How were you personally able to pay for your college tuition?

My first year my parents paid, the last 3 years were student loans.

I can’t even fathom having to pay those off =/

I had a combination of grants and loans, as well as work study…then the last two years, I had a work study job, and a regular job.

what did you study?

I comfort myself in the thought that it does atleast die with me! Hopefully I will get a scholarship for the research year of masters atleast

i was extremely lucky i got a full scholarship in the uni i studied in. if i hadnt gotten that, i would’ve studied in the ‘state’ university which is actually my original plan anyway. In the state uni, a 4 yr course costs as much as 1 semester in the uni i studied in. my parents would’ve paid for this.

The two years that i did attend college i went to community college because i was paying for it out of my own pocket. I worked two jobs at the time and struggled my ass off to pay tuition and buy books those two years. Thankfully i was living rent free with someone at the time. However, since i didnt finish school i wish i could have all that money back. I think i just went in too young and i wasnt ready for it…i was only 17 my first semester

Work currently pays for my TAFE studies (Diploma of Accounting). The semester fees, books and the days I’m attending classes during the week, they pay me as normal working days… The only downside is, I cannot fail any units otherwise any repeats will be from my own pockets and in my own time….The one massive drawback is, once I complete the course, I’m legally tied to the company for 18 months, if I leave the company within the 18 months, I have to repay all the fees back to the firm.

well i havnt done it but my friends here haha she says work! at some specialised shop so the pay is goood. like something not everyone can do. like if you spoke chinese or something you could probably go work in like a chinese restraunt and get high pay coz not many people speak chinese. lol budget EVERYTHING. stay with a friend live of kfc walk everywhere etc… you can also babysit or if you are smart tutor people :P x

I got some scholarships from high school, need-based aid from the college, and I worked part time and various student jobs.

As a computer programmer, I was able to work more (because I liked it) and earn more (it pays way better) than a lot of people who had student jobs. I think working in a specialized place (eg, a chemistry lab - I did that too, it didn’t pay as much, but it was better than washing dishes) helps for money.

I saved money by hardly ever eating outside of the dining halls, and frequently carrying food from the halls instead of buying snacks (this wan’t prohibited, just inconvenient, and it didn’t cost any extra on my meal plan).

I had paid summer internships.

I studied hard an finished a year early.

I have no loans right now.

It helped that I was a minority in my field; I double-majored in Mathematics and Computer Science, and I’m a girl, which is very rare in those fields. (I was 1 in 20 in my class.)

In USA, I got tuition waiving by working for the University 20 hr a week.

Student loan, but I’m quite lucky it’s only 10K. I’m lucky in a sense that my mum paid for my schooling before tertiary education.