After seeing it being reported today in the media, that there is a huge college admissions scheme involving wealthy parents (CEOs, Hollywood actors), I thought of writing this post.
I recently wrote a post called Why I Think College Should Only Be 8 Months.
Well, this post will complement that one.
A part two in a series on college.
Let’s get right to it!
ALTERNATIVES TO TRADITIONAL FULL-TIME ON-CAMPUS COLLEGE LIFE
Here are just a few things I will throw out there. I am sure some of it is already being done, but just not on a massive scale in the United States.
Dear parents of college-bound kids,
I would like to share with you some things I have learned about college alternatives. Here goes.
FLAT-RATE TUITION. How about a flat-rate tuition to help improve graduation rates? Much like a flat-tax would probably improve the economy (and closing loopholes in the tax code), a flat-rate means that once you reach a certain amount, it does not matter how many credits you take for that semester.
COMMUNITY COLLEGE. Community college is cheaper. You can also transfer to other state colleges without losing credits. Just be sure to find out first.
Starting at a community college or cheaper college then transferring to a bigger more expensive university is college arbitrage. You pay less, but have that flagship college on your resume.
COLLEGE LEVEL EXAMINATION PROGRAM. CLEP – testing out of courses can save you thousands of dollars.
FLEXIBLE ONLINE LEARNING WITH STRAIGHTERLINE. StraighterLine – an online educational website that allows students to take college courses for cheaper. For example, $99 a month would allow you to take as many courses as you can handle and then transfer those credits to major universities, saving you thousands!
ADVANCED PLACEMENT. AP courses – Advanced Placement testing that could offer you college credits. One student graduated from University of Virginia (UVA) in one year and paid only $1,000! He took so many advanced courses that he came into college with 60 credits and took 18 classes in two semesters and one in the summer to graduate early.
APPRENTICESHIP OR INTERNSHIP. Pick a major early or career path and stick with it. You can always learn on the job or find other ways to learn about a career. Do an internship or shadow someone? Changing majors is costly and time consuming. Changing colleges can be just as damaging without proper planning. Avoid it at all costs.
GAP YEAR. Take a gap year and save. It is no shock that many college students get burnt out. Mainly because they did not decompress from high school. A gap year give students a chance to recover from high school before tackling college.
WHAT SOME BOOKS BY EXPERTS SAY ABOUT COLLEGE
In the book, A New U: Faster and Cheaper Alternatives to College, it states that; every year, the cost of a four-year degree goes up, and the value goes down. The book looks at alternative routes to great first jobs that do not involve a bachelor’s degree. Bootcamps, income-share programs, apprenticeships, and staffing models are attractive alternatives to great jobs in numerous growing sectors of the economy: coding, healthcare, sales, digital marketing, finance and accounting, insurance, and data analytics.
Another book called Debt Free U, I actually read this one, discusses how one student manages to graduate college on-time and with no student loans. He recommends student work their way through school. Find a place you can afford. Make a budget. And find a way to earn the money to pay for each semester. If a semester costs $3,000, then you must first earn that money before starting that semester. He says stay away from scholarships that make you pay a fee to apply. In addition, he also recommends books like The Brazen Careerist and Getting from College to Career.
College (Un) Bound discusses the four-year college experience is as American as apple pie. So is the belief that higher education offers a ticket to a better life. But with student-loan debt surpassing the $1 trillion mark and unemployment of college graduates at historic highs, people are beginning to question that value. The great credential race is having long lasting consequences. Alternatives such as MOOC’s, apprenticeships, trades, and lower cost options are discussed where you can get a top-tier education for middle-tier college prices.
There Is Life After College: What Parents and Students Should Know About Navigating School to Prepare for the Jobs of Tomorrow. Saddled with thousands of dollars of debt, today’s college students are graduating into an uncertain job market that is leaving them financially dependent on their parents for years to come—a reality that has left moms and dads wondering: What did I pay all that money for? The book offers practical guidance for how to navigate life after college.
If you can find a way to cut out taking several classes or shave entire years of college, like that guy in the example I gave above at UVA, you could save anywhere from $500 to $60,000 or more!
Think of it like this.
If going to the University of Chicago costs $50,000 a year in tuition, and you can cut out two years of college by using CLEP, transferring credits, AP credits, and internships; then you save $100,000!
Just some food for thought.
Sincerely,
Your Friendly Neighborhood Greenbacks Magnet