# Alternative college education



## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

At our last homeschool meeting we had a guy come in whose business is helping people negotiate better deals for a college education. The information was eye opening and somewhat disturbing (like 49% of kids who start college don't finish, average time to get a degree is 5.2 yrs). Anyway, it has gotten me fired up about alternatives for my kids for college education. At this point I've been surfing the web, brainstorming, putting together ideas from some of the books I've read and just reading all sorts of articles that I can find. I'll share what I have so far and I'd love to hear input from others who have used alternatives and/or have been pleased with how their kids have managed college without debt. 

Here's the website of the business that helps kids finance college. There are a LOT of great articles on their site and linked through their site. I've linked my favorite below their link. 

http://www.collegeassistanceplus.com/articles.html

http://inflationdata.com/inflation/Articles/Save_On_Education.asp

A great book that a friend recommended is "College Without Compromise" by Scott & Kris Wightman. That book has TONS of great info on alternatives to a standard 4 yr college (using CLEP credit, online courses, apprenticeships and more). 

Lastly there was a thread a while back about on-line free courses. It occurs to me that a lot of these could be used to prepare for CLEP exams. 

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=233480

My kids are in 7th, 8th and 9th grades and all think they would like to go to college so I'm trying to see what we can come up with for them. I can't just write a check for 30K every year for each kid nor do I want them to end up with debt in order to get an education so we're going to need to be creative. Just thought I'd share and see if others have good ideas to share. I'd also love to see what colleges people might have run across that are a good deal.


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## LvDemWings (Sep 11, 2005)

I was told that the supermarket Wegmans will reimburse for half of a employees college courses and that it was available to those working full and part time. I imagine that there is a limit but its still not a bad deal.


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## Ashtina98 (Aug 10, 2007)

There are lots of employers out there who will help pay or help pay for college. Some stipulate that the degree must pertain to your job or their company, others do not. If you work for the government, often times you get free or very discounted tuition at state colleges. My husband got his masters paid for by his employer ($5000 limit per year but no lifetime limit), I attended community college and then state university while working for the state of Washington and only had to pay $5 per class. There are a lot of options out there, good for you for looking into them now.

Dee


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

LvDemWings said:


> I was told that the supermarket Wegmans will reimburse for half of a employees college courses and that it was available to those working full and part time. I imagine that there is a limit but its still not a bad deal.


Will have to check that out! Wegmans started in our backyard and that is where #1 son wants to work when he turns 16 soon. I have some friends that work at Wegmans so I'll have to ask them. That would be a great option for him!

DD (14) wants to join the Air Force. She's already in Civil Air Patrol and has her plans made. She's pretty determined! I'm sure that whatever she does, she'll do fine. She's just that kind of kid that can take lemons and make a lemon souffle (skip the lemonade - that's too easy).

That's a great idea too, Ashtina! DH works for the govt but has never taken advantage of any of those opportunities. Speaking of statistics, he's one of those that went to college for 5 yrs and still never got a degree. That might be another option for one of the kids. I suspect there are govt jobs out there that might not be your ideal but might be a great option for working your way through college.


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## tltater (Jul 13, 2004)

I have just had my oldest go off to college this year. It wasn't easy. He did graduate from school(was not homeschooled) but I am sure this stands for homeschool or public school. There are a lot of scholarships to be had just by staying in state. A lot has to do with their SAT and ACT scores. Also, filling out the FAFSA gets you some funding options as well. My son decided he just HAD to go to a school in NH. Not the smartest thing he has ever done(and he is quite intelligent) but he is learning that his decision wasn't what he should have done. He could have gotten into a local college for little to nothing with scholarships and federal funds. I'll get some of the websites he has checked out for scholarships and such and get that too you. And yes, we are in the state of NY also.


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## tltater (Jul 13, 2004)

Here's that website:

http://www.fastweb.com/


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## Seeria (Jul 21, 2006)

Might consider working together to design a real life education as a journeyman. They still exist in the US but are more easy to find in Europe. Having an official title of master, high quality references, can be worth more than a diploma thatâs based on little to no worldly experience. Of course, some career goals donât lend well to the concept.

Just an idea.


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## longshadowfarms (Nov 27, 2002)

I'm definitely open to journeyman/apprentice type options. DD has actually considered that more than once. She now thinks she'd prefer the Air Force but that might change. I can't really see either boy in any kind of work. DD is the one who helps DH with all his house projects and we've been to watch a violin maker thinking she might want to do that. She's so multi-talented that I can see her succeeding in anything she decides to do. The boys are completely NON-handy and not interested in any of those kinds of things! How'd that happen????


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## rabbitgal (Feb 12, 2005)

Speaking as the formerly home schooled kid... 

Princeton Review: America's Best Value Colleges (You'll need to create an account with them, but they're pretty good about not sending you junk mail.)

Depending on your income level when she graduates, she may have the entire cost of her tuition and books at a community college covered by state and federal grants. I'm not that lucky, but it's still one of the cheapest options out there. Even if I have to pay for everything completely out of pocket, I'll still only be out about $8,000 for the first two years of college. Not too bad... The other appeal is that as long as my grades are good enough, I'm guaranteed acceptance into several _nationally-ranked_ four-year colleges in the state once I graduate. 

Ditto on the high school GPA and high ACT/SAT scores... High scores will help when she starts applying for scholarships, but even if she's an average student, there's still money available based on financial need. 

Has she looked at some of the training/apprenticeship options available through CAP? For adult members, they have training materials covering everything from administrative stuff to journalism/marketing. I'm not sure how much of that is available to cadets, but someone in her unit could certainly fill her in.  It would at least give her a bit of experience in her preferred career and possibly allow her to "network" with older people in the same field if that option was available to her. The volunteer stuff looks REALLY good on a resume too.


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