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Giovanna Villanueva

Guide to How to Get and Pay for Your College Education While Working

If you're after your Bachelor's or Master's degree while working, our guide will show you the steps to make it a lot more affordable and manageable.


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Completing your college education while working is no easy task. It requires a serious adjustment that involves budgeting not only your money but also your time. Even so, you will be expected to perform your best both in the classroom and on the job. One way to ensure your stress levels don’t hit an unbearable peak is to learn the ways in which you can effectively pay for college while holding down a job and keeping up in your classes.
Some essential things you need to know in regards to paying for college include:
  1. The first step you should take in applying for any sort of financial aid is to fill out the FAFSA.
  2. The best types of financial aid are those you never have to pay back such as grants and scholarships
  3. Federal student loans have the best rates and repayment plans for your education.
  4. Selecting a lender for your loan is probably one of the most important steps to securing borrowed financial aid.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

The resources that make securing student loans possible.


College Student Loans If you find yourself short on funds to pay for your education, even though you're working to try to support yourself, you can secure financial aid. In fact, college student loans can make a college education possible for many.

I recommend: The student loans page of gocollege.com offers many valuable resources on the subject of student loans. You can become acquainted with the process of applying for financial aid, how to apply for student loans and how to select the best lender for your loan.

Make The Most of Your Money With Federal Student Loans


Rather than wading through all of the financial aid information out there, it is best to get a concise and to the point summary of your financial aid options and how to go about obtaining each one. This is especially the case when it comes to federal student loans, which offer more benefits than the traditional private loan.

I recommend: GoCollege.com boils down all of the federal student loan information out there into brief articles that allow you to find out what you need to know fast. Find out about the many different government student loan programs out there including the Federal Stafford Loan, the Federal Perkins Loan and the Federal Parent PLUS Loan. You can also learn just what loan is best for you, whether it is subsidized or unsubsidized and what sort of repayment plan it offers.

Complete Your Financial Aid Package With Private Student Loans


Even though federal loans offer the better deal, sometimes they won't cover all of your financial aid expenses. That's where the private student loan comes into play. It allows you to make up the difference in your financing so that a college education is a feasible goal for you.

I recommend: GoCollege.com has an extensive section on the topic of private student loans with detailed information on the most popular student loan lenders and banks that have student loan programs. You can also find out about the many student loans available state by state.

Consolidation Is the Way To Go


After you've completed your college education and it's time to pay back your loans, it can be quite a burden to have to pay back several loans at once. That's why student loan consolidation is such an excellent option.

I recommend: This student loan consolidation page offers up tons of advice and info on the best student loan consolidation options out there. You can learn about the specific loan repayment plans that make consolidating such a worthwhile option and about consolidation meant specifically for graduate students.

Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

  • Start your search for financial aid as early as possible. * Create a budget and stick to it. Money will most likely be tight while you're in college, so the more aware you are of where your money is going each month, the better.
  • If you have any questions regarding your loan options, ask your financial aid counselors.
  • If paying for college seems like an unrealistic goal, talk to the people in the financial aid office. Some schools have payment plans that you may qualify for.
  • Create a budget and stick to it. Money will most likely be tight while you're in college, so the more aware you are of where your money is going each month, the better.
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