Here’s Your Guide to Paying for Online College

A bachelor’s degree can be the solid foundation on which you build your career and the rest of your life. And going to college online can be appealing because of the convenience it offers. You can study from anywhere, and attend your classes when your schedule allows. You’ll save money on room and board, transportation to and from classes, parking on campus, and other expenses, like moving to be close to your school.

But online college can still be expensive. Often, colleges charge the same amount of tuition for their online classes as they do for their in-person ones. To pay for online college, you’ll need to file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to qualify for student aid from your school’s financial aid office. You can also search for scholarships and grants offered by organizations outside your school. If you work, your employer might offer tuition reimbursement for undergraduate studies.

File the FAFSA

Before you apply to online school, you should talk to the financial aid offices at the schools you’re considering to find out what scholarships and grants are available to students in your position. Many scholarships and grants are awarded based on need or merit, but many schools also offer scholarships and grants to students based on their ethnic background, field of study, state residency, or other qualifications.

Filing the FAFSA will make you eligible for any scholarships and grants your school may offer. You won’t have to pay back scholarship and grant money, so you want to get as much of it as you can. Applying to multiple schools can help you maximize your scholarship and grant money, as some schools may be able to offer more free money than others.

Look Beyond Your School for Scholarships and Grants

Your school isn’t the only source of free money for tuition. Plenty of other organizations and institutions offer scholarships, grants, and fellowships to students who demonstrate need or who have a strong academic record. There are several databases you can search online to look for scholarship, grant, and fellowship opportunities, like FastWeb or Cappex. the U.S. Department of Labor also offers a free scholarship search tool.

You should also search locally for scholarships, grants, and fellowships offered within your community. Ask your high school counselor about scholarships and grants offered by your school. Talk to your faith leader about funds that may be available from your place of worship. Hit up local businesses and youth organizations for information about possible scholarships. It can be hard to get scholarships offered on the national level, but it’s usually much easier to win grants and scholarships offered only to students from your local area.

Get Tuition Reimbursement from Your Employer

These days, many employers offer tuition reimbursement benefits to their employees, because they know that encouraging their workers to get more education gives them a more skilled workforce, and it’s cheaper than hiring new people to bring those same skills into the company. Talk to your human resources department about the possibility of tuition reimbursement. If you haven’t received enough scholarships and grants to cover your school costs, tuition reimbursement can help close the gap. However, you may be required to study a subject relevant to your career path at your company – for example, if you work in IT, you may need to earn a computer technology degree to qualify for tuition reimbursement. You may also be required to commit to remaining at the company for a certain number of years after you finish using the tuition reimbursement benefit. Your company will want to make sure they can get the maximum benefit from your new skills.

Take Out Federal Student Loans

Student loans should be the option of last resort when planning how to pay for online college, but most students will have to take out at least some loans to cover their educational costs. Federal student loans are better than private loans because the interest rates are typically much lower, and you can defer payment on your loans until you finish school. You’re even given a grace period to find a job before your student loan payments start kicking in. Filing the FAFSA will make you eligible to receive federal student loans, and you may qualify for loans even if you don’t demonstrate financial need.

Going to college online might be the right option for you, especially if you need to schedule your classes around your job and other responsibilities. Make sure you get the funding you need to cover your school costs, so you don’t end up with unmanageable student debt after graduation.