Five Ways to Save Money and Time While Earning Your Degree
A guide for maximizing your money while still retaining the quintessential college experience
I earned my B.S. in Finance in only two-and-a-half years and saved thousands while doing so, and you can too. Life isn’t rigid, and unlike people commonly believe — neither is the standard 4-year bachelor program. Cutting down the time spent earning your degree can save you both money and resources, and if you play your cards right you will be able to graduate with the same — if not more so — well-rounded experience as everyone else.
1. Don’t Select the Most Expensive School
Picking the right school for you and your budget is the crucial first step in trying to minimize student debt. When touring schools, I fell in love with the campus and coursework of a private business school near me, but not so much with its $72,000 a year price tag. A well-known state school offered a similar program, but for only $31,000 a year.
I asked myself, will that extra $41,000 spent a year, $164,000 in total for four years, really get me a job making that much more than if I went to the state school? In the end, I decided it wouldn’t. I had confidence in myself that I could find a job regardless and that extra $164,000 really wouldn’t make my life that much better in the end. Though, it easily could make my life that much worse in the form of additional years of paying off student debt. Picking a smart school for you and weighing the value of what you are paying for is essential in escaping college with minimal debt.
2. Organize Your Coursework Ahead of Time
One of the first things I learned when starting college was that by spending the time to organize your coursework upfront can shorten your program by a whole semester. Don’t wait till the end of each semester to plan out the next. When you first step foot on campus you should very shortly after walk into an adviser’s office to plan out your coursework for your entire degree. If you plan out your courses smartly and deliberately so you don’t waste any time in your study’s you should be able to easily cut off an entire semester.
I went to a state university, so one semester’s worth of tuition and board is about $15,000. That’s $15,000 saved right off the bat, and that’s not including the money you will earn from working an extra five months if you get a job right after graduation. Say you land a job making $40,000 a year, you have now saved yourself a whopping $32,000 in total from just taking the time to organize your coursework ahead of time.
3. Take More Than the Average Number of Credits
Taking more than the average number of credits can be a great tool, it doesn’t cost more to overload on credits per semester, and by doing so you can easily cut down on the time it takes to graduate. It’s important to keep in mind that this technique should be done wisely, as it’s critical you only sign up for the coursework you can handle. Planning can help with this, as long as you are sure of your degree you can spread out gen-eds and easier electives throughout all of your semesters, enabling you to take more classes per semester while still maintaining a manageable workload.
The average college requires 120 credits to graduate, and the average student takes 15 per semester, totaling four years to graduate. Though most colleges have a limit of around 21 credits per semester, you can request to take more. I once took 25 credits in one semester. Say you organize your schedule and add one or two easy classes per semester to average 20 credits each semester, you can now graduate an entire year early! Using our logic from earlier, that saves you about $70,000, and a whole years’ worth of time. Once again, only take what you can handle, it is not worth saving this time and money if it means your GPA will suffer.
4. Consider Online Classes
Taking online classes over winter or summer break can be a great tool to lighten up your coursework over standard semesters or graduate even earlier. Online classes are typically easier and more convenient than your typical in-person class. They’re also very flexible since you can go at your own pace, I took 4 one summer and they didn’t intrude on my summer activities in the slightest.
One thing to keep in mind is that they do cost additional money, typically around $1200-$1600 per class. However, if taking online classes enables you to graduate early then you will still be saving more money in the end.
5. Make Your Studies Well-Rounded
Making your studies well rounded while graduating early isn’t as daunting as it may seem at first glance. Your options are limitless for ways to maximize your experience in whatever timeline you have. Getting involved is one of the best ways to achieve a great college experience, and from athletics to clubs, and everything in between, you have plenty of options. However, the best advice I can give you is to get an internship, ideally as early as you can.
Internships not only allow you to gain work experience, grow your connections, and receive income, they can allow you to earn credits as well, usually 3 each. If you manage your time well, an internship can often be easier to handle than an additional class, making that average of 20 credits a semester all that more attainable.
Study-abroad experiences are another great way to maximize your time spent at college. Not only do they allow you to travel and earn credits, but you can take them during the summer or winter so they don’t have to impact your typical college semesters. I found a great program that lasts 3 weeks right after the spring semester ends which enables students to earn 9 credits all while traveling Europe. Not only is it a fun way to earn some credits, but the shortened length of the experience can allow you to still partake in a summer internship. Overall that means 12 credits earned for the entire summer through traveling and gaining work experience, sounds like a win to me.
Final Thoughts
College can feel daunting at times, like a necessary evil needed to succeed in life. You want the experience, and you want the degree, but you don’t want the loans that come with it. These five tips will help to maximize your money spent, all while still retaining the quintessential college experience. Anything is possible if you work hard enough to achieve it.
