Learn New Tricks to Pay for Your Degree

For some people, paying for college means taking out thousands of dollars in student loans. For others, it means applying for scholarship after scholarship until everything is covered. While scholarships and loans are both viable options for tuition and beyond, they’re not the only options you have to choose from. By getting a little creative with your efforts, you can find some really neat opportunities to cover your costs. Here are some forgotten ways to pay for college so you can earn your degree.

Contests

There are all kinds of competitions out there that may not explicitly call themselves “scholarship contests.” You can still use the money from them to pay for college. The only difference is that you get the check, not the school. You could enter singing contests, art contests, photography contests, essay contests – you name it, it’s out there. There are even duck calling contests and duct tape dress contests for high school seniors, if you’re interested in something like that. Look in your local area and online and see what you could participate in.

Work Study Programs

A lot of colleges offer work study program that essentially let you go to school for free in exchange for doing work for them. Some companies will also participate in programs like this, where they cover your tuition if you intern with them. This could be a great learning opportunity for you because it allows you to go to school for free and work for people in your field. Once you graduate, you will have no trouble finding a job.

Note that not all work study programs cover your expenses in full. They may only cover tuition, fees, or specific classes you have to take. Talk to a counselor at your university to learn more about an option like this.

Sponsorships

If you are a good student with a promising future, you may be able to get a sponsor to pay for your education. This most often happens in exchange for you promising to work for the company after you get out of school. For instance, if you’re a nursing student, you may get sponsored by a doctor’s office that believes in your abilities. In exchange for that, you may do some part time work while you’re in school and then work full time for the office for at least two years after graduation. As long as you are willing to make a long term commitment like this, you can get the training you need without having to pay for it yourself.

The key to paying for college is to think outside the box. The competition for scholarships and grants is always strong, but that’s not the case for some of the suggestions mentioned above. Connect with people in your field and see how they can help you out. All it takes is one point of contact to make a big difference in your degree.