No loans. No loans. No loans. Ever since I learned of the skyrocketing rates of college tuition (even at in state schools), I feared I would need a ton of loans to attend college. However, I turned to scholarships to avoid accumulating debt. I joined sites like Fastweb, Zinch, Scholarships.com, College Prowler, and Cappex to help my find scholarships. I expressed my need of financial aid to my school’s guidance counselors and school faculty. Many of them gave my advice to find scholarships and some even knew of some scholarships I could apply for. I used Google to search for scholarships that required criteria specific to me. For example, I would search first generation scholarships. It is also a good idea to ask your church and local businesses if they offer scholarships. Look online to see if stores and corporations and places you love offer scholarships. There are also scholarships that are need based and merit based. Need based scholarships are scholarships that consider income and other factors whereas merit based scholarships consider GPA and standardized test scores. Along with scholarships, I looked at other factors of financial aid. For one, I completed my FAFSA in a timely matter so that I would receive government aid like grants and scholarships. Also, your university may offer financial aid as well. With all the scholarships and resources available, college is possible! And even if you need to get a loan, you can get a student loan that you can pay off once you are not enrolled at college and you can pay in payments. Attending school without loans is ideal but it’s not always feasible. My advice is to apply for scholarships, utilize your financial aid and hope for the best!
