Category Archives: College & Education

How to Pay for College With No Money and Without a Trust Fund

Author | November 2nd, 2023 | College & Education
How to Pay for College with no Money - College graduate

A Reader asks How to Pay for College With No Money and without a Trust Fund.

Question: My daughter is a senior in high school and is preparing to head off to college. We have no money saved for her college expenses and feel like loans are the only option we have. What should we do?

MoneySmartFamily: You have more options than you realize. Keep reading to learn about several of the easier ones.

1. Get Government Grants

Fill out a FAFSA application – it’s the Free Application for Federal Student Aid – StudentAid.ed.gov

Do this even if you don’t … Read more »

Free Scholarships & Grants: Find Gold on the College Scholarship Rainbow!

Author | October 26th, 2023 | College & Education, Free Stuff
How to find college scholarships - Gold at the End of the Rainbow

Are you looking for free college scholarships and grants? We have tips and tricks to land tons of college money.

This blog presents lots of proven ways to find more scholarship hacks. It shares how to prepare for them and how to win more awards. It’s time to start gathering in scholarship winnings!

What if there really was a pot of scholarship gold waiting for you at the end of the scholarship rainbow.

And what if you KNEW that with some effort, discipline and organizational skills you could find the path that leads to that pile of money. And then, of course, take … Read more »

How to Get The Most FAFSA Money and Pell Grant Awards

Author | October 19th, 2023 | College & Education
Maximize FAFSA and Pell Grant Money.

If you want to legitimately get the most FAFSA money for your college education, follow these tips and tricks. You’ll get maximum federal student aid in Pell Grants by following our research when you fill out your FAFSA application.

Debt-Free College Series # 4 – FAFSA and Financial Aid

We have  5 kids who have attended college, and we have filled out FAFSA applications with every single one of them.

As a matter of fact, we’ve filled out the FAFSA application several times with each of them.

In the process, we’ve learned several tips from our own experience and from financial aid experts.

In this blog, … Read more »

Reduce College Costs: Things to do in High School to Prepare for College

Author | October 12th, 2023 | College & Education
6 Things High School students can do that will crush the cost of college.

There are six things a teen can do in high school that will help to reduce the cost of a college education. We’ve done many of these with our 5 kids and they graduated college without any student loans!

How can a high schooler start to reduce college costs?

College is a monumental expense for parents and students alike. Who among us is prepared for paying out tens of thousands of dollars over a 4 or 5-year period? However, with any large expense, the more you and your child prepare, the more manageable the expense can be.

We have helped five of our own … Read more »

College Savings: 10 Out of the Box Ways Cut the Cost of Education

Author | October 3rd, 2023 | College & Education
College Savings. Out of the box Thinking. Cardboard box with a college mortar board and diploma flying out of it

Are you’re looking for college savings when trying to get a university education? This blog will give you plenty of out of the box and unconventional options for college savings.

If you take to heart just a few of these ideas it could save you $10,000 or more.

The college landscape is changing so rapidly that savings can be found in the most unusual places. Especially if you’re willing to research and question conventional thinking and dig a little deeper.

This is blog #5 in our College Savings Series. Scroll to the bottom of this page for links to the entire series.

College Prices … Read more »

10 Student Loan Forgiveness Programs: Get Debt Eliminated Legally

Author | April 26th, 2023 | College & Education, Debt Reduction
9 career choices that could result in student loan forgiveness.

Do you have college loans? Are you looking for a list of student loan forgiveness programs? Are you wondering if you can get loan forgiveness?

Student loan forgiveness isn’t available to everyone, but it is a great way to pay off student loans that have already been accrued!

We’ve scoured the loan forgiveness landscape and found 10 different programs that might benefit you.

Covid Student Loan Forgiveness

Covid-19 has changed the Student Loan landscape with payments being delayed and the prospect of a huge forgiveness program being approved by the US Congress. Currently, repayments are scheduled to start after May 1, … Read more »

Student Loan Debt has me Seeing Black and Red

Author | March 10th, 2020 | College & Education
Female college graduate climbing the stairs with a ball and chain around her ankle.

What is the cause of the student loan debt problem and is there a solution?

The total amount of outstanding student loan debt is a number often thrown around—a staggering 1.6 trillion dollars. It’s just 2 digits and a decimal point, but in reality, it’s a much larger number with huge ramifications and it’s making us see red!

Can you imagine having to write a check for:

1 Trillion     6 Hundred Billion    Dollars

Or $1,600,000,000,000.00

RELATED VIDEO: Be sure to watch the video at the bottom of this page where we interview Jocelyn – a college graduate who earned more than $100,000 in scholarships. … Read more »