Are you or your kid thinking about going to college while trying to avoid student loans? This post is for you.

At the time of applying to colleges in the US, I was in India. I had never been to the US yet.

I was pretty clueless and did not know what I was doing.

I did have many ambitions and wanted to get into MIT. That’s all I knew.

I applied to three private schools and only one public school.

Past me, what were you thinking? Public school is the way to go. As I have learned! From going to two huge, public, land-grant universities: NC State and Ohio State. And, doing just fine if I may say so myself.

Why did I apply to only four schools?

College application fees, you know. Lots of dollars. Which when converted to rupees is lots and lots of rupees.

MIT mailed a super thick financial responsibility “form” (looked more like a book) to my parents asking them how much of the $50,000 tuition per year they would be able to pay. It all kind of went downhill from there and I did not get in.

I was very heartbroken and shut myself in my room.
(For five whole minutes)

I ended up saying yes to the most affordable (and awesome, as it turns out) option: NC STATE! Go Wolfpack!!! 💜

The other two options were Wake Forest and Emory and no surprises, they were super expensive (and private) as well.

I am sure these private schools have much to offer.

What I am not sure about is whether they are worth the student loans that one would wind up paying off for a long, long time afterward.

You’re going to get super educated and get a great job and all, only to be putting away huge chunks of your salary not towards something you’d actually like to invest in (like a house, because renting and having roommates get really old) but towards those student loans that have been lurking in the background the whole time.

As a student-loan-free millennial, I can tell you that there is no limit to how successful you can be while totally avoiding fancy, expensive schools that put you in debt.

How you can avoid student loans:

Avoid student loans by dodging college altogether.

Maybe you don’t need to go to college for your specific goals. Maybe trade school is more what you are looking for. Such as, if you wanted to be an electrician or plumber. Not my area of expertise, but I think being a good plumber is awesome and more people should consider it if they are so inclined. When I Google, it says a plumber makes over $50K. Same for an electrician.

Avoid student loans by holding off on college for now.

Maybe you want to join the military or do a different job first. You might have to remind yourself how to do algebra, but hey, you totally got this AND you will have an excellent work ethic which is the most important thing in college. Anytime is the best time to get more life experience. You can always decide to go to college later on. Plus, scholarships! Maybe your job will sponsor you to go to college! It’s totally a thing. One of my best friends in college (and grad school) had already served in the military for over a decade when she decided to start college.

Avoid student loans by going to a two-year, community college first.

These are typically much, much cheaper. You can get a lot of classes done at a community college and transfer the credits over to a four-year college to finish up your degree there. That is, go to a four-year college but not for all four years to save some $$$.

Avoid student loans by going to a four-year college in your home state. Where you are a resident.

So, if you live in Ohio, go to Ohio State or the University of Cincinnati or something like that. So many options! This way you can avoid the massively more expensive out-of-state tuition. Yes, this would mean you are closer to your family, but is avoiding your family worth all the debt? And maybe, you will LIKE being near your family! If they are getting on your nerves now, it’s because you live with them. It’s different when you go to college. Trust me, you will appreciate being near your family when you get kicked out of the dorms during your first Spring break and all the dining halls close and you have literally nowhere to go and nothing to eat. This is from someone whose family was on a different continent, but you get it.

Avoid student loans by picking the school where you got the most scholarship.

I know, seems obvious but it can be pretty difficult to turn down an offer from your dream school. If your dream school didn’t give you a full-ride but some other school did, just know that sometimes, life decides things for you and it’s OK to go with the flow. The school giving you a full ride is probably a great school in ways that you don’t know yet. It’s something waiting to be discovered and in all likelihood, you (and your parents) will be so glad you went there.

Avoid student loans by picking the most affordable school.

As an international student, this is what I did. I listened to Mom and Dad and picked the school that they felt most comfortable sending me to. They supported me through college and I have supported myself since. In graduate school, I got a full ride for tuition and a stipend. Going from zero dollars of income to 25K felt lovely. I got a great education at public universities and do more than alright now.

I hope you find a way to avoid or minimize student loans. I think people deserve to enjoy their hard-earned money in ways other than paying off loans for an eternity.

That might be difficult to see when you are in high school, but becomes all too much of reality once you are out of college.

Parents, I hope you find a way to support your kid going to college as much as possible. Yes, they are an adult now but just barely. They still need you and doing this bit will really go a super long way in making them successful.

Thanks for reading as always. Please comment below and share the post if you can.

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