There’s much more to earning a college degree than homework and grades. While the academic challenge is not to be ignored, it’s essential to understand that there are other pieces to the education puzzle. Covering all the related costs of a four-year diploma is at the top of most students’ priority lists. Also, youngsters face the prospect of choosing an appropriate school, the right major, and summer jobs. If you’re headed for college, review the following points about what it takes to successfully complete a four-year degree program.
Paying for a Four-Year Degree
The most frequent hurdle related to obtaining a four-year degree is finding the money to pay for tuition, books, fees, and other costs. Most young people who want to attend school apply for education loans. Unfortunately, it’s next to impossible to get approved by any lender unless you have a cosigner. Not all parents agree to append their names to applications or put their good credit at risk by cosigning.
Plus, there’s no legal requirement for moms and dads to help in any way with college expenses. That leaves young adults in the lurch. Their options are limited to either accepting very high-interest loans or pausing their educational goals for a few years. During the interim, most concentrate on earning enough money to save a bit for school and building up their credit scores so they can get approved for college loans without cosigners.
Selecting a School & Major
It takes time to choose the appropriate school and major field of study. Explore all the data by looking at one of the reputable guidebooks that make side-by-side comparisons of hundreds of institutions. Make a shortlist and contact each one’s admissions office with any questions you have.
Always make sure your grades and other qualifications meet the schools’ minimum requirements for getting accepted. Don’t worry about choosing a major until sophomore year. But give thought to what you want to do after graduation. Speak with academic counselors, parents, and adults you know who are in fields that interest you. Attend career fairs whenever possible.
The Cost of Not Working
It’s important to remember that not all college students are young adults looking to launch a career who have recently completed high school. In the digital age, millions of mid-career workers tackle the challenge of earning a degree while fulfilling the daily responsibilities of full-time jobs. Some do so to get promotions, while others are looking to change course completely and move into a new line of work. Anyone who wants to stop working and attend school full-time should understand the immense cost of not working for four years.
For these ambitious adults, the central challenge is time management. The good news is that they can take advantage of online schools that offer self-paced classes. Not only do distance learning institutions cost much less than traditional universities and colleges, but they also give working people a chance to take courses on weekends and any time their schedules allow. Note that it might take five or six years to complete a standard curriculum for a degree if you choose to do everything online.
