FAP753: 6 ideas to pay for college Listen now: Student Financial Aid News + Boston Globe: Nearly 30 percent of undergraduates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will not pay tuition next academic year under a far-reaching financial aid initiative announced today, the latest in a host of expanded need-based programs at elite colleges and universities. + In addition, MIT will no longer consider home equity in asset calculations for families earning less than $100,000, which will reduce the average family payment by $1,600. MIT will provide a comparable deduction to parents who rent homes. + Inside Higher Ed: Another sign of loan industry woes: The Associated Press reported that Brazos Higher Education Service Corporation, the administrative arm of a Texas lender called the Brazos Group, announced plans Friday to eliminate the jobs of 163 employees, or 60 percent of its workforce. + The good news in all this is that if you’re in the top 1% of academically qualified students, college is cheaper than ever + The bad news in all this is that if you’re in the other 99%, it’s time to start getting creative in financing + As always, get student loans at StudentLoanNetwork.com Scholarship Update + Student Loan Network 10K Part 2 + Scholarship Points program changes News You Can Use + How to get creative with college funding + Obvious paths - scholarships and grants + More often than not, it’s not that you don’t know how, it’s just that you don’t + David Maister calls this the paradox of the fat smoker - why we don’t do what we know to be the obvious choices + Time tested: the 2 - 4 shuffle. Know which college you want to graduate from, then find community colleges that allow full transfer of credit into that school. + Time tested: get into a free college - Harvard, MIT, Yale, Stanford, Berea + Get creative beyond that - there are tons of services out there that allow for collection of money + Idea: hold an end of semester party and sell tickets via Eventbrite and Google Checkout, then solicit donations - tickets are used to pay for that semester + Idea: solicit corporate sponsorships of your schooling, and put together a media package of what the company is getting for its sponsorship. If you have a blog, podcast, etc., or other outlets, leverage those + Grab a copy of a Business Journals list for the city either you live in or in the city + Idea: Host a benefit concert online - find an independent musician with a following and sell tickets, split the proceeds. Think it can’t happen? Take a second look at live music online via sites like UStream.tv and Second Life + Idea: If you and friends have talents in creating material goods - CDs, magazines, shirts, etc., create a video telethon on a popular site like UStream + The key is Purple Cow stuff - something unique, powerful, and different that has never been done before + Whatever your idea, publicize the heck out of it - send out press releases, hit up local reporters, etc. Did you enjoy today’s show? If so, please consider subscribing for free to get it delivered to you . Subscribing for free means you don’t have to remember to download it every day. + + + Direct MP3 file download: Click here to download the MP3 Reminders + Student Loan Network Fall $10,000 Scholarship + Financial Aid Podcast Show Notes at FinancialAidPodcast.com. + Free scholarship search secrets eBook at StudentScholarshipSearch.com/ebook + FAFSA form tutorials and free help at FAFSAonline.com + Grad student? Get graduate financial aid information at the GradLoans.com blog! + Stafford federal student loans at StaffordLoan.com + Student loan consolidation at StudentLoanConsolidator.com + Private student loans available at any time - visit AlternativeStudentLoan.com + The Financial Aid Podcast is a publication of the Student Loan Network. I want to hear from you! Email me at financialaidpodcast {at} gmail {dot} com, visit http://www.FinancialAidPodcast.com, or call 206-350-1208. Technorati Tags: financial aid financialaidpodcast ShareThis Less