College is one of those things that everybody in the past knew that you had to have for a successful future. It was a standard. Every family sacrificed so their child could go to college and make a better life for themselves. Unfortunately, things have changed over the years. College now costs a tremendous amount of money and can even get people into debt. With some degrees costing you so much that you are nearing retirement by the time you can pay the college loan back. College loan payments are by far the number one highest payment that a person makes after graduation. For many people, this payment is even higher than the rent payment or the car payment, or both combined. One of the things you can do to make your life a little bit easier is to try and save on college. That doesn’t mean not go, but there are a lot of ways you can cut a lot of pain at of those future payments. Here are a few we have collected.

Importance

First, you need to ask yourself how important your college degree is. Do you just need a college degree or do you need a college degree from one of the top universities in the country? Depending on what your degree is in and how much money that will get you, you can bring reality back into control. The only real valid reason to have a top college degree is to earn more money or to get a job easier. Both of these are directed towards making money. If your job career path is not a high paying one, going to a top university is insanity. You will never pay the debt off.

School

Schools are a business. Colleges and universities are in competition with each other all across the country. As much as it’s nice to have a top name university on your diploma, most of the time just graduating from university is all you need. So shop around and look at the prices. Just like anything, this is a major financial decision. Just like buying a house you have to decide what you can afford. So, pick a university that you can pay off within 5 years based on what your career path is. Less than 5 years is even better.

Scholarships

There are more scholarships out there than you could ever know what to do with. Some of them are very unusual and some of them are normal. There are some scholarships that are for people with certain names only and that’s the only requirement. With a little bit of research, you can probably find a scholarship that you can fit in for what you want to do. There are many sites online that list them.

Make money before

although this seems a little obvious, it’s probably not a bad idea to start making money before you go to college. Save up before you go. Start a business, get a job, sales, whatever it takes to get things started. Some larger corporations also help with college expenses if you sign a contract with them that you will work for them for a set amount of years after. It is in their best interest to help you help them.

College is still a great way to have a good future. It gives you a leg up on many of the other people that don’t have college. Early in your work career college is one of the first things that the recruiters will look at. But understand that once you have been in the workforce for a few years, that college degree becomes less and less important. It becomes more important what work you have done. So, choose your college carefully. Ask others that have gone to college and are still paying their student loans for advice, and you might get a good understanding of what you need to try and avoid. Ask them what they would have done differently. College education doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg, so good luck.