While schools have done a pretty good job at breaking students financially over the years, there are still schools out there that can do far less damage than others. The first and most obvious choice would of course be community or in-state colleges, which have low tuition costs and require no additional fees for maintaining the campus. Though what about universities? The cost of going to one is obviously far more crippling than the latter, but there are institutions of higher education that carry a lot of prestige that you can go to that won’t end up breaking your knees and leaving you paraplegic for the rest of your life.
Take the University of North Carolina, for instance. The average cost is $17,400 per year. Or maybe even a private college like Williams College, which costs $58,900 per year, on average. You’re probably thinking, “What? That’s ridiculous!” I know, right? Actually, the price of of these institutions is far less since the grants given to students who attend these colleges offer high rewards. The $58,900 it costs to go to Williams College goes down to $19,000 and the $17,400 it costs to go to UNC falls to only $3,500. Granted, that’s still a lot of money, but it’s far less than what you would pay if you would go to many of the other public or private colleges that are out there.
Another option too are colleges that offer loan assistance repayment programs. Basically, they help pay off your loans until you can gain a job that allows you to afford paying the money back yourself. It really nothing new, as in the past I’ve mentioned that some businesses are doing the same and even Oregon has taken to this model. Ivy-league schools like Harvard and Yale also offer repayment assistance, and couple that with the grants you’re likely to receive by attending one of their undergraduate programs, you won’t be in that bad of shape once you finish.
Again, it’s still expensive, no matter how you look at it, but it is an option. Just keep in mind that whenever you’re comparing colleges, find out how much you’re likely to receive in grants and see where the total comes out from there before making your final decision
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