How does anyone afford to go to college?
July 21, 2015 5:29 AM Subscribe
Asking for a friend: after many false starts my friend has decided to pursue a BS in biology with the long range plan to teach middle or high school. But he is totally broke and has no plans to go into deep debt for his degree since teaching is not a lucrative career.
Relevant facts:
He is 37; married with no kids, wife cannot contribute, honorable discharge from the Navy at 21, has been working as an EMT for the last 5 years. May be willing to work in a rural community after graduation. Has about 1.5 yrs of college under his belt from previous years.
Does anyone know of any scholarships or grants he could go after? I am researching some but not finding much. Are Pell scholarships an option or a long shot?
Any experience you have to pass along would be appreciated.
Relevant facts:
He is 37; married with no kids, wife cannot contribute, honorable discharge from the Navy at 21, has been working as an EMT for the last 5 years. May be willing to work in a rural community after graduation. Has about 1.5 yrs of college under his belt from previous years.
Does anyone know of any scholarships or grants he could go after? I am researching some but not finding much. Are Pell scholarships an option or a long shot?
Any experience you have to pass along would be appreciated.
Pell Grants are based on need; if your friend meets the financial need requirements and completes the correct applications and attends an accredited school, he should get a Pell Grant.
Have you/your friend looked at StudentAid.gov? Among other things they have a financial aid estimator, FAFSA4caster, that helps you get an idea of how much aid you might qualify for.
If your friend has a specific school in mind, he should talk to the school and its financial aid office - they have an incentive to get him the aid he needs. And he should also consider completing his first two years at community college, which is much cheaper.
There are a lot of for-profit and small private schools that prey on veterans with promises of quick online degree completion. Make sure he's appropriately wary about these.
posted by mskyle at 6:04 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
Have you/your friend looked at StudentAid.gov? Among other things they have a financial aid estimator, FAFSA4caster, that helps you get an idea of how much aid you might qualify for.
If your friend has a specific school in mind, he should talk to the school and its financial aid office - they have an incentive to get him the aid he needs. And he should also consider completing his first two years at community college, which is much cheaper.
There are a lot of for-profit and small private schools that prey on veterans with promises of quick online degree completion. Make sure he's appropriately wary about these.
posted by mskyle at 6:04 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oh and I would say the top ways adults pay for school is by going part-time and cutting back on other spending, and/or by taking out loans. If it seems hard, it's because it's hard!
posted by mskyle at 6:13 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by mskyle at 6:13 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
What state is your friend in? Is he hoping to stay where he is now or are he and his wife open to moving?
posted by greta simone at 6:17 AM on July 21, 2015
posted by greta simone at 6:17 AM on July 21, 2015
State schools, attending part-time, and community college.
posted by chainsofreedom at 6:19 AM on July 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by chainsofreedom at 6:19 AM on July 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
Also: your friend is to be commended for wanting to avoid ruinous debt when looking at a lower-paying degree, but when you ask "how does anyone pay for school," loans are in fact a huge part of that answer for many people.
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:31 AM on July 21, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by Tomorrowful at 6:31 AM on July 21, 2015 [8 favorites]
Do as much as possible at a community college and online. For classes that must be in person, go to a state school. Focus on getting the degree and getting out -- not on having an experience. Treat school like a job.
posted by OrangeDisk at 6:31 AM on July 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by OrangeDisk at 6:31 AM on July 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
Here are several money savers:
Community college for the first two years.
Challenging courses. This works differently in each school. (And is probably not present in some.) An example: you can take a class by taking its final exam and passing. You may have to pay full tuition for the credit hours. You may not. You may be able to "fold" the class under your full-time tuition. By that I mean full-time is 12 to 18 credit hours. You take twelve and challenge two three hour courses. Why is this an advantage? You can prepare in advance the challenge classes and then spend the semester on the 12 credit hour courses.
At my undergraduate institution some students went challenge crazy and completed their degrees rapidly. Here is an example of challenge policies at Georgia College (a public institution). Here it says you only need pay an examination and recording fee.
I challenged one undergraduate course and didn't have to pay for it. You can probably find a basic course free online (Khan University, for example). It won't get you credit, but passing it may prepare for a challenge.
As suggested above. Paying full-time tuition can be a range of hours (depending on institution). So max out the full-time hours and the difference between the top and bottom of the range are free.
You can take Advanced Placement or CLEP Exams which can count toward some credit hours at many institutions. Here is a brief mention of them at Pima Community College. I took CLEP and got out of about 12 credit hours. (Don't remember exactly. Long time ago)
As said, above: go part-time, pay-as-you-go. You may make a mixed strategy and take out loans only for your senior year.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:36 AM on July 21, 2015 [4 favorites]
Community college for the first two years.
Challenging courses. This works differently in each school. (And is probably not present in some.) An example: you can take a class by taking its final exam and passing. You may have to pay full tuition for the credit hours. You may not. You may be able to "fold" the class under your full-time tuition. By that I mean full-time is 12 to 18 credit hours. You take twelve and challenge two three hour courses. Why is this an advantage? You can prepare in advance the challenge classes and then spend the semester on the 12 credit hour courses.
At my undergraduate institution some students went challenge crazy and completed their degrees rapidly. Here is an example of challenge policies at Georgia College (a public institution). Here it says you only need pay an examination and recording fee.
I challenged one undergraduate course and didn't have to pay for it. You can probably find a basic course free online (Khan University, for example). It won't get you credit, but passing it may prepare for a challenge.
As suggested above. Paying full-time tuition can be a range of hours (depending on institution). So max out the full-time hours and the difference between the top and bottom of the range are free.
You can take Advanced Placement or CLEP Exams which can count toward some credit hours at many institutions. Here is a brief mention of them at Pima Community College. I took CLEP and got out of about 12 credit hours. (Don't remember exactly. Long time ago)
As said, above: go part-time, pay-as-you-go. You may make a mixed strategy and take out loans only for your senior year.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:36 AM on July 21, 2015 [4 favorites]
Community colleges vary widely in cost. In California, they're super cheap.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:14 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 7:14 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Has your friend confirmed he has exhausted all available veteran educational benefits? "Join the military" is a way a lot of people fund their educations. Make sure he's not leaving anything on the table he earned during his service.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:15 AM on July 21, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:15 AM on July 21, 2015 [4 favorites]
Does anyone know of any scholarships or grants he could go after?
Look at the GI Bill - he'll qualify for the Montgomery GI Bill (Ch 30), not the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Ch 33), due to the time he served.
How does anyone afford to go to college?
One goes into debt. You're making two questionable assumptions here that you are not quantifying - first, that he would go into "deep debt" (without knowing what school he's considering or the tuition at that school or how long he'd be there) and that teaching is not a "lucrative career" (it isn't, but it's at least more lucrative than an EMT).
posted by saeculorum at 7:16 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Look at the GI Bill - he'll qualify for the Montgomery GI Bill (Ch 30), not the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Ch 33), due to the time he served.
How does anyone afford to go to college?
One goes into debt. You're making two questionable assumptions here that you are not quantifying - first, that he would go into "deep debt" (without knowing what school he's considering or the tuition at that school or how long he'd be there) and that teaching is not a "lucrative career" (it isn't, but it's at least more lucrative than an EMT).
posted by saeculorum at 7:16 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Your friend should look into TEACH grants. Also my university got a HUUUUUUGGGGGEEEE grant to implement a "UTEACH" program (I'm in Virginia, but I am sure other states are funding similar efforts with different names) that fully funds undergraduate teaching students who plan to go into the sciences. Your friend should shop around for programs. There's no reason why a person who wants to teach secondary biology should have to pay for a degree.
posted by songs_about_rainbows at 7:50 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by songs_about_rainbows at 7:50 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Alternatively, and harder to do but great if you can manage it, get a job at the school that entitles you to free tuition benefits (around here, that's any job, including food service and maintenance). Or research employee tuition assistance at other places of work. My current position, at Industrial Megacorp, was obtained through a temp posting for filing help. I don't have a degree, but when I go back they'll pay 90%. This is vastly more generous than many nonacademic employers but is not at all unique; even the hospital I worked for several years ago gave $3500/year, which goes far at community college. Past experience as an EMT was a requirement of the job description (I got around it with other hospital experience).
This is the slow track, as usually you owe a certain amount of time worked after the last payment (often 1-3 years), and a full schedule isn't always possible, but it's a way.
posted by notquitemaryann at 8:05 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
This is the slow track, as usually you owe a certain amount of time worked after the last payment (often 1-3 years), and a full schedule isn't always possible, but it's a way.
posted by notquitemaryann at 8:05 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
He needs to start by finding a way to cut his expenses by twenty percent or more. This is quite possibly impossible, but well, you are not asking a question here that has an easy answer. The usual ways of doing this include finding a horrible place to live that has much cheaper rent and/or finding a way to get by without a car that does not involve replacing the car with an equally expensive substitute.
In addition to this if he can raise his income by taking on over time, starting a side business or a second job he can get more money come in. Of course he has to watch out for ending up in a higher tax bracket that wipes out the results of his income increase.
If he does this successfully for five years or so he will have enough money to pay his tuition.
This is how poor people used to go to university before the loans became available. Of course it is much harder now and a university degree is worth much less.
posted by Jane the Brown at 8:06 AM on July 21, 2015
In addition to this if he can raise his income by taking on over time, starting a side business or a second job he can get more money come in. Of course he has to watch out for ending up in a higher tax bracket that wipes out the results of his income increase.
If he does this successfully for five years or so he will have enough money to pay his tuition.
This is how poor people used to go to university before the loans became available. Of course it is much harder now and a university degree is worth much less.
posted by Jane the Brown at 8:06 AM on July 21, 2015
Best answer: I've mentioned it before but the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program exists for this purpose. Funding from the Noyce program goes to universities and colleges who train aspiring science teachers and the universities and colleges decide whether to spend that money on scholarships, grants, etc. From what I understand, some of the programs will cover the cost of your education and training if you give two years of teaching in a high-need school district for every year of funding they give you.
Teaching is a challenging field but I've interacted with Noyce scholars and they have raved about the program - they have mentors and classmates with whom they can vent and share their experiences. So I would look for the nearest college or university that has received funding from the program and reach out.
posted by kat518 at 8:11 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
Teaching is a challenging field but I've interacted with Noyce scholars and they have raved about the program - they have mentors and classmates with whom they can vent and share their experiences. So I would look for the nearest college or university that has received funding from the program and reach out.
posted by kat518 at 8:11 AM on July 21, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: There are also a lot of idiosyncratic scholarships out there. It's free money, but it's only free money for the Sons of Scandinavian Shipbuilders or something similar. It's worth hunting down every scholarship out there that might be applicable and spending the hour or half hour it takes to gin up an application.
posted by craven_morhead at 8:35 AM on July 21, 2015
posted by craven_morhead at 8:35 AM on July 21, 2015
Community college -> state school for sure.
From the university side: he should get in touch with an academic advisor in the program he wants to get into eventually, and come up with a strategy for what to take, when and where, in order to minimize spending.
In our program, for instance, we require a 3-course core sequence for which we do not accept transfer or AP credit. It would be a huge waste to spend time and money on core biology courses at a community college that don't end up counting, then having to retake them here, so knowing that up front would be important. On the other hand, we do accept transfer credit for straightforward courses like calc and physics.
posted by Dashy at 8:35 AM on July 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
From the university side: he should get in touch with an academic advisor in the program he wants to get into eventually, and come up with a strategy for what to take, when and where, in order to minimize spending.
In our program, for instance, we require a 3-course core sequence for which we do not accept transfer or AP credit. It would be a huge waste to spend time and money on core biology courses at a community college that don't end up counting, then having to retake them here, so knowing that up front would be important. On the other hand, we do accept transfer credit for straightforward courses like calc and physics.
posted by Dashy at 8:35 AM on July 21, 2015 [3 favorites]
But he is totally broke and has no plans to go into deep debt for his degree since teaching is not a lucrative career.
Income-based repayment + public service loan forgiveness would mean that he likely would never have to pay back a significant portion of his loans. He should research those before automatically assuming that student loan debt would be bad for him.
posted by Jacqueline at 9:47 AM on July 21, 2015
Income-based repayment + public service loan forgiveness would mean that he likely would never have to pay back a significant portion of his loans. He should research those before automatically assuming that student loan debt would be bad for him.
posted by Jacqueline at 9:47 AM on July 21, 2015
Best answer: A caution on the loan forgiveness for teachers programs: they only count teaching in a high-need (Title I) school. As a certified biology teacher, your friend would likely have many other options (openings in higher-performing districts) that would not count for the purposes of those programs.
posted by jfaulkner at 10:39 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by jfaulkner at 10:39 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]
Start at community college and then transfer to a 4 yr school for the last 2 years.
posted by discopolo at 12:49 PM on July 21, 2015
posted by discopolo at 12:49 PM on July 21, 2015
Could he get a job at the university? We get 75% off tuition, tax free.
posted by jennstra at 6:05 PM on July 21, 2015
posted by jennstra at 6:05 PM on July 21, 2015
It's worth noting that not all 4-year state schools in a state cost the same amount. E.g. In CA, UC is much more expensive than the CSU.
posted by persona au gratin at 1:48 AM on July 22, 2015
posted by persona au gratin at 1:48 AM on July 22, 2015
If your friend is a veteran, he should have taken advantage of the GI Bill. But if he was discharged at 21 and he's 37 now it's too late. You get 10 years for the Montgomery GI Bill and 15 years for the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Sounds like he really screwed himself if he had access to these benefits and didn't use them -- it's a TON of money.
posted by topsykretts at 7:21 PM on October 28, 2015
posted by topsykretts at 7:21 PM on October 28, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
I assume you mean Federal Pell Grants? If so, those are for students that demonstrate "exceptional financial need." Whether or not your friend qualifies will depend on his household income and assets, among other factors.
Since he wants to be a teacher, he should know about Federal Loan Forgiveness for Teachers, which could help mitigate his debt burden over time.
posted by schroedingersgirl at 5:56 AM on July 21, 2015 [1 favorite]