January 28, 2022 marked my one year anniversary of paying off my student loans . Reflecting back on choosing to pay off my student loans leaves me with several take a ways that I want to share with you! In September 2020 I decided to become debt free by utilizing the debt snowball method to pay off all my debt. Before this I had struggled to save and really understand basic financial principles. As a first-generation college student, I received a scholarship to attend undergrad for free, but the scholarship did not cover summers. During the summers I took out student loans to cover costs without paying interest rates or how much I was taking out. By the end of undergrad I had amassed a little under $17K. Fast forward to graduate school I received another scholarship that covered my education. At the time I was a teacher in a new very expensive city and I had missed the cutoff to have my paycheck last me throughout the summer. So, I decided to take out a loan for two summers to keep
Happy New Year ya’ll! Spring semester is here and as I
was going over my course schedule and deciding whether to drop a course, I
noticed that my tuition fees had drastically increased. I typically take two
courses since this is what my stipend covers but previously I decided to add a
third one. After thinking that this may not be a good idea due to my busy
schedule I decided to drop the course but not before I realized that my fees
had gone up by over $2K! I do remember there being some talk about the increase
of fees and there being an open forum regarding this but I was not expecting the
increase to be so expensive!
Figure
1: This is a thumbnail from my latest YouTube video on “Did My Tuition Fees
Increase?” where I am looking at the camera with a confused look. I am wearing
a gray and black dress and my hair is short, black, and curly.
In case you did not know tuition fees include things
like the gym, health services, the counseling center, and other services on
campus that serve students. You are always encouraged to use these services
since you have already paid for them through your tuition fees. Since being
enrolled at my latest university, I have noticed that the fees are through the
roof compared to my last school. The fees are actually more than my tuition!
Once I dropped my third class, my fees were back at $1,667.57, which is what I
have paid since the beginning of my program.
Figure 2: This is a photo of a graduation hat with money underneath.
I just assumed that tuition fees were one flat rate
but apparently they are not. It seems as if the more courses that you add the
more your fees increase, which is something to be aware of. I do not work in
this part of the university and need to do some research here. This may be
helpful for someone who is debating on taking that extra course and does not
have the funds to make this happen. Most importantly, please pay
attention to your student account and what you are being charged. This is very
important to ensure that you are getting exactly what you paid for.
Figure
3: This is a photo of someone checking their accounts illustrated by a woman with red nails holding her phone in front of her laptop while seated at a desk.
Oh and in case you were wondering no you cannot opt
out of these. During COVID, some universities did refund these fees however,
with courses being back in person this option is no longer viable. What are
your thoughts on tuition fees? Have you checked these out lately to see how
much you are paying? Drop down in the comments and let me know! Be sure to
check out my latest video on the subject here.
If you need assistance with information regarding how to get your tuition fees
paid be sure to check out my free PDF on College
Funds with several helpful tips on how you can get free money for college.
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