Corporations Contribute To Financial Aid!

College tuition has risen almost geometrically over the last decade. MSNBC, a cable news network, stated the average tuition was slightly over $7,000 for the 2009-10 academic year. CNN has come up with a similar number; a four-year Bachelor's will cost approximately $27,000. Both news services say these cost increases didn't include room, board or other living expenses.

They also expect tuition to rise 15% by 2010-11. In other words, financing a degree is getting harder than ever. Extra expense can be added when obtaining an on campus or online graduate school degree.

This is making many students adopt work-study situations to afford tuitions. They enroll at an online college, so they can go to work during the daylight hours, then follow a part-time school schedule. Some national and even international corporations, such as McDonald's and Blockbuster, will help pay for their education - sometimes even covering the entire tuition - for as long as a student works for them. Still, landing such jobs during the current recession can be few and far between.

Now many colleges, both online and on campus, offer aid based on need and/or academic performance. The federal government also has such programs as the Pell, ACG and SMART grants, not to forget President Obama's new tax credits that were part of his health reform act. Obama even got the amount of money offered to be increased next year. Still, there's often an incredible valley between school costs and grant money given.

Still that isn't all that's available to a hardworking student. Access a good search engine, type your curriculum followed by the words "financial aid". The results will yield an incredible number of outfits much like the aforementioned McDonald's or Blockbusters. They have scholarships for everyone from medicine to journalism, honest-to-goodness rocket science and veterinary science. A quick search yields four such examples:

(1) The National Aeronautic and Space Agency (or NASA for all the budding rocket scientists) has a competition wherein students submit their ideas for the best approach to space exploration. NASA wants to engage more students in STEM disciplines, and they figure the scholarship prize will certainly help.

(2) The American Veterinary Medical Association initiated a debt relief program for graduates who devote their careers to food animals such as sheep, cows and pigs. The group announced that by combating the out-of-control debt many students endure to become vets they hope it will encourage more to enroll.

(3) The Scripps Howard Foundation awards several scholarships for not only achievements in the classroom, but on the job or for the community. Scripps Howard claims the grants are investments to bring out a young writers' potential and keep them in the profession of communications.

(4) CVS Caremark, a pharmaceutical chain, teamed up with some colleges for scholarship and internship programs. The idea is to diversify their profession and help students gain an interest in pharmacology.

These examples are only the start. Also check with your school's financial aid officer. There are an amazing number of companies who will gladly help students get an online degree. With the cost of tuition rising in leaps and bounds, every cent one can get will certainly help.

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