How to Survive College Financially

December 10, 2008

Adriana Marquez

How many times did you think of not attending college because you didn’t think you had the money to pay for it? Well, you are not the only one. 65% of students have second doubt going to college but end up attending (E.Whiter). There are 40% of students do not attend college because they think that they cannot afford it (E.Whiter). Everyone can afford to go to college if they really want to go. There are many solutions on helping a college student attend college with worrying about financial cares.

I know that I was part of the 65% of students who had second doubts about attending college because of financial needs. I saw how expensive going to college would be and I added my personal payments on top of that. It felt like I was going to be working for the rest of my life just too able to pay for my college funds and get a good education. Then I heard of all these good programs that help students financially.

 Every year it seems like college is getting more expensive. According to the College Board, in 2007-08, average published tuition and fees for a four-year public, in-state college is $6,185; for four-year public, out-of-state it's $16,650; and for a four-year private non-profit, $23,712(J.Sam). Two-year public schools average $2,361 (J.Sam). College is not an easy thing to pay for. The way college tuitions are rising there are many solutions on helping college students pay for their tuition.  For example, there are financial aid, scholarships, grants and student loans all to help students go through college.

Financial aid is a program that ensures that all eligible students benefit from federal financial assistance; for example, grants, loans and work-study programs, for education beyond high school. Another key role financial aid performs is to make students and their families aware that financial aid is available and is a necessary first step to further education. Anyone can apply for financial aid.

Another way to help a college student pay for the tuition is scholarships. Scholarships are a financial aid for which the student and family’s financial situation is a primary factor in determining the recipient. Usually a scholarship will cover all or part of the tuition and may even cover living costs. The students also may be determined by the students’ athletic, academic, artistic or other abilities. The actual value of the scholarship may be negligible, the scholarship being meant to motivate the student and promote the study of the subject. Most of the time this is not always the case and the largest scholarships are almost always merit-based. This is financial aid where applicants must initially qualify by race, religion, or national origin. After scholars look through the applicants based on their ethnicity, additional factors are taken into consideration to determine the final recipients for the scholarship. There are over 50,000 scholarships a student can apply for.  Each student can qualify for at least three or more scholarships. Scholarships are great and very helpful, but it is not the only way to help students pay for college.

There are also student loans. A student loan is offered to students to assist in payment of the costs of their college education. The loans usually carry a lower interest rate than other loans and are usually issued by the government. Often they are supplemented by student grants, which usually do not have to be repaid but not always. There are many people who have graduated from college and they are still trying to pay off their student loans from many years back.

I am a current full time college student and working a part time job. Balancing life can be hard at times. I am the second child out of four children in my family. I am the first in my family to attend college. My parents make a decent amount of money a year, but not enough to pay my whole way through college. During my senior year in high school I signed up for many scholarships and financial aid. I qualified for six scholarships and for financial aid. I am paying my way through college with the money that I qualified for. I am grateful for programs that help students pay their way through college.  

There are also many great programs at Gavilan that help college student not just financially but also support wise. There are programs like Trio, EOPS, Puente and Mesa. All these programs are offered at Gavilan. I am part of Trio and it has been a great support and back-bone for me. Trio loans books, supplies anything you need they loan it to you so you don’t have to buy it. Trio helped me save a lot of money this semester. They loaned me two books that would have cost me $80, also loaned me a lab-top and a calculator. I know that I can talk to the counselors at Trio about school or my personal life.  

I have always wanted to know how to budget my money. I had a personal interview with Leticia Palacios a counselor from the trio program at Gavilan College. She had brought up many great ideas on how to budget money. For example if you work Palacios suggested to take out only 30% of your pay check and save the rest for school or other important things. Also she had mentioned all the financial programs that are offered at Gavilan College. She also talked about the students programs like Trio, Puente and EOPS are really great programs. These programs have there own counselor and they will help students apply for scholarships, financial aid and other colleges. Palacios recommends students to join a program if they can because it will help you open many new doors.

I am part of Trio and I love it. Trio has helped me in so many ways at Gavilan College. I took a summer bridge class over the summer and it helped me build my people skills and taught me how to succeed financially. Trio helps me with as many things as they can. For example they buy books and let the student’s barrow for the semester so we don’t have to spend money on the books.  They also lend out calculators and lab tops. Trio has been a great help for me.

So students, there are many ways in succeeding in college financially. There are many programs, scholarships or just saving money, don’t let money or financial issues get in the way of going to college.