How The Heck do I fund college, with no aid?

[bjcheung77]

Just to let you know, it really depends on how effective/efficient you are with the effort/energy, time management, etc, you place into your classes, in addition to the previous knowledge. For costs alone, it would be something like this... WGU 1 term/6 months will cost $3955, UMPI/TAMUC 2 sessions would be $3K, if you need an extra third session, it'll be $4.5K... Many people finish faster than the requirement of the third session, so you can expect $3K if you max the transfers.

[nykorn]

I updated the Wiki with a section on funding: https://degreeforum.miraheze.org/wiki/We...or_Courses

Here is how I afforded my first term. I didn't qualify for any scholarships anywhere as I'm a Master's student with average grades, they seem to give out all the scholarships to Bachelor and Associate's students (I did apply for the Rural Living, New Years, etc ones, and didn't get anything at all). No way was I going to take out another student loan - I'm still paying back my loans from my useless Bachelor's.

1) Sell everything you can, cancel any subscriptions (Netflix etc), do any odd jobs, even borrow money from friends if you need to, just to scrape together the money needed for that FIRST semester, to pay in advance (so you don't incur the $50 fee for using an installment plan, nor the 3% fee for using a credit/debit card). I spend $0 a month on food - I completely live off the $250 or so I get from food stamps + stuff from the food bank.

2) Credit card signup bonus of $200 if you spend $500 within the first 3 months. Spend that $500 on paying your tuition. Pay the rest with your bank account so you don't incur the nearly 3% transaction fee on the rest of the sum. I did this, got $205 in cashback + sign-on bonus, which negated the $15 WGU card usage fee I incurred.

3) Cashback debit card signup. You'll get 1% cashback on stuff like rent which you can't otherwise use your credit card or get credit card cashback on.

4) Find as many gig jobs as possible. Can be delivery driving, petsitting, AI training, online English teaching, etc. Figure out how much more you need to earn per day to afford the next month's tuition. Basically I realized I only actually have to earn an extra $22 per day to afford the next term by the time it comes up. So, obviously, try to earn at least 1.5x the minimum amount per day in case something happens.

5) If you can find any way to qualify for the WGU 5% off tuition, do that. You may need to pay $100 to join some union or pay $20 to send an old transcript, but it will be saving you almost $200 per term.

6) Find all the WGU courses in your degree, download people's Quizlet decks to Anki or any other material you can find, and pre-study all the material before you start the term. This will make acceleration much more feasible.

7) There are some 100% passive money making opportunities including high yield interest accounts, CDs, and even apps like Current (play music to get points which are eventually redeemed for PayPal credit - put your phone in another room so you don't have to listen to it), or HoneyGain (get points for sharing your internet connection). If you have some free time, write a picture book and sell it online on sites like Smashwords, Amazon KPD and Lulu, it will get you a little money. $4,000 is not that much when stretched out over earning it across 6 months, so even the little stuff adds up.

8) Check any little thing you are spending money on to see if you can get it cheaper. Haircuts? Do it yourself - you just saved $30. Coffee stands? Buy coffee syrup and instant coffee instead. Gas? Try a bike or electric bike for nearby activities. Heating? Buy two $30 electric blankets instead of heating the whole house, one is the "under you" type and one is the "over you" type. Cooking? Use a mini oven (like the Instant Vortex) or even a solar hybrid oven (SunFocus). Buy in bulk and mix tastier items with small amounts of tasteless cheap items (such as mixing sweet corn with field corn). Milk? Get a goat, get it directly from a farm, suffer with powdered milk... Never buy any snacks or candy and don't pay for liquid drinks (such as soda or coffee stand coffee) - they are a huge waste of money for the amount of food you get. If you have your own place, you can create a partition (even something as simple as a sheet or curtains) to give yourself a room, and use what was your bedroom as an Airbnb or room rental. Live near a forest? Send your kids out to forage - cat tails, dandelions, all kinds of stuff is edible or regrowable from stubs (such as green onions, garlic, etc) and is what our grandparents were eating during WWII. Obviously, with you having kids, the Airbnb idea and some others are not feasible.

9) Any time you buy something online, use the computer not your smartphone, and enable a ton of cashback browser addons and coupon services like RetailMeNot, Honey, Rakuten Points, etc. You may get 1.5% cashback with those addons + the 1.5% cashback from your credit card.

10) If you have unlimited phone data, or a high data limit, you don't need to pay for a home internet connection. Just create a wifi hotspot via your phone's mobile data. Use browser addons to block all images, background data and loading videos unless you explicitly click on them, so they don't suck up data.

11) If your degree has an internship (such as the teaching degrees), get everything needed to qualify for the internship (background checks, state exams, etc) done as far in advance as possible so there is no time wasted in waiting for that to get done before they can find you an internship place. You should also contact places directly, asking them for an internship and then if anyone agrees, get them to contact WGU. It may take up to 3 months for WGU to find you an internship, and then your internship will be at least 2 months, that is almost a full term right there for the internship process alone.

12) I graduated from a state community college with an Associate's back in 2010, so even though I am getting my Master's now WGU still gave me the community college graduate 5% tuition discount. They had actually tried to tell me to not bother waiting for my Associate's transcripts as "the credits wouldn't transfer anyways and you don't need it since you have a Bachelor's", but the enrollment officer was unaware of the 5% discount. That discount is $198.75 off tuition each term at current tuition prices.

[jsh1138]

The real suggestion is to either work your way through or get a loan

I have done it both ways and both ways are possible.

[natshar]

5) If you can find any way to qualify for the WGU 5% off tuition, do that. You may need to pay $100 to join some union or pay $20 to send an old transcript, but it will be saving you almost $200 per term.

12) I graduated from a state community college with an Associate's back in 2010, so even though I am getting my Master's now WGU still gave me the community college graduate 5% tuition discount. They had actually tried to tell me to not bother waiting for my Associate's transcripts as "the credits wouldn't transfer anyways and you don't need it since you have a Bachelor's", but the enrollment officer was unaware of the 5% discount. That discount is $198.75 off tuition each term at current tuition prices.

First I just want to say for everyone else, that WGU does offer payment plans. It does cost $50 to set up one up. HOWEVEVER, that is far cheaper than the cost of student loans with interest. I believe it splits into three (or maybe four idk) payments and spaces them out. Could be a good option for some people who don't have the money know but are motivated to not take out loans.

Anyways, can you elaborate on this 5% discount. Is there a list of participating partners somewhere. Or a link about it. I've never heard of it.

[nykorn]

I have a full time job and children, so I cannot get another job AND do schooling.  Ideally I would be thrilled to complete 30 credits in 6 months, but realistically, I see going 2 terms..Would love real suggestions..

A clarification on what I wrote before.

Tuition is rising at WGU as of September 2024. To pay for 6 months of WGU you need to set aside roughly $24 a day. Track EVERY SINGLE purchase in an app and check what you can reduce. Don't write "Food $100", write exact products ("Cheese $5") and put them into overarching categories ("Dairy") - it only takes a few seconds per item after the initial setup, but there may be apps that automatically do all this if you just scan the item's barcode.

- Reduce mobile data usage and change to cheaper phone plans. I was on Boost Mobile for $12 a month (2gb mobile data, unlimited talk/text) now I'm on Q Link (free for low income - 4.5gb mobile data, unlimited talk/text). Most people I know are on phone plans that cost them like $40 per line per month because they can't stop watching videos or playing mobile games on mobile data.

- $70 at my local supermarket gets me less than a full bag of groceries, but gets me 6 bags of groceries at a food liquidation outlet. Also invest in special packaging for the fridge that makes your food last days longer, the packaging will quickly pay for itself when you aren't having to toss out moldy cucumbers.

- I live 3 miles from work which is a 12min ride by ebike. Electricity is $8.04 kWh here. It costs me $2.80 to charge my ebike once (which, when possible, I do at work anyways) which gets me to work and back twice, so $1.40 per commute. I used to live with a 2 hour commute distance paying over $200 a month for a bus pass. Consider your commute time as unpaid work hours and decide if you need to find a job closer to your house. Think about long-term costs of everything you use: My mom claims driving is cheap to just get around town, but then pays $1,500 when a car part breaks. The most expensive bike part I've had to buy was $60 for solid foam tire tubes to stop flats. Not just for commuting - I can carry 6 grocery bags on my bike with minimal equipment, and even more if I were to attach a good back tire bike rack.

- I used to save at least $100 a month on my heating bill in winter by using electric blankets instead of central heating, air conditioner or heat fans.

- If you are friendly with your neighbors and their wifi reaches to your house, you may be able to strike a deal with them to share wifi and cut your bill in half.

- With a part-time job like AI editing, you can even do it in 2 minute sessions. So you can throw in minutes here and there at any time when it would be a bigger waste of time to do WGU, like during lunch breaks or while waiting for pasta to boil. With English teaching you can do as short as 15min sessions, which is still enough to get in one session during your lunch break at work. WGU is better when you can have uninterrupted sessions, because otherwise you will end up rereading the course material or homework instructions a lot.

Specifically because you have kids and some people need reminders of this:
- In the majority of cases your kid doesn't need a phone or phone line. You can set aside a prepaid minute phone, put like $10 worth of minutes on there and let them have it only when they're going out independently (not going to a friend's house whose phone they can use etc).
- You don't need to spend money on presents. Plenty of opportunities to get free items or make stuff from materials you have. Work on this slowly throughout the year instead of waiting until near birthdays and Christmas.
- If you insist on paying for haircuts instead of diy, go to a haircutting school where you get discounts for helping out trainees.

I am currently using the "0% APY for 12-15 months" credit card method to pay off my Swedish student loans, which are currently at 1.25% interest. The credit card gets 1% cashback. I'm basically saving $300 by doing this, which isn't that much but is still significant.

---

Anyways, can you elaborate on this 5% discount. Is there a list of participating partners somewhere. Or a link about it. I've never heard of it.

It isn't advertised publicly on their website but it appears in news articles from time to time. Most states, and some unions, get you 5% (essentially $200) off tuition each term if you fulfill certain requirements. The most common type is that you graduated from a state college (including community college for an AA) before coming to WGU. When you register to WGU, you need to provide proof that you graduated (transcript and diploma) and submit it like a credit transfer, even if your credits will not actually transfer. I additionally sent them proof of the discount through their "upload additional files" section as well as Emailed them about it, just in case. It took a while for them to apply the discount but they did after a few weeks.

Here are a few sample links about it:

Washington - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases...72388.html
California - https://www.wgu.edu/blog/wgu-california-...e1906.html
Reddit thread - https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU/comments/17...ount_with/

Note that all the links I found only mentioned it was valid for people with a community college Associate's applying for a transfer to a Bachelor's. However I have a community college Associate's and applied for a Master's and they gave me the same discount. A few months ago when I was looking for it, I managed to find proof that this discount is given to almost all states, and some states give an even bigger discount. However now when I search again, all the search engines have decreased in quality in such a short time, I can find almost nothing relevant anymore.

[LevelUP]

I have a full time job and children, so I cannot get another job AND do schooling.  Ideally I would be thrilled to complete 30 credits in 6 months, but realistically, I see going 2 terms..Would love real suggestions..

A clarification on what I wrote before.

Tuition is rising at WGU as of September 2024. To pay for 6 months of WGU you need to set aside roughly $24 a day. Track EVERY SINGLE purchase in an app and check what you can reduce. Don't write "Food $100", write exact products ("Cheese $5") and put them into overarching categories ("Dairy") - it only takes a few seconds per item after the initial setup, but there may be apps that automatically do all this if you just scan the item's barcode.

OP said was getting a scholarship which I believe most people can get.  Otherwise a student loan would be worth it if you can score a higher paying job after graduation. 

- Reduce mobile data usage and change to cheaper phone plans. I was on Boost Mobile for $12 a month (2gb mobile data, unlimited talk/text) now I'm on Q Link (free for low income - 4.5gb mobile data, unlimited talk/text). Most people I know are on phone plans that cost them like $40 per line per month because they can't stop watching videos or playing mobile games on mobile data.

TMobile has a $15 a month plan which include 5gb of data + binge feature which is unlimited data on sites like Netflix, YouTube and Spotfiy. Also TMobile has an exclusive deal with Starlink so you will be able to get satilate service by the end of 2024. 

Buy your own phone such as the iPhone 12 for $300 which is almost identical in features to the new iPhones. 

- $70 at my local supermarket gets me less than a full bag of groceries, but gets me 6 bags of groceries at a food liquidation outlet. Also invest in special packaging for the fridge that makes your food last days longer, the packaging will quickly pay for itself when you aren't having to toss out moldy cucumbers.

I like using a chest freezer to stock up on meat. 

- I live 3 miles from work which is a 12min ride by ebike. Electricity is $8.04 kWh here. It costs me $2.80 to charge my ebike once (which, when possible, I do at work anyways) which gets me to work and back twice, so $1.40 per commute. I used to live with a 2 hour commute distance paying over $200 a month for a bus pass. Consider your commute time as unpaid work hours and decide if you need to find a job closer to your house. Think about long-term costs of everything you use: My mom claims driving is cheap to just get around town, but then pays $1,500 when a car part breaks. The most expensive bike part I've had to buy was $60 for solid foam tire tubes to stop flats. Not just for commuting - I can carry 6 grocery bags on my bike with minimal equipment, and even more if I were to attach a good back tire bike rack.

Your math seems a bit off. I think you mean 0.08c per kWh.

Cars, to me, mean freedom. If you drive a Toyota, you don't have to worry about expensive breakdowns. Learning to do simple repairs yourself can save some money as well.

A bike tube is like $5. They can also be repaired for 25c each.

- I used to save at least $100 a month on my heating bill in winter by using electric blankets instead of central heating, air conditioner or heat fans.

The optiomal sleeping temp is 68 degrees. You can turn down the heat at night. 

- If you are friendly with your neighbors and their wifi reaches to your house, you may be able to strike a deal with them to share wifi and cut your bill in half.

I'm pretty picky about DL speeds and Wifi tends to suck for gaming.

- With a part-time job like AI editing, you can even do it in 2 minute sessions. So you can throw in minutes here and there at any time when it would be a bigger waste of time to do WGU, like during lunch breaks or while waiting for pasta to boil. With English teaching you can do as short as 15min sessions, which is still enough to get in one session during your lunch break at work. WGU is better when you can have uninterrupted sessions, because otherwise you will end up rereading the course material or homework instructions a lot.

There are gig jobs like DoorDash.

Specifically because you have kids and some people need reminders of this:
- In the majority of cases your kid doesn't need a phone or phone line. You can set aside a prepaid minute phone, put like $10 worth of minutes on there and let them have it only when they're going out independently (not going to a friend's house whose phone they can use etc).
- You don't need to spend money on presents. Plenty of opportunities to get free items or make stuff from materials you have. Work on this slowly throughout the year instead of waiting until near birthdays and Christmas.

You can save some money buying open-box or refurburished items. 

- If you insist on paying for haircuts instead of diy, go to a haircutting school where you get discounts for helping out trainees.

George Clooney was famous for saying that he used a flowbee during coof. 

I am currently using the "0% APY for 12-15 months" credit card method to pay off my Swedish student loans, which are currently at 1.25% interest. The credit card gets 1% cashback. I'm basically saving $300 by doing this, which isn't that much but is still significant.

The cash-back doesn't add up to much though I do use them. 

---

Anyways, can you elaborate on this 5% discount. Is there a list of participating partners somewhere. Or a link about it. I've never heard of it.

It isn't advertised publicly on their website but it appears in news articles from time to time. Most states, and some unions, get you 5% (essentially $200) off tuition each term if you fulfill certain requirements. The most common type is that you graduated from a state college (including community college for an AA) before coming to WGU. When you register to WGU, you need to provide proof that you graduated (transcript and diploma) and submit it like a credit transfer, even if your credits will not actually transfer. I additionally sent them proof of the discount through their "upload additional files" section as well as Emailed them about it, just in case. It took a while for them to apply the discount but they did after a few weeks.

Here are a few sample links about it:

Washington - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases...72388.html
California - https://www.wgu.edu/blog/wgu-california-...e1906.html
Reddit thread - https://www.reddit.com/r/WGU/comments/17...ount_with/

Note that all the links I found only mentioned it was valid for people with a community college Associate's applying for a transfer to a Bachelor's. However I have a community college Associate's and applied for a Master's and they gave me the same discount. A few months ago when I was looking for it, I managed to find proof that this discount is given to almost all states, and some states give an even bigger discount. However now when I search again, all the search engines have decreased in quality in such a short time, I can find almost nothing relevant anymore.

No matter what you do, if you live in a high-cost city like New York, it may be impossible to live a decent life. You may consider moving to a lower-cost area.

[bjcheung77]

It's true for all places, cities/countries, if you're in an expensive area of town, go a bit further and find your 'medium', it doesn't have to be in a different state if you don't want to leave family/friends behind... Some neighboring cities may be more affordable, better schooling, child care, jobs, etc... Find that balance and try to mix/match with what you need and want.