancer Foundation
National Foster Parent Association
Merit Scholarships
PSAT/NMSQT - National Merit Scholarship Program
Military and Armed Services
Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation
Scholarship Directories
There are dozens of great scholarship directories. Most of these directories have been compiled over years, and they are excellent sources for little known scholarships and grants.
American Association of Cosmetology Schools
Hidden Opportunities
Most colleges and universities have special scholarships and funds that are only available to their students. The scholarships may be offered by major, financial need, GPA, or year in school. As you research colleges, talk to people in the financial aid office, the department head for the major you’re interested in, current and former students, and current professors. You’ll be surprised at the small grants, funding opportunities, and jobs available at your university. To learn about them, all you have to do is ask.
States, counties, and towns also have scholarships they only offer to local residents. Contact your city hall, chamber of commerce, local businesses, school counselor, and community service organizations to find out about local scholarships and grants. Search online to learn about opportunities in your state.
Work for It
In addition to the opportunities above, search for part-time and on-campus jobs. Jobs in libraries, computer labs, museums, and theaters allow you to earn extra money (and potentially complete your school work while on the job). Jobs in cafeterias, restaurants, markets, and stores allow you to make money (and potentially get discounts on anything you buy).
While in college and graduate school, I worked a number of jobs during the school year and summer. I consciously chose jobs and internships that offered perks or helped build my resume. For example, I worked in the cafeteria (free meal plan plus a paycheck), the library (study time and access to free course materials), as a graduate assistant (good pay and a leadership role), and a research assistant (hard work and resume builder that likely helped me get into graduate school).
You Don’t Have to Pay for College
Although there are no free and easy roads to higher education, it is possible to minimize your debt. If you don’t want to spend a fortune on college or graduate school, you have to work hard before you walk across the graduation stage.
I’ve shared more than 50 options to help you pay for your education. You can do this. There is money waiting for you.
You don’t have to pay for college, unless you want to.
Follow Order Your Life on Facebook and Twitter.
You May Also Like
7 Ways to Boost Your Self-Confidence and Achieve Success
What is confidence? Is it the way you stand? The way you talk? The way everyone hangs on your every word? Confidence is hard to describe, but when you
Demystifying Form 1099: For Freelancers and Consultants
If you’re a gig worker, freelancer, or independent contractor, you’ve probably received IRS Form 1099. What is it? Why did you receive it? What should
4 Tax Deductions for Freelancers and Entrepreneurs
Freelancing and entrepreneurship offer you independence and opportunities to pursue your goals outside of a traditional work environment. Whether the
You’re welcome, Fab!
Thanks for sharing, as a life long learner that has paid for school, I am working on giving the students in my circle the tools to attend school without the burden of life long debt. Much Appreciated.