Good Morning Everyone! I hope you all had a lovely Monday; it was my first day back to work after my vacation and to be honest it was a little chaotic.  The first day back to work after a vacation is always hectic; but yesterday was extremely chaotic with phone calls to return, emails to answer, and clients who came in without appointments because they knew I was back from vacation.

Today we are discussing the important question of whether we should go into debt in order to get a college education.  Are you considering applying for a student loan? Or are you sacrificing some aspects of your life in order to graduate debt free? Some people feel that student debt is ok to have because it is money well spent on a college education.  Some other people feel that student debt is not a good idea because they don’t want to start their life after college with thousands of dollars in student debt.

 

College Student Debt

I personally feel that it is ok for college students to have student debt. I was fortunate enough to have financial help from my parents, but I also had to work while I studied.  I graduated in 2005 with some student debt; I can honestly say that applying for student loans made the last two years of my college education a lot easier.

When I had funding from student loans I didn’t have the pressure of having to go into work when I was sick.  I didn’t have the pressure to work as many extra shifts as I possibly could in order to earn some extra cash.  During my first two years of college I couldn’t afford to call in sick to work because I couldn’t afford to lose the pay check.  During the last two years of college my grades improved and I started enjoying my college experience. I made friends, I contributed to group projects, and I was overall a lot happier with my life.

Some students may choose to apply for a student loan because they have no other source of income.  Some students may choose to apply for a student loan to supplement their income from working part time or from their parent’s contributions.  Regardless of the reason, applying for a student loan is a good decision because it is an investment in our self and our education.

 

Paying for College

Some students have the financial means to attend college without accumulating student debt.  There are other options that can help students pay for college.  Bursaries and Scholarships are available for a variety of reasons such as academic and athletic achievements as well as community involvement.  There are also Student Bursaries and Scholarships available for certain programs and academic departments.  I have a cousin who received college scholarships for winning an art contest, she was majoring in art history.  Some Bursaries and Scholarships are available for first year, second year, third year, and fourth year students.

It is very easy to find ways to pay for college without accumulating student debt.  As soon as you are accepted to your college of choice I suggest that students search the school website to find different Bursaries and Scholarships that are available.  Students can also search local and state government websites to find Bursaries and Scholarships that are available for students at your college or in your program.

 

Here are the previous posts in our Going Back to College Savings series:

My College To Do List

My College Check List

CanYouAffordToGoToCollege

 

Photo by EpSos

Tahnya Kristina

Tahnya Kristina

Tahnya is 30 years old and lives in Montreal Quebec. She graduated in 2005 from Concordia University, and she currently works for a major International Financial Institution. She recently launched http://www.mediamadam.ca/. You can follow her on Twitter @TahnyaP.