If you have a stack of money sitting somewhere not being used, the cost of college will not be a problem for you. For nearly everyone else, cost is one of the two big reasons that adults do not return to get more education. Time would be the other reason. People looking to better themselves through education do not want to go broke doing it. They also do not want to come out of school in the middle of their life with huge loans left from college.
Several options are available to help fund additional education. The first is by far the easiest to do. The key is to not go to school full time. This allows you to pay for your education in smaller pieces. If money is short this semester, add it to the account for next semester. Never quit going to school. You just have to go slower. This may be a pace that makes you believe that the end will never come, but persistence pays. Some people have used 10 or more years for a 4 year degree. Some of these same people kept going for another 8 or 10 years to complete their Masters. It can be done.
If your income level is not too high, grants are a great source of help to fund college. Pell and SEOG are two federal grant programs that benefit hundreds of thousands of students every semester. These two programs can nearly fund all of your tuition and books at state and community colleges. You have to apply early to qualify for the SEOG grants. They are usually gone by late spring for the school year starting in the fall. Pell grants are available most of the time.
Frequently, companies offer college tuition reimbursement and scholarships to their employees. The rules and amounts vary a lot from company to company. You would need to speak to your employer about this type of opportunity. Some of these programs require you to pay for the schooling first and then be reimbursed when it is successfully completed. Companies sometimes tie the amount of reimbursement to the grade received in the course.
Companies that offer scholarships will sometimes pay for books and other fees up front. You have to maintain a passing grade point to stay in this type of program. It is common for businesses to only offer educational assistance in fields that relate to their company's line of business.
Student loans are also available, but these have to be repaid. Check into loans ahead of time. Some of them are offered at the state level that will be forgiven over a period of years if you work in a special field or a area that is economically depressed. After five or so years, these loans just go away. This makes them more of a grant than a loan if you honor your end of the bargain.
The good thing about student loans is that the interest and payment is deferred until school is completed. If you go back to school, often these loans can again be deferred. The interest rates are competitive. Although you have to pay them back, student loans are the best option if you have to borrow money.
Other lesser options might include finding sources for used books. This can result in a savings of 75% on texts. Borrow a book from someone when possible. Free is a cheap as it gets. Get as much education as possible at the cheapest schools. Community colleges and state schools are almost always 50% or more cheaper than private schools.
