More Great College Savings Tips -- Save up to 50% Off College Costs

On my post titled Save Big on College: College for Half-Price I gave an idea on how to cut your college costs in half. A couple of readers responded with two more great tips on saving on college costs. Here's the first:

Taking classes during the summer at a community college or a local state college (if you attend an out of state or private college) will not only save money but enable you to graduate early.

This is really just a build on what I was saying -- but a good one.

Now a few other tips from another reader:

A couple of other items. My wife finished a year of college during high school by taking classes in our high school that gave college [credit]. They were FREE. That way she knocked out a lot of the general course work early and was able to get her Bachelors when she was 20. Another item is that kids don't have to go away for college if a good state school is nearby. Both my wife and I were fortunate enough to have a good state school within driving distance of us and both of us graduated without any student loans or assistance from our parents. We both paid cash for our education out of our pockets.

So combine all these to save a bundle on college:

• Take college classes while still in high school -- especially if they are FREE! If you can knock off a year by doing this, you have saved a ton! Even taking just a few classes is money in the bank.

• Take advanced placement tests that award college credit.

• Spend a year or two (maybe at home?) going to a junior college and saving a ton on costs.

• Cram as many extra classes as you can get (at a community college) into the summers.

• Finally, go to the college of your choice for a year or two to graduate with a "name brand" college degree.

Comments

[prlinkbiz]

I know two different people who used real estate investing to pay for their college expenses. Each bought a house to live in and rent out, which allowed them to live at no cost, as well as have cash flow for bills, books, etc. One had parents help to buy, one used college loans to buy the house (as well as two others I believe). Each was able to sell their homes at the end to pay off all loans, etc. and made money to move in life with. No surprise both are hugely successful today. Interesting point- creating assest to pay for expenses.

[Jeremy]

My wife and I saved 50% on my last two years of college. How?

I worked full-time for the university, and took 10 hours of classes on a special work program. The best part was that each year my discount rose by 5%. So if I could have stayed there 10 years, I (and my immediate family) would get free tuition!

[Kim]

If you really want to do the final step though (Finally, go to the college of your choice for a year or two to graduate with a "name brand" college degree.), you really need to plan the whole process out in advance as many colleges do not accept a lot of community/junior college credits as the workload is not comperable to that of their system.

If it really is, you can usually prove it and get credit by showing the syllabus and coursework, but, especially for upper level courses, it often is not. And, even when they give you credit, you should assess how prepared you really are.

I knew several people who got burned by starting at community college and then transferred to my (very well regarded) public university. Not only did many of their credits not transfer so most started with a year of credit vs the two they expected, but they struggled in many courses, even thoughs they were "repeating" as they hadn't been given credit. I tutored quite a few who were, frankly, unprepared, even after two years of community.