Start searching NOW for scholarship opportunities. Talk to your guidance counselor, do a google search online. One word of warning: if you have to PAY to apply for a scholarship, DON’T!! It’s a rip-off!

If your hometown has a Community Foundation, start there. That’s where I work and we are best known for our scholarships.

Ask about scholarships where you work, where your parents work, etc. For example, Wal-mart offers scholarships to employees’ children.

Many banks and credit unions offer scholarships to their account holders.

What are your family’s outside affilliations? Many churhces offer scholarships, many service organizations too (Rotary, Kiwanis, etc). If there are veterans in your family, check with the VFW and American Legion.

Speaking from personal experience — many of the scholarships we offer where I work require that you write an essay. If you are good at writing, you will have a TREMENDOUS advantage over applicants who are not. Lots of students don’t even bother applying for the scholarships that require an esay — I guess they can’t be bothered! I suggest you pick an essay subject at random (maybe something like “why do you want to go to college?”) and start praticing NOW. Write a draft, go back and polish, and PROOFREAD!!

Also — there are LOTS of scholarships out there that are small amounts, maybe $200, etc. Many students ignore these. I always compare it to a patchwork quilt — that one little square of cloth isn’t enough to keep you warm — but stitch enough small pieces together, and you wind up with an entire blanket!

Best of luck to you. I bet you’ll go far!

The FAFSA will calculate your EFC (Estimated Family Contribution) which is based on your parents income and assets. I will give you a rough guideline. If you mother makes 20,000 dollars or less a year, has no major assets (stocks, bonds, etc.) and is the only provider, you can expect to have an EFC of 0. This means that the per federal requirments the university is required to meet your cost of attendence - EFC. This WILL include Federal loans. Fortunatly for you they have set interest rates which are very low. For instance a friend of mine has 20,000 in federal student loans and his monthly payment is approx. 75$. When you get in the real world you will realize this is extremely managable.

Pick something you enjoy doing and that has real world job potential and you will be set.

2. Fill out FAFSA, the key to all financial aid, as recommended.

3. Take those tests where you can get college credit for stuff you learned in high school. DO NOT use these for courses in your major, because a good review will be invaluable. (I had a friend who tested out of intro physics but then ended up lost in his classes for a long time!) But this is the cheapest way to get credit for general education requirements such as English, science, history, and foreign language.

4. Start with community colleges, also as already recommended, and talk to advisers there about how courses will transfer to four-year colleges. In my state (TX), they don’t all transfer and some that do may not count toward the degree you want, so you need to check ahead of time.

5. In most cases people do not get jobs directly related to their major. Pick a major you will enjoy–explore at the community college level if necessary. Then find a four-year college that is a good match (look at major, size, setting, male/female ratio, etc.). You may get offers (with scholarships) from out-of-state colleges if your SAT scores are good enough, so don’t dismiss those out of hand. Of course you need to go into Engineering if you want to be an engineer, but things are much more flexible than most people will lead to you to believe. Even if you want to be a doctor, you can major in anything you like so long as you also take take the prerequisite science and math courses.

6. Studies have shown that working 10-15 hours a week during college is correlated with better grades than working more or working not at all. Working more than that is sad–you should take advantage of various learning opportunities outside the classroom that are available at colleges.

7. Look into internships in fields of interest. If they don’t pay, look into getting course credit. This will allow you to try out fields and can sometimes lead to job offers.

8. Talk to counselors at your high school and local colleges–some of them won’t have a clue, but some might have some very interesting suggestions or get you thinking about other important issues. Advisers at four-year colleges are happy to talk to prospective students about their options and about strategies. College advising has become more professionalized in the last decade or so, and so you might get much better results than your parents did.

9. If you have to move away from home, get roommates (to save money). If you end up not liking your roommate, you will be motivated to spend less time at home and more time at the library, so it won’t be all bad. Learn to cook. Bring your lunch to school rather than eating out or using vending machines. Find ways to get free t-shirts and buy other clothes at thrift shops. Find out what books you’ll be needing ASAP and buy them used online. And join student organizations to continue or develop new hobbies for free or very inexpensively.

10. Make friends and get involved. (This is easiest if you live in a dorm the first year–with a roommate to save money of course. Joining student organizations and creating study groups can also help.) This makes you happier because you feel more like you belong, so you can spend more of your energy on studying instead of being sad and homesick. Also, you don’t have to learn everything the hard way–you can learn some things from your friends. If your friends are good influences, then you can also be more productive and more likely to graduate in a reasonable amount of time. Form study groups. Find out what student services are available (such as learning centers and health centers) and take advantage of them when they might help.

11. If you want to be a social worker, it will be difficult to pay back your student loans with your low wages, high stress, and long hours. Especially in this case, plan your courses so you can finish as quickly as possible.

A friend had a full scholarship, partied too much and lost it. She was too embarrased to tell her parents, so she got a full-time job and a part-time job and stayed in school full-time. When she was a senior and interviewing for jobs, a Fortune 50 company snapped her up fast. At first, they thought she lied or made a mistake on her resume because nobody could have pulled it off.

She’s now one of the people I most admire and everyone says “how does she do it all?” Answer: she learned by working while in college. This may be a bit OT, but I think it illustrates the point that working while in school won’t kill you. I did it.

1.Get Pell Grants, they don’t have to be repaid.

2. Go to a college in your home state- don’t even look at other colleges. The cost savings can be tremendous.

3. Apply for a work-study program immediately upon enrolling.

4.Work every summer and live at home to save money.

5. Work right now and save your money.

My high school had a program that would allow you to leave school at noon every day to go to work your senior year, and this is what I did.

I still graduated with 30k in student loan debt, and that included graduate school. I got a high paying job, though, and that debt has long been paid off.

I do hear it is getting more and more expensive, but I paid my way through state and it wasn’t a huge deal - it was so cheap, in my opinion, a few years back. There are MANY excellent state schools. Going to community college first will buy you some time to figure out what you really want to do and the best most affordable schools to get there.

What I did for college is I went to State and lived at home the first year. Then I moved out, continued going to state. Though I lived in the most expensive area of the country, I found a room in a house to rent for $350/month. In a nice neighborhood. It was an absolute steal. Putting up with roommates, but worth it. Deals like this will be far better than living on campus if you go away to school, or living right near campus.

I had a real high paying job that I Worked part-time during school and then a couple of other jobs eventually, and more in the summer. IT was all plenty to pay for school and books. I had trouble getting scholarships at first because my parents made good money, but the catch 22 is they paid for their own college and expected me to do the same. I believe in the end my last year or 2 was pad by scholarships. Aid becomes less of an issue with time it seems, so if you don’t get any aid right away, keep trying, circumstances change. IT seemed to me there were more non-need-based scholarships based on your performance in college. But I never pursued much in the way of loans or aid so others can help you more in that department.

My only regret honestly is not going to community college first. I didn’t really know what I Wanted to do and my first 2 years at State were probably a bit of a waste. But when I figured it out it turned out to be an excellent college for my field. IT worked out, but I think planning ahead is good. An excellent college for your field may be across the country. Don’t get too caught up in your backyard.

College years were really tough with so much working and school but I wouldn’t take it back for anything - it made me a strong person. I laugh when I tell people I have no college debts and they immediately assume mommy and daddy paid my way to college. pfffft. I get told that a lot. I Think the assumption is you can’t make it through college on your own and do well early on. That you will always be sinking over those debts. IT doesn’t have to be that way. The other assumption is school and work don’t mix. I say, why not?

There is nothing better on a resume than showing you could juggle school and work. However, I do had a few friends in fields that I am not sure they could work in school, not much anyway. Some programs are more intense. But working very hard in the summers can shoulder the burden. I know too many people who it never occured to them to work in college. They played the “whoa is me - mommy and daddy didn’t pay for college” card and were so bitter they didn’t stop to think many of us are in that situation. Even today I have friends in their 40s using this as an excuse for where they are financially - like I want to hear it. Playing the victim won’t get you far. Taking charge and coming up with a plan will get you far. You’ve made the first step. Try to rein in all of your costs - school and everyday living expenses.

BTW, you could always seek out a job where you can study at work as well. Temp work, reception comes to mind. Anything where there is a lot of down time, why not get paid to study?

Good Luck.

this is a good place to start, but make sure to start now. if you’re only just now thinking about this stuff, you’re behind a decent crowd of people.

http://www.students.gov

I also attended college on my own dime, while working and raising a family, up to and including achieving an MBA.

I would suggest that you consider starting with a local community college. Community colleges offer a great way to get the first two years of prerequisites out of the way at a much more reasonable price than a four year school.

If you take this route you may want to explore the relationships between the community college and a local four year college. In my state (WA) if a student completes a two year degree at a state community college and then transfers to a state four year school, the four year school takes all the community college credits carte blanche, and the student starts as a true junior.

Community colleges are usually sensitive to working people as well and you usually can complete the coursework through evening and weekend classes, which will allow you to work.

I did the same process in achieving my four year degree and MBA. I attended a local college that offered evening and weekend courses, while working during the day and enjoyed it very much. The classes were made up of people just like me - people working their way through school.

And while this method may take a few years longer, you can (and I did) graduate with no debt which provides you great flexibility in life as you enter your next chapter.

Additionally, there have been studies of the later income of college students attending state schools vs. private schools and if I recall, in many instances there were little or no differences. However, the costs are dramatically different.

And as previous posters mentioned, check those scholarship/grant opportunities. I would stay away from responding to those ads making big promises on finding scholarships. I think that you are capable and resourceful enough to search, with the help of school consellors, for financial aid opportunities.

Good luck with your dreams and goals.