How I Am about to Graduate from College with ZERO Debt

I only need nine more classes until I earn my Bachelor’s degree.

Unlike many of my friends, include those who have already graduated, I will be receiving my degree with absolutely no debt of any kind. So while others are hunting for a job to pay off the money they owe from school, I’ll be hunting for a job to pay for my first house.

Here’s how I did it:

Note: For those who are wondering, I didn’t take money from the Bank of Mom and Dad to fund my education. I did this all on my own.

I applied for Federal Financial Aid
If you are planning to attend college (both community college and a four year university) and you meet the requirements, it would be in your best interest to apply for Federal Financial Aid. Fifteen minutes spent filling out an application could easily put thousands of dollars at your feet that you DO NOT have to pay back. That’s right, you read it correctly. If you are eligible for Federal Financial Aid, our government is literally PAYING YOU to go to school. The amount that you receive varies depending on your family’s income and financial need, but it most definitely does not hurt to try. Some people are denied free aid due to their household income being too high, but even if you are denied federal student aid, you could still be made eligible for low interest student loans, which would easily best any loan a bank would give you. A decent amount of my education was federally funded.

I applied for California Financial Aid
If you live in California, you could also apply for financial aid from the state of California, more commonly known as Cal Grants. This is more free money that is being thrown at you from the government (i.e. more money that you don’t have to pay back). Unlike the aid at the federal level, you can still receive plenty of money even if you do not meet the income requirements. There are several different types of Cal Grants, each with their own requirements. There’s one based on income eligibility (Cal Grant B), but if you don’t meet that, you still may be eligible for Cal Grant A, which is based on an academic eligibility (your GPA). If you are attending a technical or vocational school, you may be eligible for Cal Grant C. I didn’t meet the income requirements for Cal Grant B, but definitely met the academic requirements for Cal Grant A. Despite only being eligible for one Cal Grant, more of my education was paid for at the state level than at the federal level.

I started my college career at a community college
When I got out of high school, I opted to attend community college for two years before transferring to a four year university to complete my degree. That was quite possibly the smarted choice that I have made my life thus far. My community college only charges $26 per unit (a ‘unit’ is how classes are measured), so in order to be a full time student (12 units), I only had to pay $312 dollars in tuition per semester. Of course, there were a few other administrative fees attached, but in total, I paid less than $2000 in tuition for two full years at a community college. Compare that to the $3,500 that I have to pay per quarter(four times a year) at the university that I am currently attending. And that only covers tuition. There’s still housing costs, general living expenses, transportation costs, books, and a whole slew of other things you have to worry about. If you’re attending a community college, then you’re likely to be living at home with your parents (or whoever you lived with when you were in high school) and half of those costs will already be taken care of.

Now, there’s a stigma attached to going to community college. In some people’s eyes, it’s viewed as a place for those who weren’t smart enough to make it to a four year university in the first place. If you ever meet one of those people, smack them upside the head for me. I left my community college with a 3.81 GPA and currently hold a 3.97 GPA at the place I transferred to (a University of California). Some of the smartest people that I have met were either at the community college I attended or used to attend a community college. In general, I consider the average intelligence as well as drive and passion for success of a community college student to be higher than that of someone who attended a four year university from the get go. The education that you receive from either place will roughly be the same. (Of course, that isn’t always the case, but I am speaking in generalities. This is an argument that should be saved for another time.)

I spent my spare time working
Throughout most of my college career, up until recently, I had a job. I tried to use as much of my free time as possible to work. I worked anywhere from fifteen hours a week to twenty two hours a week. There was one point where I was working two jobs at the same time. When I wasn’t working at my regular job, I was always looking for money someplace else (legally). I did odd jobs, online surveys, and collected recycling. I did whatever I could to get every penny that I could, because I knew that the more money that I earn now, the less I will have to earn in the future to pay off my debts. Any costs that were not covered by financial aid were covered by the money I made working.

I spent my money wisely
I didn’t take all my hard earned money and squander it. Although community college was cheap, I knew that once I transferred, my costs would multiply dramatically. Keeping that in mind, I invested a bit of my money and saved whatever else I could. I avoided eating out as much as I could and I resisted the urge to buy fancy new gadgets. I only bought what I needed and tried to stay within my post-savings budget.

I saved money on books when possible
When it came to books, I staved off the urge to buy new ones (except for my econ books, as I would be keeping those to use as references). Whenever I could, I purchased my books used and I kept them in good condition so that I could resell them. If I wanted to get maximum return value, I could have sold my books to another person, but I was lazy and instead sold them to the bookstore near campus for about 40% of the books original price. In hind sight, that was a bit of a dumb move. Oh well.

In addition to avoiding new books, I also avoided the campus bookstore like the plague. They have a policy to mark up book prices above the retail price by an astronomical amount (around 50%, depending on where you go). Because of that, I bought most of my books online. I can usually find a brand new book online for a lower price than a used book at the bookstore. Also, if I had a friend that was taking a class that I was going to take and I was taking a class that he was going to take, then we would trade and share books.


That basically sums up how I shrunk down a heavy financial burden into nothing. Coming out of college with no debts to worry about is a definite plus. I don't have to worry about finding a job immediately to start paying down loans and I can take the money that I earn and spend it on myself. Maybe I'll buy a house, or a new car, or save for an early retirement. If you or one of your kids is approaching the time to ship out to college and you’re wondering how in the world you’re going to pay for it, then this can serve as a basic outline to build a plan.