6 Ways to Get Free Cash for College

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Although the writer sounds immature, self-centered, and not very smart, one issue was raised that I agree with. College textbook requirements are just another tacked-on fee. Even if the books are of use, the edition required is changed so frequently that it is difficult to buy used ones, and the new edition doesn't have any substantial changes. I finally learned to get whatever edition was available in a used book, and that worked just fine.

Peggy Tiner of TN 9:20AM June 24, 2009

This is a response to the comment made by m.l. of VA
1. Your comment was so uneloquent, had no puncuation, and had spelling errors.
2. What does finding out you have a medical problem have to do with anything?
3. The fact that you are "going to be" a med student implies that you aren't actually in med school yet, and, from the sound of your comment, you'll never make it anyway because you're too stupid.
and lastly
4. Why in the world would your tuition be waived because you plan on becoming a doctor. Even though you may think you're God's gift to the earth, I'm sure no one else agrees with you. 5. The idea that anyone would pay your way because you might be a doctor some day is so incredibly preposturous, and confounded me so much, that I actually just spent the last 5 minutes of my life telling how ridiculous you are.
6. Yes, I know m.l. of VA will probably never read this- but it makes me feel better anyway.

k.h.d. of PA 3:56PM June 23, 2009

dont come at nigeria!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

naijagirl37 of PA 8:25PM June 20, 2009

at national college in roanoke va we buy books with our loans that we never use in the class like there way of getting fast cash for classes the computer book was price by the school at 146 dollars well I went and found the same book for 25 dollars at a local book store but when I got to the school the teacher told me I would need the card that went with the book okay I returned the one book and bought it from the school and still havent used the card that I say cost me 115 dollars and come to find out I have a disability and cant have children so I am puniched and cant get the loans that everyone else gets and they raised the price of books what else I am going to be a medical student I believe for the service I will be preforming that our tuition should either be waved by the gov. or reduced

m.l of VA 4:52PM May 26, 2009

We can all feel compassion for those less fortunate than us and by far most would agree that the standard of living in the US is superior to most other countries, however if you consider that statistically many other countries supersede us in education not only on secondary but collegiate as well. The number of advanced placement children in India or China alone is larger than our number of students as a whole not to mention Japan and other countries that are far more serious about their dedication to studies and higher learning. We see how much technical work has been farmed out overseas in the last decade. I find that there are so many government subsidies and grants for foreign students while so many other students are caught in the quagmire that their parents make too much money to qualify for student grants or government assistance, yet they don’t make quite enough to afford the ever rising increases to college tuition. The closest thing to real assistance is student loans that rope you into an albatross you will drag with you for as many years as a home mortgage and pay nearly as much. In the very near future we will be education poor with a workforce that has lost the cutting edge of technology. We will no longer be the innovators of the future, but the workhorses of provided services. Instead of paying for foreign students to come to our Universities and learn, let us invest more into our own children. Where are the tax breaks for those that choose to place their children into private schools or advanced placement learning? Where are the government subsidies to lower the cost of college education for those that want to attend private universities. Too many State Universities are over populated already without making them the only subsidized schools available. I am not talking about for those below poverty level; we know there are programs for those, but those that are middle class income that would have to second mortgage their home to place their kids through college. We are a very compassionate country and very quick to give help to those outside our country, but we have lost sight of our own children and where our country will be when those than pay 90% of the tax base that funds all our foreign aid have children that are not educated enough to carry industries in our future market or this every changing world. You will quickly find us like Russia with an unforgiving unemployment rate and an imploding economy, with no real industrial or technological companies to forge forward as a world class leader. We are quickly headed that way and paving the road other countries to take our place as world leaders. We should take a long hard look what we are doing stacking the deck against our own children. We should invest our resources and hard earned tax monies on own country and children before we give to others so quickly.

anonymous of TX 10:24PM May 25, 2009

Be smart about your kids schooling, let them decide where they want to apply to school. Talk to them about the high cost of schooling and get educated about the schooling process. The most cost effective option is to send them to a community college which is half the cost of a major 4 year universtiy. You can let them pick the school they wish to end up at and meet with an advisor there and tell them you wish to transfer there after completing your general education courses. Doing this will cut your schooling cost in half easily, you can transfer all the credits to your 4 year school and avoid the high cost of there credit hours. This is what I did and I found that the small class size of a community college offers more one on one time with the professor which in turns allows for a higher learning curve for the students. You have to take ridiculous amounts of unneeded credits in your gen. eds. and this will considerably cut costs. This will also cut your room and board off for the first year or two which depending on school interested in could add up to a savings of more then 6 to 10 thousand dollars that you would have to pay (not including your schooling cost). You also will want your child to take the ACT or SAT (which ever the university requires) early, start with your child taking it his/her junior year early on and send the results with your child to a place like sylvian learning center to help your child focus on area's that he/she needs improvement. This can help because the higher the score the more grants/scholarship money they can recieve so this will help with very little money invested. There are tons of little lessons that everyone learns along the way, don't buy the books from the campus itself, check local shops that buy used books, they have up to date lists of the books needed for next semesters classes that are alot cheaper than the big universtiy's prices. In all you want the best for your children, do what you feel would benifite them in the long run but be smart about desisions that are very expensive and talk to them about these pricey name tags and reason with them that they can get the same thing else where for half the price and save you big bucks in the long run while providing them with best opportunity to get ahead in life!

Ryan of MO 10:02PM May 25, 2009

The students should boycott the colleges and universities this next semester to demonstrate that the schools of education need them as much if not more than the students need to be paying out all these outrageous tutitions. Where is the justification for all these 15 to 28 percent tutition increases? Not sure why all college students don't stand-up for themselves and say enough is enough. Maybe the universities/colleges should turn over their faculty every 5 years in order to get fresh new ideas, and not faculty who are tentured and constantly asking for more money. Also, can someone tell me why universities/colleges pay sport coaches millions of dollars, some get paid more than university presidents? Guess the coaches are smarter than the Presidents, huh?

Michael Falkenberg of CA 9:32PM May 25, 2009

NEED HELP

B. T. BUCHANAN of TX 9:29PM May 25, 2009

My wife and I have worked for years, trying to sock away money for our children to go to college. We did not buy a house bigger than we could afford. We didn't go on lavish trips or have magnificent parties. We grew up with the idea that an education is the best investment you can make in a child. We grew up with the assumption that the best way to become productive citizens, truly productive, the way to give back to society, to advance society, was to become educated, to excel and to "reach for the stars." That is the American Dream isn't it?
We have found that the price of tuition for our kids is just punitive. The tuition assistance we receive is paltry. What is a $500 grant against a $40k tuition bill other than a feel-good gesture from some school looking to maintain a fat professoriat? We're not poor but we're not rich either. We are beggars for education and the schools are the keepers of the keys to the kingdom. By the time we are done educating our kids we will be poor. No doubt the schools are smugly self-satisfied that they give good value education for the monies they receive. That remains to be seen, but I do know that most schools have priced themselves out of the market for most families.
The hoops one needs to jump through to obtain a quality education have become degrading. One administrator remarked to me that the cost of an education was like buying a big expensive car every year and then, at the end of the year, driving it over a cliff. You just hope the ride was good enough to help ease the pain of the annual bill. Needless to say, that wasn't the kind of comment I was hoping to hear.
But what choices do we have? Refuse to educate our kids? In the society of the 21st century, that's tantamount to child abuse. This is a no-win situation. I have no expectations that my retirement will be comfortable. I expect that the schools my children go to will benefit instead. I guess that's what I signed up for though when I had the impulse to reproduce. As they say, "if only I knew then what I know now......." But the colleges are happy and that's what's important right?

Andrew of NC 7:31PM May 25, 2009

We have arrived at a point in the US where a college degree has become unattainable because of cost. At one time college was somewhat affordable for a larger percentage of students, but now those doors have closed.
Universities insist on students following a criteria for their degrees. An example would be a student who wants an accounting degree. The university piles on periferal studies that are not nececessarily related to accounting. That costs money that the student doesn't have. Why not spearhead pertinent classes of accounting. Does an accountant absolutely need courses like psycholgy classes to do accounting work?
The time has come for universities to specialize degrees to the desired profession. Knock off the costly courses that really do not apply. Those courses are far too costly for most students.

Charles Ross of OH 1:24PM May 25, 2009