Even when students can afford to pay for college, they’re still likely to graduate with a mountain of debt:
- The average student loan borrower leaves college today with $37,172 in student loans – more than twice the amount of 2005 grads
- The average monthly student loan payment has jumped by more than $150 over roughly the same period
Scholarships & Alternative Means to Pay for College
No problem, you say. There are tons of scholarship and work-study opportunities out there. You merely have to know where to look for the ones that work for you. And, to an extent, that’s true. The operative word, though, is tons. For instance, whole books have been written about the FAFSA, an often-confusing online form required to get need-based aid. Even when you think you’ve filled out everything correctly, each school uses the information how they choose.