How to Make College More Affordable

College is an exciting time for students and you probably already know that the thoughts and plans for college start well before applications are sent in. One of the biggest considerations (and sources of stress) for families can be the cost of college. On this episode, we go over more than a dozen tips to help you and your student make college more affordable.

Remember that the costs are more than tuition

Even if you and your student are thoughtful about the college that they attend and saving for tuition, there may be costs you haven’t considered. Yes, there is room and board and books, but what about travel to and from campus (that could be car rides or flights), “fun money,” and other incidentals when you’re living on your own. Since college costs continue to climb, we rounded up our best tips to help make college more affordable.

How to Make College More Affordable

In our blog series, 36 easy life hacks to make college more affordable, we give you numerous tips related to planning ahead, saving money, and ways to live life more conscious of money to make college more affordable. On this episode, we chat about some of our favorites:

• Graduate on time
• Reject the party lifestyle
• Don’t dismiss the value of a part-time job
• Consider alternatives to a dormitory or campus apartment
• Weigh price and value when evaluating schools
• Buy used textbooks
• Consider dual enrollment
• Consider distance education
• Apply for a high-school honors program and/or pursue scholarships
• Take a hard look at your expected earnings from your degree—before you begin school
• Test out of routine courses through CLEP
• Find a cheaper smartphone plan
• Brew your own coffee
• Begin using a budget
• Seek out experiences, not things
• Most important of all—pay attention!

College is still a big investment, but these tips will help make college more affordable.

Resources Mentioned:
Check out all 36 of our tips in the 6-part blog series
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