College Without Debt: What's the Secret?

Lol.

"12. Half of students, who graduated with no debt, earned a degree at a community college.
Bottom line: While it might seem from media reports that nearly all students are reeling from college debt, a significant minority aren't."

First of all, "significant minority", quite paradoxical. Second, half of this significant minority are community college graduates. Oh, but great article nonetheless. Sike.

"Just as importantly, three fifths of students graduate with less than $10,000 of college loans, which should be a manageable amount for many young Americans."

Easy for the author to come to this conclusion, but when you graduate, have no chance for a job in this economy, a $10,000 debt is crippling.

Biggest scam in college is the cost of textbooks. Most professors make big bucks on requiring textbooks they aither wrote or co-wrote to be purchased by students. Then they juggle the contents and come out with a new edition with a new ISBN number to generate more money for themselves by declaring old editions will not be used in the class even though the same info is in the older book.

Professors utilizing there own books should be outlawed in state run schools to avoid such fraud.

The inclusion of community colleges in this article completely distorts the numbers. This article is BUNK.

I graduated in engineering with NO debt, but I also worked and paid for my own school. Loading up on student loans for a History degree, or some other useless thing is laughable.

what was the point of this article anyway?? I graduated without debt either...

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I got a degree in aerospace engineering from WVU (which is very affordable) and through internships and jobs I made more money than it cost me to go to college. I left college with a good job and more money than I came in. My one word of advice is to pick a degree that is marketable and there is a need for. Do not have to college and pay 100’s of thousands of dollars to get a degree in arts or English that you can’t get a job with.

Happy to say I will be graduating debt free this Spring with 2 bachelors degrees at the age of 21. I took advantage of a dual credit high school in my area that allowed me to graduate from high school with 50+ credits. Once I graduated I stayed at an in-state school, lived with my family and worked my ass off. Usually 40+ hours a week at 2-3 different part time jobs in addition to 15-18 credits per semester. I didn't receive any financial aid, assistance from parents (aside from the free room) and minimal scholarships. Just utilized a payment plan and paid in cash. So it is possible it just takes a lot of extra planning and hard work.

there was no answer to the question. How about helping kids go to college without a loan. Give helpful info. Anybody can write what you wrote.

How about some tough love here.
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Noone owes you a college education.
A college degree is optional, it is a choice you make.
You will have to work for this. Maybe take menial jobs. Minimum wage.
If your parents cannot or will not help you, do it yourself. Be independent.
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Noone suggests comparing a 2 year degree from the community college to a 4 year degree. They do not compare. The community college is a stepping stone to your 4 year degree. English 101, Algebra 101 - they are the same whether you take those classes at the community college or the more expensive 4 year school. The credits transfer, meaning they apply to your 4 year degree.

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Look at the community college for 2 year degrees that DO qualify you for a job - some community colleges have training programs for local employers (tech, nursing, trades)

Don't whine, don't give up. Ask for advice from instructors, the financial aid office, counselors, grad students. Anyone with good grades can do this.

There are folks on here saying that minorities CANNOT graduate without debt. B.S.
-Live at home as long as you can and go to the local community college. English 101 at the local school is the same as English 101 at the 4 year school.
-Work. Mow lawns, shovel snow, pull weeds for the neighbors or the rich people down the road. Work at Walmart or on campus or the convenient store or anywhere else, but work!
-If you are not financially dependent on your family AT ALL, you can go to the school financial aid folks to learn how to fill out a form declaring yourself independent (yesl, even after the age of 18), then, your parents income and assets will not be counted. Do not lie on this, really, don't.
-As an employer (15 years and counting) I do not give a rat's a....... what school you graduate from, I care that you graduate. It doesn't matter to me if it took you 4 years or 5. Going to the community college to save money makes you look smart, not cheap. I like to hire military, they are educated and know how to behave in a work setting.
-As an employer, I look at an expensive college education that includes a huge student debt as a poor personal choice that may affect your judgement in other areas (like working in my business) - live within your means. There are very, very few jobs that require a fancy college diploma. Very few.
-Get good grades and apply for academic scholarships.
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Low debt or debt free is possible, it isn't always fun, and it sure isn't easy, but you can do it. The suggestions in this column are realistic and have been used by millions of people for years. You can do this, too.

I would believing being black is the easiest way. Lowered academic scores/achievement for prerequistes (all in the name of "diversity"). All the scholarships/grants for being a minority. If that doesn't help, play the race card.

I attended school full-time and worked anywhere from one to three part-time jobs. All of my money went toward paying down what my LOANS didn't cover for school. Plus I usually spent $1000+ per semester on books and supplies that were MANDATORY for classes.

Not counting the loans my parents took out for me, I graduated with over $14k in debt. I got a full-time job and the payments were easy to make, but then I got laid off because they had to shut down companies all over the U.S. NO ONE would hire me. Back in school, raising my debt, and hoping another degree will help. Thankfully I have an awesome student job that allows me to pay for gas and help my family who so graciously took me in.

Graduating without debt can be done, you just have to want to do it, and be creative.
I had no family help after my 1st year of college and living at home. Life changed and I was now on my own. The following suggestions are what I did to graduate with no debt.
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-2 years of Junior/Community college = live at home, pay much less in tuition, and the credits transfer.
-work part-time during the school year, work full time during summer and breaks, I mowed lawns one summer and in a paint factory another, my brother worked constuction in the summer and UPS at Christmas time. I also worked in an office 20 hours per week during the school year.
-academic scholarships and grants!!!!!!!
-I love Starbucks, Panera and giant slices of pizza, but they do not fit into the college budget; economize!!!!!!
-Beer is a luxury, not a necessity. Really.
-Don't go to the beach or Mexico for Spring Break, go home and work, shovel snow for the neighbors.
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Graduating without debt is possible. I had friends at college who competed to be the person who lived on the least amount of money for a month. (they, too, were on their own financially). Focus and follow thru.

This is all fine and dandy but the sad reality is that many of us don't qualify for 100% financial aid. I attended a "state" school and still had to borrow during my final years and during my student teaching because I couldn't work for pay as thanks to NCLB I couldn't be an intern. My master's was 100% loans because I made too much money for anything else, even though I was a single parent. I wish I could have done so without going into debt, but I couldn't. My parents didn't have a college fund for me, my parents made too much money when I was first in college, and when I went back, I was too old for certain types of aid, and what I did qualify for wasn't enough for me to attend full time and get my maximum amount of aid without me either working 40+ hours (thus hurting my GPA) or risking homelessness for myself and my son. I'm not ashamed of my loans, but I'm not thrilled about them either. Maybe if was easier for those in REAL need to the money for college (people who busted their butts for a good GPA, like me) then people like me wouldn't be so deep in debt.

I have accomplished 3 university degrees and a diploma in french without a debt of a single penny. First reason is that im in Pakistan. Second i did overlapping degrees saving time and money through extra work for directly taking exams without paying for teaching. Third is that student loan in my home country is about 30%. So am I, more years of education than an average PHd.....without a student loan

go to college in some other country

I can happily say that I am going to be debt free when i graduate from a four year University thanks to Uncle Sam. I busted my ass off in the army for four years and now I am being payed to attain school yeah that right I get my tuition paid off and they(VA) pays me a monthly allowances it is much but it works for being a college student.

I remember when I was going to school. My parents explained that they could not afford to have two children in school at the same time. My brother graduated a year before I did. I had a couple grand saved from summer jobs. I stayed home and went to a community college. I then worked for a few years before completing my degree at a state school. It's not easy working 45 hours a week and also taking 12-15 hours a semester but it is possible. I guess many people are willing to finance their social life instead of working hard and graduating without debt.

I am a proud student of Western Governors University. Non-profit wonderful experience. My tuition has only gone up >$300 in 5 YEARS. Check into it, I am very happy with my education

apply for the really small $ scholarships... More likely, you'll get it and they REALLY do add up! Believe me when I say you are less likely to get the fat $ scholarships b/c a blind kid from Nicaragua that sews scarfs for the orphans on his spare time and rescues stray dogs on the weekends is more likely to get it!!!