Battling Fees - image source iStockphoto.com Copyright: PeskyMonkey

Battling Fees - image source iStockphoto.com Copyright: PeskyMonkey

An ongoing battle for many an aspiring student is the lack of funds, whether it is to pay for fees, maybe text books, housing or even the odd social expense…and of course pizza! Yes the path to the real world though just a few exams away is filled with obstacles that can hamper one’s education. We put together a list of solutions for all those struggling students (young bucks) from around the world to help finance your education.

1. Most young bucks fresh out of High School, tend to rely on their folks or a guardian of some sort to finance their education. Yes they give their parents the pressuring responsibility of university fees and if preschool, primary school and high school weren’t enough then the added bonus of university, technikon or college comes flying up. In best case scenarios parents or guardians do have the affordability to finance this form of education. However it’s still at times a tight financial squeeze.
 
Check out the following:
 
Guardian.co.uk on Parents funding Students.
 
2. Self financing, yes young buck, its time for you to get your hands dirty and start working. “Sleep when you dead”, if you can priorities your life and work to pay for your studies then by all means do so. You hear of people packing boxes at supermarkets or working night shifts at coffee houses in order to make payments for their university studies…it can be done.
 
3. The self financing on steroids option, now young buck time to apply for a learnership or an internship (make sure there is some form of salary attached to it) at a corporate/organization, this is one the best ways to get valuable practical experience in the working world plus the cash to pay for your studies. If you want to be inspired check out Will Smith in the The Pursuit of Happyness (note he worked for free…yip now that’s dedication), YouTube has the trailer!
 
4. The Bank Loan aka the student loan: It’s the way of the world and in more cases or not parents often have to stand surety for their young buck’s student loan, this in the hope that the student will graduate and then take over payments of the loan. It can be an exhausting affair and often student loans do literally follow qualified individuals for a lengthy time frame.
 
Wikipedia has more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_loan
 
5. The bursary, is a cool way to get funding with the chance of a job waiting for the individual once they have successfully completed their studies. Bursaries are hard to come by and with such a huge demand for them they are becoming more of an ambitious dream than an actual possibility. However if you have a solid academic record or in some cases fit into a specific criteria then you actually do have a strong case for a bursary, so there is always a chance you can get lucky.
 
6. The Holy Grail, the scholarship! Its like free money for studying, well kind of, in special circumstances individuals are awarded scholarships for exceptional or specific reasons. It means your studies are fully paid for and there are no repayment obligations. However individuals will have to adhere to keeping their exceptional merits up to scratch because they can lose their scholarship if they drop below par…
 
Speak to your institution's financial aid office and see what bursary and scholarship offerings they have on offer along with schemes that they are aligned with as well.
 
Funding for education as a student can be a stretch, so make sure you can cover all your costs as best you can, don’t be left with a situation that your fees are met but your accommodation is not sorted or in the same case with your text books. It’s a balancing act and at the end of the day most institutions are businesses so they will want their payments like any other business would, so try and keep your fees on some form of direction. Good luck and enjoy the journey of being a young buck battling the never ending challenges of a life as a student!