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Financing An Online Degree by Sharon Fling |
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Most people pursuing an online degree have jobs, families, and responsibilities. They are normally middle aged and middle income, the exact age and income bracket where financially school seems to be impossible. More often then not the very reason these people are going back to school is to earn more money. One of the first concerns that they have is how are they going to finance an online degree. You could pay out of your pocket for your online degree. You use you own money to pay for your education. The advantage to paying for your tuition this way is the complete lack of student loans to repay after receiving your degree. Most college students are struggling to make ends meet, there is no way they can scrape up the extra money to pay for tuition without some extra financial help. Your next option is a federal grant or loan. A federal grant is money the government gives you for education that you don’t have to repay…as long as you complete your degree. If you quit school before getting your degree you will be asked for a refund. There are two types of federal grants, the Federal Pell Grant and the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants. Grants are given based solely on financial need. The amount of the grant is based on financial need, the price of tuition, and whether the student is a full or part time student. The government awards federal loans with the idea that the money will be paid back, with interest, after your schooling is complete. The interest rate on federal loans is normally very low. The government is normally flexible about payment options until your career is underway. The only other type of federal funding available for continuing education is work-study which isn’t applicable to an online degree. To apply for a federal grant or loan you need to go file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASA.) After filling out the form the Department of Education will respond with the amount of financial aid you are eligible to receive. While the idea of the government paying for your schooling sounds wonderful if you are planning on enrolling in an online university you may have a problem. The government will only grant money to a student if they are attending a college that has at least fifty percent of its classes on campus. What this means is that you can still earn your degree online you just have to make sure that half of the classes the school offers are held on an actual campus. Several colleges and universities in the United States are set up with this type of class formula. For schools that are online only and not eligible for federal funding there are often scholarships available. Read the schools catalog or ask what scholarship programs the school offers. Another funding option you can consider is your work place. Many businesses have a continuing education fund designed to encourage their employees to continue their education. Ask your boss if your company has such a program and find out if you qualify.
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