Expert: Paul Henneman - 6/24/2007

Question
my parents have told me that they dont have any money for me to go to college, i have 3 siblings. In a month i'll be able to get a part-time job, and i still need to complete two more years in hightschool until i go to college. What are some ways that i can save money for college?...lets say i dont find or get a good part-time job with a good pay.

Answer
Thank you for your question, I am sorry to hear of your difficulties in your desire to go to college. But don't give up.
There are options that you can do. By all means, do your best to get a job for the summers, and save all you can.
There are student loans out there. Many students do go to college with little or no help from their parents. It certainly makes it more difficult, but it can still be done.  You would need to work part time while in school, and take out student loans. My only suggestion: Do it. Don't worry about paying back the loans while in school. Having a college degree will allow you to earn much more income, and there are a variety of easy to handle repayment programgs.

Depending upon your parents income, you may qualify for grands or work study as well. Grants are essentially loans that you do not have to pay back, and work study is a program where you work for the college you are attending and get a paycheck.

The overall goal should be to plan to find a job to work enough to pay your every day living expenses: food, clothes, gas for your car if you have one, a little bit of extra spending money. The student loans should handle your tuition, books, and major living expense of rent or school dormitory costs.

If you are going to be paying for this yourself, I strongly recommend that you keep your choiced limited to state schools. Many are very, very good, and private schools are drastically more expensive. If there is a good state school near your home, even better. Perhaps you could attend college while living at home, this would really reduce the expense.  If at all possible, I do recommend spending the first year living on campus if you can do it. You will meet lots of people and develop life long friends. That is still possible if you commute to school from home, but perhaps a bit more difficult.

Don't give up on this. Tough it out for a few years, it will not be as bad as you think. Student loans are a great help, and just work to keep your costs down. If you live on campus, usually it is possible to get by without a car as everything will be close by.

I wish you the best of luck, please do not hesitate to follow up with me if I can be of any additional service,

Sincerely,
Paul Henneman
President
ValuEngine Inc
www.ValuEngine.com