The Recession Sends More People to College — But How Will They Pay for It?

One of the interesting things about a recession is that it makes college more palatable for many people. As jobs are lost, the idea of going back to school to finish a degree, get a higher level degree or get some sort of professional certification becomes more attractive. Go to college, get money through student financial aid. The problem with this scenario, of course, is that student aid is lacking somewhat right now:

• Scholarship programs are usually supported through trusts that earn money from investments, and those haven’t been doing very well.
• Student loans are harder to get as the credit market remains tight and lending standards remain high.

So going to college is a popular option, but it is a bit harder to find the funds to pay for it.

Paying for college during a recession

Most people, when they go to college during a recession, do not have outside funds to help them pay for school. However, there are programs that can help students close the college funding gap:

• Microfinance is possible for some student loans.
• Get a cosigner if you can’t get approved for student loans (especially private loans) on your own.
• Join Upromise and apply for the recently increased scholarships. (You can also save up for college when you buy every day items. But it takes forever to accumulate anything.)
• Look for specialty and niche scholarships.
• Fill out your FAFSA early, so that you have a better chance of access to limited funds.
• Try to find work study (although this is becoming scarce as funding to universities is cut).
• Consider working part time and going to school part time. (There are part time jobs available. They don’t pay well, but $15 an hour is better than $0 an hour.)

Things are tough all over right now, and it only makes sense to do what you can to increase your skill set while waiting for things to turn around and the job market to recover. But you may have to work hard to find a way to pay for your skills upgrade.