Paying for college

Going to college is a huge benefit to anyone. It allows one to earn a degree and become proficient in an area of study if one puts in the work. However, this beneficial education does not come free, it is very expensive. For example, to attend George Mason University as an in-state resident will cost $9,240 a year while out of state costs $27,564 a year. That doesn't even include room and board. Living on campus will cost you between $5,050 to $6,690 a year depending on ones living situation. These are tremendous expenses that one must pay. They do not have a choice if they want to attend the university. If one can not afford to pay it themselves, there are ways to assist them.

One way to pay for college is to save up your money and make financial decisions that will benefit the individual. Instead of buying something one wants, they should put that money in their savings for college. According to Smart Money, "Every dollar you pay up front saves nearly $2 in interest if were to borrow that dollar". That's a lot of money one ends up losing if they have to borrow money. They will eventually owe more money back than borrowed. To avoid that, it's best for the person to save up as much money as they can.

The FAFSA is a great way to help pay for college. The FAFSA determines how much money one can receive from the government in the form of grants, depending on the family's income situation. This is money that one does not need to pay back, A great advantage for everybody. However, it is not guaranteed and it's not always a lot of money, so one needs to continue saving.

A great way to make college cheaper is to attend community college first. It is significantly cheaper than attending a university right away. If one were to attend NVCC first and took 16 credits, it would only cost in-state students $2,324 and out of state students $5,440. This is significantly cheaper and saves one a good amount of money. With the money one saves attending NVCC first, they could potentially save up enough money to pay for GMU without taking any loans.

Loans are not they best way to pay for college. I would personally try to avoid them as much as one can and use them only if they're last resort. The reason to avoid loans is because one has to pay them back in a certain time period with interest. This interest causes one to lose money because they end up owing more than they borrowed in the end. It also becomes a struggle to pay back these loans when one graduates because no one is guaranteed a job. If one has no job, they will struggle to payback the loans and might end up losing other personals to cover the debt. Do yourself a favor and try to avoid loans. You will just lose money rather than gain it.

There are many ways to pay for college. One just has to find what works best for them. It will be worth the expense in the end, one just has to know the proper ways to pay it. One can save themselves debt if they can do this without losing money in the end. After all, everyone knows it's all about making money, no one wants to lose it. Many go to college just because it increases ones chances at making a bigger paycheck in the future.

Works Cited:

Bodnar, Janet, Anne Kates Smith, and  Kiplinger. "7 smart ways to pay for college - 1 - education & savings - MSN Money." Money: Personal finance, investing news & advice - MSN Money. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. <http://money.msn.com/college-savings/7-smart-ways-to-pay-for-college-kiplinger.aspx>.

"GMU Admissions: Undergraduate Tuition Costs." GMU Admissions: Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. <http://admissions.gmu.edu/common/undergraduateTuition.asp>.

"George Mason University - Office of Housing & Residence Life." George Mason University - Office of Housing & Residence Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. <http://housing.gmu.edu/general/rates/>.

"How to Pay for College - SmartMoney.com." Online Investing: Stocks, Personal Finance & Mutual Funds at SmartMoney.com - SmartMoney.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. <http://www.smartmoney.com/borrow/student-loans/how-to-pay-for-college-1305005764769/>.

"Tuition & Fees - Future Students :: Northern Virginia Community College." Northern Virginia Community College. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. <http://www.nvcc.edu/future-students/paying-for-college/tuition-fees/>.