We all know the value of a college education, but coming up with money to pay for college is often a process which deters many students from pursuing their career dreams. After all, four years of study at a public college or university can cost upwards of $50,000, and substantially more at private colleges. In order to pay for college, most students are left with the option of taking on hefty federal student loans and even private student loans in order to meet their tuition and living expenses. Although these types of loans are one of the most common ways to pay for college, they do come with drawbacks.
3 Reasons to Avoid Student Loan Debt
Reason #1 Student Loan Debt Can Be Risky – Look, I’m NOT here to talk you out of taking a student loan, as I do believe they have their place in helping you to pay for college. But what I am here to tell you is BUYER BEWARE. All student debt is NOT good debt. I know, I know, I know what you’re squealing. “But Madison, earning a college degree can help me make more money in my career, so isn’t it worth it?!” Yes-yes, that’s what we’ve all been told (and sold). But I’m here to challenge the status quo, that racking up $60,000 in student loan debt only to wait tables after college graduation is just stupid.
I’m sorry if that’s you, but it’s true. And that’s why I’m here today. Because I’ve made it my personal mission to STOP THE INSANITY! Buyer Beware: Using student loans to pay for college can be smart IF used wisely. But it can also be risky IF used foolishly, as it puts students in debt before they ever spend a day on the job earning money. This type of debt can be a major setback as you begin your post-college life, as it can be difficult to buy a home, car, or even basic necessities when you’re struggling to pay-off your monthly student loan debt.
Reason #2 Student Loan Debt Can Be Expensive – I know my critics will say I’m bashing the value of a college degree, but to that I retort on the contrary. I’m just bringing common sense back to education. After all, is it wrong for me to teach students that, “You Should NEVER Take Out a Student Loan Were the Repayment Plan is MORE Than Your Potential Income!?” Allow me to do the math for you. For every $10,000 that you borrow today, that is approximately $115 PER month for the NEXT 10 years of your life that you will have to repay tomorrow. Start racking up $20K you’re at $230/month, $40K you’re at $460/month, and so on. You can quickly see how using student loans to pay for college gets VERY expensive! And don’t even get me started on accumulated interested!
I’m NOT advocating that college or even student loans are evil. But when you don’t use common sense, you can quickly see how many college students find themselves in trouble fast. Today the average student loan debt after college graduation is between $25,000 – $30,000. So if you’re not careful you can quickly find yourself in over your head in debt. If your monthly student loan payments are $500-600/month and you’re only taking home $2,000/month (after taxes and insurance), that doesn’t leave much room for basic living expenses, right??? Bottom-line, I’m just simply trying to say is make sure your potential salary after graduation will cover your student debt repayments, because you WILL have to repay those student loans one day!!!
Reason #3 Student Debt Can Be Wasteful – Up until this point, I’ve made it clear that I’m NOT attacking a college education nor student loans. But my number three reason to avoid student loan debt will be an exception to rule! Here’s a little known fact that your academic advisor probably will never ADMIT in public. The first 2-4 semesters of your college degree is nothing more than an extension (and sometimes even a repeat) of what you already learned in high school. So excuse me for thinking that it’s just STUPID to Pay for College Classes You ALREADY Know!
It’s true and you know! I mean how many classes have you taken were afterwards you thought, “Well that was a waste of time and money!” I’ve been where you are and in my research I found the secret to every students grip. After all, why should you have to take on unnecessary financial burdens for unnecessary college classes? Good question and the answer is… you don’t have to if you don’t want to!
The Best Way to Pay for College
How you ask? Because there is a little know secret called credit-by-exam. And it wasn’t until I was searching for a way to pay for college without student loans that I discovered this secret. In short, credit-by-exam aka testing out of college classes is an easy way for college students to earn college credit by testing out of class. Simply, if you pass the test you earn the SAME amount of college credit you would’ve earned if you’d taken the traditional college course.
The most popular credit-by-exam program used to test out of college classes is known as the CLEP (College-Level Examination Program). Developed by the College Board, the same makers of the SAT and AP exams, CLEP provides students an opportunity to save both time in the classroom and money in college tuition. Basically in exchange for a few short weeks of independent study (which I’ll show you) and less than the cost of your college textbook you can earn college credit for over 33 college courses at over 2,900 colleges and universities administered by over 1,900 testing centers in the USA and abroad.
The CLEP Test helps make college more interesting and affordable again. What college class would you like to skip the 16-weeks of reading, assignments, quizzes, projects, and final exams? Not to mention saving thousands of dollars off your student loan debt. What would you do with the added time and money? Take more advanced courses of interest, satisfy useless proficiency requirements, graduated faster than your peers or on time for that matter if you’re a few classes short, help manage work and family responsibilities while in college, and the list goes on. But the point being, I’m sure there are far better things you’d rather be doing with your time!
And better things to do with your money! So to recap, the CLEP exam helps you pay for college without student loans (or going broke) because for a mere $77 you can test out of college classes! It can LITERALLY save you thousands and thousands of dollars compared to the current cost of college tuition. Test out of 4-5 classes and you just saved yourself $5,000 -10,000 in college tuition for a semester. Test out of more classes and SAVE MORE MONEY!
Just think about what that means for you, your career, your family… Which is the real reason we go to college anyway. So the choice is yours. You can either pay for college the HARD WAY or the CLEP Way! CLEP is a common sense way to graduate FASTER, with LESS student debt, so you can jump START your career.
For more information on how-to pay for college, how-to test out of college classes, or the fastest & easiest way to pass the CLEP, click here to watch my FREE video training series.
Madison S.
MyPracticeTestPrep.com/getcollegecredit
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