Publisher's Synopsis
This essay sheds light on how to attain a college or university education without paying tuition costs and also elucidates why higher education does not warrant the opportunity cost. In spite of its lofty price tag, there are a multitude of ways in which an autodidact can attain a college or university education cost free without succumbing to accruing student debt. Prospective college students can apply for grants and scholarships and can subsequently accumulate enough scholarships to completely cover tuition costs. As part of the eminently time consuming and stressful college scholarship application process, prospective college students may be required to incessantly write essays. However, in spite of the lengthy scholarship application process, the upfront costs of depleting your sacrosanct time to obtain enough scholarships to completely cover tuition costs can be far less chronically stressful in the long haul than amassing a seemingly insurmountable level of student debt. Another option prospective college students can exhaust to attain a cost free post secondary education entails working for the college. "Schools charge students tuition, but their employees often can get a free education. Schools typically provide benefits for full-time workers and sometimes may require a certain level of experience" (Robson, 2018). Capitalizing on availing yourself of free post secondary educational opportunities offered by your higher education employee is something that should not be overlooked if you are adamant about obtaining a cost free post secondary education. A third option prospective college students can leverage entails applying for tuition waivers. Tuition waivers are a type of financial award in which the university waives its right to charge tuition costs to you. "Some students can get a free pass based on academic performance or other factors. Even families that have substantial income can get tuition waivers if the student has the right test scores" (Robson, 2018). Whether or not a tuition waiver is granted may be predicated upon the merits of the tuition waiver application and the student's academic achievements. A fourth option prospective college students can take advantage of for the prospect of enrolling in college courses cost free encompasses attaining an apprenticeship. By committing to an apprenticeship, "the sponsoring employer pays for college or technical training and provides a salary" (Robson, 2018). An apprenticeship program can take at least 1-6 years to complete and can easily mandate a bare minimum of 2,000 hours of field work per year (Robson, 2018). However, it can be a viable option to exhaust for the prospect of enrolling in college courses cost free since there are apprenticeships in over 1000 occupations to select from. A fifth option prospective college students can avail themselves of entails seeking tuition reimbursement from their employers. "Often given in the form of an employee reimbursement, there are plenty of employers that can help curb the cost of higher education" (Robson, 2018). This option can at the very least defray the costs of post secondary education if your employer is not generous enough to cover the full tuition costs. Furthermore, it will also allow you to accumulate paid work experience years ahead of your fellow college students. Education is more accessible than ever before and universities are no longer the gatekeepers of knowledge since the ubiquity of the internet has revolutionized accessibility to research-based educational knowledge. The unprecedented level of free accessibility to research-based educational knowledge and ample ways in which prospective students can attain a university education cost free has rendered tuition costs an unnecessary and unwarranted expense. Moreover, a university program does not even warrant the exorbitant opportunity cost to earn a degree even if it can bare no tuition costs on the student's end.
