Dear college student –
I know you are so excited about starting or being back in school. There truly is nothing more fun than spending the next few years surrounded by your best friends with nothing but freedom and time. However after just watching my husband graduate with his undergrad degree, I realized there are so many ways to do it cheaper and faster. I hope the lessons we learned can help you save thousands of dollars and many hours of class time.
Here are a couple of ideas to help you get through college faster and cheaper. (just in case you are wondering if it really can be done. My husband just graduated with his BA degree. It took him only 2 years (five semesters) and he graduated magna cum laude (3.69) while running two businesses. If he can, you can!
1. Decide you want/can save money and time.
Seriously, this is the first decision you need to make because choosing to save time/money will require extra work and commitment on your part. It will require not following the path all the rest of your classmates do. It will require creative thinking and planning. It will require delayed gratification. It will be awesome.
2.Decide how you will reward yourself
This goes along with #1. If you graduate a year early, you will have saved not only the cost of tuition, books, fees, etc but you now have a year to do what you want instead of sitting in class listening to lectures that you probably don’t care about anyways. Dream big and write down ideas. Make it visual: print out images or cut out of magazines of a potential adventure. Or if nothing else, think about all the student debt you won’t have to pay off. (Your parents will love talking with you about this if they are helping you pay for school!)
3. Skip as many classes as you can
This is huge! Sounds crazy but it is true. Check out this post on the Benefits of Skipping Classes for details. There is too much goodness to include here)
4. Take more credits
Take an extra class (or two) each semester. most colleges offer free or reduced cost for any course over 12 credit hours. Or they only charge “Program Fees” up to a certain amount regardless of credits taken beyond a certain point. Take advantage of that especially in your first years. Yeah an extra class might eat into your current social time but it will give you free time and money in the long term!
5. Take summer classes at community college or online.
Many public community colleges offer the same classes as other colleges but typically they are cheaper and/or offered online. You can start taking these while you are still in high school or during summers or during semesters where other classes don’t fit your schedule. Just something to consider and check out.
6.Do not overly rely on advisors/professors
When my husband asked his advisor how he could graduate more quickly, his advisor looked at him like he was insane and offered no alternatives than the pre-outlined course schedule for a four year degree for his major. Instead of accepting that, we began researching ways to either test out of courses or alternative credit ideas. While some advisors may be great, they are not substitutes for your own research and creativity. They aren’t paying for your classes and have no incentive to get you out early.
7. Talk to graduates or older students in your program
Ask them for suggestions about how to graduate more quickly or what they would have done differently if they could go through the program again. (Also great folks to ask about whose classes to avoid…)
8. Keep searching for scholarships
Continue to look for scholarships throughout your academic career. There are many for only upper-level students and/or students who are in a specific major. Put it on your calendar to check the college’s scholarship pages once a month to see if anything new appears or anything you may now be eligible to apply. (Also most states don’t tax scholarship money so that is another reason that they are great!)
9. Just finish
While there are obviously some exceptions to this one, for most students there is no reason to change majors in a way that causes them to have to extend their time in college. If you are that far along in your program and decide that this career is not what you want, stick with it anyway. A couple of reasons if this:
- Most people don’t end up using their major in any way that they thought they would.
- Instead of adding new classes for a new major, use that time for an internship or job in the field you think you want to work in. Most businesses look for experience over degree.
- No one (except your mom or advisor) cares about your minor(s) so unless your program requires it don’t bother.
Now that you’ve read though my list, what do you think? Any suggestions that you’d add to the list or lessons you’ve learned that you want to share? Please do so in the comments and thanks!
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