Senior year begins and for many students it’s the time to start wondering where to attend college, what they want to study and of course the infamous paying for it.
“I’m hoping to get scholarships,” junior Dante Colombo said. “But if not I do have some ‘junk in the trunk and then I’ll just get student loans from there I guess.”
Paying for college is no small task. It is nothing like high school where students buy their school supplies, show up and go home to their mommies and daddies every night. Not only do the college students have to pay for tuition but they also are responsible for paying for room and board.
“I’m buying my own laptop, I’m buying my own cellphone and I’m paying for transportation and food,” senior Alex Hoopes said.
Besides paying for a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs, college students will also have to pay for text books that may remain untouched for a majority of the semester. All the different kinds of prices may be a little overwhelming.
“Start saving now,” counselor Joel Fredericks said. “Make sure you start exploring all avenues: grants, loans. Also, apply for any scholarship you can, especially the ones that have essays because not many people will apply for those.”
Some websites like www.collegeboard.com and scholarships.com offer many different opportunities to apply for scholarships. For the remaining cost not covered by scholarship money, students usually do the next best thing, apply for student loans.
“You fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) mid-way through your senior year and you submit that to the government,” Fredericks said. “Depending on how much money your parents can spend they decide how much money in loans you are able to receive, and if you can spend very little you are eligible for grants, but most of the students will have to apply for student loans.”
Another way to ease the painful process is to participate in work study. It is a part-time job, only instead of busing tables students are able to work on campus with their salary going directly into their college tuition. Working on campus is a much better alternative because those jobs offer flexible hours that can be used for studying, instead of sacrificing their grades.
Whether it’s getting a full-ride scholarship or paying off student loans paycheck by paycheck, college is an experience that shouldn’t be missed by anyone. Studying really hard and working, regardless of how dull it sounds will pay off in the end and it’s not the only aspect of college.
