Money problems

Kevin- College degrees are hugely important in the job market, but you certainly do not need to go into a massive amount of debt to receive a degree. I think it is a great strategy to do as well as you can academically in high school and see what kind of scholarships you can earn from various universities. If scholarships are not enough to make college affordable, junior college and state colleges are really effective ways of receiving a quality education at a lower cost. If you have the drive to succeed, universities will hopefully recognize your potential and reward you in spite of any economic constraints.

Kevin, you have to become creative anytime you want to do anything in life but you have limited funds. One aspect you want to look at is what are your career goals and what kind of income will your goals produce? For example, if you are going to spend $100K on college for fashion design, you need to figure out how quickly would that career be able to produce enough money for you to quickly pay back that loan. If the average salary for fashion design is $30K until you make it big, then a $100K loan might not serve you well.

I believe in career experience. Therefore, if your major were fashion design, you could work for a fashion house while attending an affordable college or maybe the fashion house would have tuition reimbursement. The point is no debt is worth it unless you can quickly recover from it, but in this recession, that is not an easy feat.

Whether your college debts are worth it will be based on what you’re studying. Certain majors like those in IT and engineering are easier to land a job and tend to be higher paying.

There are published statistics you should research that reveal income averages of graduates with certain types of degrees. If the degree you desire is on the lower end, it’s probably not worth a mountain of college debt, or find lower cost alternatives such as learning online or in the evenings where you can also have a full-time job.

To save money, you might also want to consider finishing your first years at a community college and entering a four-year school as a junior-level transfer.

I really like the question Kevin, The other comments on this subject are great, I think they will help in directing you toward which scholarships you can apply for and other options you have which can really help in keeping the cost down. I really think you need determine what it is you would like to take in college or university and look at all the options. Being from Canada our schooling is a little different, but a little research can go along way. Look at what field you want to get into determine the job market as it stands today, but know that it will change drastically over the next ten years. Look at what the range of money you can make and possibilities in that field. If for example you can get away with a local college that is really affordable and start with a career close by that will keep cost down, but to add to that look for what employers are offering once working for that company, One of the main things I look for in a company is what are they willing to invest in me once I am there for a specific period of time meaning free education while being paid to work there development opportunities. I agree racking up a huge amount of debt on schooling anymore is not truly worth the money, I know I will probably take some grief over that remark but its true. My wife and I both paid for our own schooling and never went into debt for it and my employer now also pays $3000 a year for further education. I hope these points help, I don't offer much in the way of scholarship help, but I do really like that your giving a lot of thought behind the investment.