Getting through college is one of the biggest challenges in the current education system. With the recent changes in learning setups and increase in expenses, college students find it harder to keep up with the pace of learning paired with the harsh realities they have to deal with. For less-fortunate students, the expenses of a college education hinder their learning because they always have to think and find ways to pay for these expenses, as well as day-to-day costs of living. This is the reason why some students drop out of college to pursue a livelihood. Still, the change in working and education systems has brought advantages for working students, such as the availability of free online courses or the sudden abundance of online work. Here, we’ll run down tips that will help you get to university and eventually graduate.
- Online Courses
To be able to get into college, students are often required to take entrance exams at different schools. Some schools have advanced placement programs, which help the students accelerate their learning and years of study through passing advanced placement exams. It will help students to get an advanced placement if they take online courses since these are tailored for students to learn the most important parts and to meet the academic objectives.
Fortunately, online prep courses have materials and resources, such as prep books, that would be helpful for you to ace these advanced placement tests. There are many cheap and quality resources available, depending on your program. Whether you are looking for Psychology, Computer Science, AP Biology books, or others, several sites like My GRE Exam Preparation lists down all these and have them readily available, so you can easily get an idea of the best resource that will suit your needs.
- Scholarships
The most common and practical way of financing your studies in order to get a degree is through applying for scholarships. There are many scholarships available that you may be qualified for, so you can start looking and applying for some. Scholarships are not only limited to academic scholarships; there are also universities that offer scholarships for sports, arts, and other extracurricular activities. Athletes who join competitions to represent their universities are offered sports scholarships; hence, they do not need to pay for their tuition and school fees and are often given regular monetary allowances.
Many public and private organizations and social foundations are also continuously looking for students to support. Some of these organizations may only require some years of your service after graduating in exchange for a scholarship. If you are interested in science, there are scientific organizations and research agencies that provide scholarships for students who pursue the science and research field. The same goes for IT students who are sought by IT companies for their scholarship grants. There are many organizations specializing in different fields that are giving out scholarships to qualified and deserving students.
Another way of gaining a scholarship is by joining local, social, or university organizations that offer scholarships to their members. Some may require a certain level of grades to achieve, while some may not require anything at all.
- Degree Apprenticeships
Degree apprenticeships combine studying and on-the-job learning to get a degree. Another benefit of this is that the government and your employer are the ones who pay for the tuition fee and other school fees. This way, you get to earn a degree while also earning money through your work salary. Degree apprenticeship setups usually take fewer days of studying at the university and more days of on-the-job learning.
Typically, degree apprenticeships take around one to five years to finish, and this program is applicable to anyone who is more than 18 years old. The government and employers aim to utilize this program so that the students will learn high-demand skills that would be useful for the current situation and the future.
- Online or Virtual Jobs
The shift into a virtual learning setting also influenced companies and businesses to shift into virtual workspaces. This move has also opened up a lot of job opportunities for individuals who have minimum credentials, such as having a high school diploma or being currently enrolled in one. These online jobs can provide an average college student with some part-time work that will significantly help in aiding their expenses through college. Online part-time work can vary from hourly rates, commission work, or output-based earning. Some online jobs also allow working on the person’s free time instead of having a fixed schedule, which can be advantageous to students that have different class schedules throughout the week.
Online degrees can be a good choice for people who are working online jobs and want to pursue a degree. They can do both their study and work online while allotting their time efficiently. Having a flexible time for work will enable college students to balance their time for their studies and work, and this will surely help them get through college expenses while financing their daily living. Also, the quality of online degrees is just at the same level as degrees completed in classrooms at universities. Online degrees are more affordable as well since there is little or no school and miscellaneous fees to be paid because you are studying at your own place.
- Work-based Degrees
If you are currently working and you want to get a degree while doing your current job, work-based degrees might be the most practical option to choose. Through this, you would not need to attend the university full-time, and you are also able to study through modules and distance learning. Aside from that, you can choose the areas of expertise for the course you would learn because you can also tailor your practice in a way that would meet your employer’s work objectives.
The major benefit of work-based degrees is the flexible learning and the practical application of your knowledge and skills to work settings. Through work-based degrees, you can shorten the length of time needed in studying to get your degree.
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