How to Go to College for Free

As college costs continue to skyrocket, more and more people are looking for ways to save money on college tuition, textbooks and fees. There are many ways to cut corners when it comes to college costs and even some ways to go to college absolutely free of charge. Read on for a list of tips on how to go to college for free.

Difficulty:

Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Enlist in the military. There are many military scholarships available in every branch of service through their Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). ROTC allows students to get scholarship money for college now and pay it back through service in the U.S. military.

2. Research grants and scholarships based on financial need. There are many grants and scholarships available to students from poor economic backgrounds. The federal and state government can provide these grants as well as employers, private institutions and the college or university itself. The Federal Pell Grant is an example of a college award based on financial need.

3. Investigate scholarships based on minority background. There are many scholarships available for members of various minority groups, such as African-Americans, Native Americans, women, gays and lesbians.

4. Look for scholarships based on academic achievement. Federal, state and individual school scholarships and grants exist for those who excel in academics. These awards are based on the applicants' ACT or SAT scores, admissions essay or overall high school career.

5. Research scholarships based on special abilities or achievements, such as sports. A large number of student athletes go to school for little or no money based on their athletic achievements in high school.

6. Attend the college or university where you work. Many colleges and universities have programs that allow full time (and sometimes part time) staff to attend college at that institution for free. The only prerequisite is usually to put in a certain amount of hours on staff before free tuition is available.

7. Check with the college or university to find out if the children of full time staff can also attend for free. Many colleges allow the children and spouses of full time staff members to attend for free as well as the staff themselves.

Tips & Warnings

• For every year of college that is paid for by ROTC, the student can expect to serve 12 to 18 months in military service.

• Start your college funding search as early as possible because many applications require essays that can be time consuming to write.

• Contact the admissions offices of the schools you'd like to attend to find out about scholarships specific to that school. Pools of applicants for school specific scholarships are much smaller than those for nationwide scholarships so your chances of getting free money are greatly improved!

• Never think that you are too poor to attend college. Often the individuals who come from the poorest economic backgrounds receive the largest monetary awards from individual schools.

Resources

• Learn more about the ROTC program at GoArmy.com.
• Visit Scholarshipcoach.com for more ideas on getting money for college.