$14,487. This is Everett Community College's (EvCC) estimated one year cost to full time students.
The $14,487 beaks down to include several different aspects of a fulltime student's life. Living expenses are the biggest at $8,052, tuition is the second biggest expense at $2,472, personal comes in third at $1,941, transportation and books are fifth and sixth at $1,098 and $949 respectively.
The recent down turn in the economy has hit everyone hard. Students who had a hard time in the past are finding it even harder to survive, and are having to come up with creative ways to get the most for their money. They have reached back into their collective minds and come up with a few solutions to problems like the cost of textbooks, housing, health care and other problems that plague the cash strapped full time student.
This guide pools the collective knowledge with tips on how to save money and stay alive in this difficult economic environment.
Books
Textbooks comprise a huge portion of a student's annual budget, $949 worth according to EvCC's estimated budget for a full time student. "The cost of textbooks has been on of the most-griped about aspects of a college education for years," reported the Seattle-PI. As textbook prices rise so do student efforts to find cheap books.
University bookstores have seen a decline in sales as places like Amazon and Half.com provide a generally cheaper source for textbooks. Some websites like Chegg.com have even started renting textbooks to students. Pirated copies of textbooks have also been showing up online.
Some professors have started to use open source textbooks that are available legally online to help lessen the load on students.
The following is a list of websites where you can get cheap books.
Transportation
With rising gas prices the bus has never been more enticing for students. "There are currently approximately 2800 boardings from College Station on an average weekday," said Bob Hunter of Everett Transit. Hunter also said "Everett Transit has seen a 12 percent increase in ridership system wide since this time last year."
Everett Transit has an unlimited ride bus pass for just $18 this pass is also good for face value on Community Transit buses. These passes can be purchased on campus.
EvCC also provides a free bus from Marysville and Camano Island/Stanwood every day. To find out where to board these buses and how often they run go to Everettcc.edu and click on the current students tab.
Financial Aid
The tuition at two-year colleges has risen from $1,300 to $2,017 over the last 10 years according to the national center for education statistics, an increase of almost $700. This is not much to the average person but to the budget strapped college student this is a significant amount. EvCC places the estimated tuition cost at $2,472 per year for full time students.
EvCC provides several different ways to combat rising tuition cost. EvCC awards over 70 privately funded scholarships that rang in size from $200-$2,000. There are also grants and other federal dollars available to students who have low family contributions and great financial need.
EvCC also participates in the federal and state work-study programs. These programs allow students to work part-time while taking six or more credit hours. The wages that the students earn is then subsided by the government in order to help keep student loan debt down.
The student loan is the last section of help that EvCC offers. Students are encouraged to be very careful when applying for student loans to make sure they do not over-reach.
The financial aid office is located in the Parks Student Union Building in room 307.
Discuss your money saving tips and experiences in the comments!
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