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  • How to cut college costs by up to 25%

    Posted Jun 24 2008, 05:45 AM by Karen Datko Rating:

    This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity:

    Do you want to know how I shaved nearly 13% off my college costs? I took Advanced Placement classes.

    I graduated college a semester early in part because I had loaded up on AP classes while I was in high school. Someone got it into my head that I could take AP classes for free (not counting the nominal fee for the exam) and get college credit for getting high marks on the AP tests. At the time, my brain wasn't thinking, "Oh, I can save money on college," but rather, "I can spend time now and have it count twice -- once in high school and once in college," so it was in part the bit of hustle inside of me that spurred me to action.   Read More...

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  • Take advantage of your employer's offer of free education

    Posted Mar 11 2008, 06:08 AM by Karen Datko Rating:

    This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

    If your employer offers tuition reimbursement and you're not taking advantage of it, you're leaving a tremendous amount of value on the table each year.

    In the two jobs I've had since graduating college in 2003, I've been lucky enough to be offered the opportunity to pursue higher education in return for sacrificing some of my time. At my first job, every education dollar I spent was fully reimbursed (you were allowed to take two classes a semester, or six a year) with no requirements afterward. In my second job, I was afforded $5,000 a year with some continuation-of-work requirements.

    Through both programs a majority of my MBA was paid for. In both cases, I took advantage of reimbursement to the fullest extent possible. If you have this opportunity, you should too.   Read More...