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I went to a very pricy private university and had an academic scholarship that covered 1/3 of yearly tuition, about the same amount in grants and the last 1/3 was a combo of loans and parental contributions. I had paid internships for 3 of the 4 years that I was in college (and an unpaid one during my study abroad year) but it wasn't much and that money was more like my spending money. I ended up with an average amount of student debt (average for my graduating class year).
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My FAFSA determined that I was ineligible for any need-based grants or scholarships and after that, since I was only an A/B student I assumed I wouldn't get any purely academic scholarships.
I went to a state school and took out loans only for tuition--and then worked my way through school to pay all my living expenses. Before my final semester, my dad passed away and I applied for a scholarship through the AA pilot's union (they had a scholarship specifically for children of deceased AA employees...pretty depressing) and I got it. So I didn't work my last semester and took 18 hours and got straight A's--go figure.
What was nice about that scholarship is that 5 years later, they wanted a "follow up" to print in a newsletter and they came to the school I taught in, and did a whole piece with photos of my kiddos and they had pilots come and talk to my students about how to be a pilot. My students really enjoyed it, and it was a good press op for the pilot's union, so it was a win-win.
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I went to an out of state public university and received a scholarship that covered about 66% of my tuition. I also applied for and received several small scholarships in my local community and through my dad's company. I/my parents did not have to pay anything the first two years, but my parents paid some the next few years because tuition doubled in the 5 years I was there. And I worked part time to have spending money.
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Had I gone to highschool in the state where i went to college, I would have gotten an ~10K / year scholarship based on my ACT score, but since i was out-of-state i didn't qualify. And the state i lived in didn't have that scholarship, so it wouldn't have helped to stay in-state anyway.
I did get a few $1k-$5k scholarships here and there that i applied for individually (mostly for being a woman in male-dominated fields like economics). But nothing that I would consider substantial, even though i went to a state school that didn't have that high of tuition.
Overall - i think the BIGGEST savings achieved for my college savings was the fact that my parents saved up for my college since i was a baby, putting in money here and there when they could and it grew with compound interest over time to pay for my college for me. The amount they actually put in to that savings account was less than the cost of college because the interest earned went toward it too. When you take out loans it is the opposite, you have to pay the total amount of college PLUS the interest expense of taking out the loans. So there is a big gap between saving before adn earning interest vs. taking out loans and paying interest.
I know this is not possible for everyone and i am EXTREMELY lucky that my parents paid for my school. Just wanted to throw it out there as a benefit to funds like 529's and something to consider while saving money for future kiddo's school
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I had a scholarship which fully paid my tuition and gave me a campus job (state university). But I had to pay for room and board so I still had loans. If I would have gone to my local university and lived at home I would basically have no debt because that university offered me a scholarship paying for tuition.
My state has TOPS which covers tuition based on grades and ACT scores. I doubt know the percentages because my kids are still so young. I sure hope it's still around when my boys go to college!
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@LaughLines: Come on over and join the discussion in the thread about having a game plan.
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I had scholarships and needs-based grants that paid for all of my tuition and then some. I got refund checks each semester that more than covered my books and living expenses.
I also lived in a scholarship house that was run by a nonprofit organization. Instead of getting a monetary scholarship, I lived rent-free and only had to pay one housing bill per semester that covered the living expenses of running the house plus homecooked meals four nights per week and other food. Our housing bill varied on how full the house was, but it ranged from $650-800 per semester. The last year and a half of college, I ran the scholarship house, so I did not have to pay the housing bill at all and they paid me a biweekly stipend.
When I graduated college, I had quite a bit saved up from all of my refund checks that helped me get started once I got my first job out of college and moved to a new city.
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I had a couple scholarships, but they were really minimal. Like maybe $1K-$2K tops.
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Yep - pretty pricey private university (BC) grants and scholarships covered about 80% of my tuition and the rest i'm paying off in loans! It's still a lot - i have 18k remaining!!! yikes!
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I got a couple of small scholarships.
Wagon Sr. applied for and received tons of little scholarships and grants! His amount of student debt is miniscule compared to mine.
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I applied and might as well have gotten nothing. Only $500 which basically everyone that applies gets, toward $22k/year tuition.
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