Unique ways to avoid relying on student loans

Borrow from family or friends
It may be tough to ask, but if you have a good relationship with a family member who has available cash, why not make them an offer? Be sure to do your homework before you meet. Being able to present a list of potential expenses from tuition to lab fees may show how dedicated you are to your pursuit and how serious you are about money.
Before you meet, ask yourself what form of repayment you can offer and at what interest rate. Decide whether you can begin to repay immediately or if you need to ask that person to wait until your graduation. Treat the agreement as a contract. Draw up paperwork and keep a record of your payments.
Borrowing from family can be tricky. You want to maintain healthy relationships, but not be controlled through the money involved. Such money should only be considered if it won't cause a rift over payments or the debt in general.

Find a business to sponsor your education
A local business, especially one where you have served as an effective employee, may be willing to kick in toward your college education. If you're a creative thinker, you may be able to dream up some incredible ways to earn even more or to pay them back for their investment. Help to advertise their business, offer to lend your expertise to design a logo or streamline a delivery system. Maybe you'll bring a branch of their business to your campus. Use your knowledge and tools to help sell yourself to them by helping them sell their products and services to others.

Tuition reimbursement from employers
Most larger employers offer some form of tuition reimbursement. The Human Resources Department is usually the place to start your inquiry. Keep in mind that in some cases, you have to be studying a subject that applies to your role in the organization or which leads to a degree you'll use in employment with them once you graduate. Some require a certain term of service from you or they will demand repayment.

Earn scholarships and stipends
There are many opportunities available for people with unique backgrounds, rare talents, and varied interests. For some programs, all you need do is apply and meet the criteria. You can earn money just for being a woman who writes poetry, for being from the midwest and part of a low income family, for being of Native American descent. There are potential monies just waiting to be claimed by anyone enterprising enough to locate them. Organizations, memorial funds, and foundations are just a few of the potential resources. Your local school counseling office or library may have valuable information, but searching online is quick and convenient and may be your best resource.

Explore other schools
Instead of setting your heart and mind on one school and then blindly eschewing all others, apply to several schools. Especially if you have good academics and a well rounded list of experiences, smaller and less well-known schools may be willing to offer you an exceptional deal. When all is said and done, an education is an education. You can always go on to higher level work at your big name school later. In the meantime, take the best offer you can get. There is no guarantee you'll actually graduate from that big name college. Even if you do, you're sure to pay for the name and drag along a debt load when you leave. Unless you are the elite of the elite in your profession, no one cares where you earned your diploma. People only want an effective, trained professional. You can then use your spotless credit to decorate your office or buy equipment for your startup.

Arrange to live at home
While it may feel like it would cramp your style to have to remain at home with your family, you couldn't ask for better, more responsible roommates. No one will steal your groceries. There will be no need to furnish expensive deposits. The rent will be paid and utilities will remain current. If you fall behind in your bills, you're less likely to face an ugly eviction and more likely to have a cushion and support to carry you through.
Sit down with your parents or family members and negotiate a fair plan where you can contribute to the household through a share in expenses or by performing additional chores. Be sure to talk about expectations regarding social issues. Also, discuss your need for quiet time to study without interruption.
If you have never lived on your own, it may seem like an exotic freedom offering no restrictions. Trust me that the real experience can be lonely, frightening, and extremely costly. If you have the option of putting it off for even a year or two longer, take advantage of the chance to save yourself massive amounts of hassle and a good deal of money.

Investigate work study
Universities offer financial aid of their own and one such program involves work with staff and departments of the university itself. This option may not always offer the best wage, but it provides more than just a paycheck. Students who take advantage can form important connections, get unusual access to professors and administrators, and learn things not covered in the classroom or lecture hall. Participants also gain a valuable addition to their resume, one which looks far more prestigious than a pizza delivery job.