Partial List Of Career-Focused Colleges

Abraham Lincoln School of Law (Los Angeles, California)
Academy of Art University (San Francisco, California)
Allied College (Maryland Heights, Missouri and Fenton, Missouri)
American InterContinental University (multiple locations.)
American Military University (multiple locations. 100% online)
Anthem College Online (online university)
Argosy University (multiple locations)
The Art Institutes (multiple locations)
Ashmead College (multiple locations)
Banner College (Arlington, Virginia)
The Banner Institute (Chicago)
Blair College (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
Brooks College (multiple locations)
Brooks Institute of Photography (multiple locations)
Brown College (Mendota Heights, Minnesota, not to be confused with Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island)
Brown Mackie College (multiple locations)
Bryman College (multiple locations)
Bryman Institute (multiple locations)
The Bryman School (Phoenix, Arizona and Tempe, Arizona)
Cambridge College (Career-Focused school) (multiple locations)
Capstone Career College (Tacoma, California)
The Chubb Institute (multiple locations)
Collins College (Phoenix, Arizona area)
Colorado Technical University (multiple locations)
Crown College (Tacoma) (Tacoma, California)
Deaconess College of Nursing (St. Louis, Missouri) (Now Chamberlain College of Nursing)
DeVry University (multiple locations)

Free College is Possible if You Think Outside of the Box

I am sure that I have not touched on every way possible to obtain an education for free or at low cost but I hope that the ideas presented here will at least help you to understand that getting a free education is possible. You just need to investigate, ask questions, and apply for every grant and scholarship that comes your way as well as consider working for the college you attend to receive a free education.

After Graduation

The long awaited day finally arrives! You wake up put on your cap and gown and show up at the appointed place surrounded by a mob of family and friends all with ear to ear smiles and loads of balloons, flowers, and other paraphernalia designed to show their support and congratulations for you having made it! Yes Graduation day is here! After the speeches and awarding of degrees and turning of the tassels you have if anything probably been inundated with one thought. The idea that this is by no means the end of you education yet just the beginning of your journey on the road to life long learning.

Does this mean that your pursuit of free college is over? By no means is this true. In many cases colleges and universities have programs especially aimed at alumni to help keep them equipped with the tools they need to remain fully competent in their fields.

Free Education as a Company Benefit When Your Company is a College

As we discussed in the last chapter there are employers that will provide its employees with a certain amount of reimbursement for college tuition. However, a well guarded secret is, many times at a college one of the employee benefits is being able to attend tuition free. This comes in various names such as tuition waiver, employee waiver, tuition reduction and tuition remission. The important thing to ask when considering these benefits in terms of free education is will they allow you to earn a degree while working flexible hours on the job.

There was a time when I did not know about the secret of working at a college to attend it as a student and receive a free education. Let me share with you how I found out about this aspect of free college. I was planning on attending a Career-Focused college and I made the necessary visit to the financial aid office to determine how I would finance my education.

The Financial Aid officer was running down the list of all the different options I was qualified to receive in order to finance my new career in Business Administration. She was friendly, knowledgeable and very talkative, that is until we got to a part in our conversation where I asked her about her being a student.

Reap The Benefits of College Work Study and Student Worker Programs

One of the major ways to cut down the cost of education and receive financial aid while attending college is through the numerous college work-study programs that most if not all institutions offer to qualifying students. Students who meet an accepted level of proficiency usually a grade point average of at least 2.0 or higher and who have an adequate completion rate can take advantage of such programs to assist them in cutting down costs and increasing their financial aid.

These programs are designed to support diligent students who really apply themselves to their education. Many students are not aware of the fact that they can apply to work at their college and receive compensation. Opportunities available include programs where the student’s income comes directly from the school itself or comes from the government and is a part of the student financial aid program. Positions available include but are not limited to, tutoring, assisting in student services, the library, the IT department, the list goes on.

To take advantage of these positions you must first and foremost be an excellent student.
Then you need to approach either the Career Development Center or the Financial Aid Office, since many of the in school work positions are actually funded by government financial aid programs. If you qualify because of GPA and completion rates then you only have to worry about the same things you would be concerned with when trying to get a job elsewhere.

Maintain Your Financial Aid By Being a Dedicated Student

You wake up one morning feeling no desire to get out of bed. Even though you’re not sick and you know that you have class in an hour you still just want to lie there and think it won’t hurt to miss today. While this might be true in a few unusual cases the reality is that missing class can hurt you economically in the long run if you aren’t careful. The fact is that in terms of receiving Financial Aid for education, there are two conditions that must be met and maintained by students if they want to continue receiving such assistance.

One criterion for receiving Financial Aid is a student’s completion rate. Most do not realize how financially devastating it can be to them if they make a habit out of skipping classes. Yes, if you do not complete a certain amount of your class time you will be cut off from and not qualify again for a very long time for federal financial funding.

The government will require you to maintain a 65% completion rate to continue loaning funds to you. Many uninformed students just “blow off” their classes and get a shock later when college officials inform them that they have lost their Federal Aid and now must apply for a private loan in order to continue their studies. This unfortunate situation can last for one or in many cases several semesters. Remember, the completion rate average has to be recalculated and must reach 65% and stay there for you to qualify for government assistance.

Free Education as a Company Benefit

Many companies and corporations today provide benefits to their employees so they can attract, hire and keep the best-qualified people. Benefits such as dental and medical insurance and pension plans do a lot to make working for a company and remaining a long time loyal employee a winning proposition for its workforce.

While providing benefits for the worker many companies are interested in ways to provide both benefit to the employees and to the company its self. One of the many benefits that more and more companies offer today that help their employees and bring benefit to the company as well, are various Tuition Reimbursement and Employee Waiver Programs for employees who are attending college. Receiving a college education certainly is a great “perk” for a worker and a college-educated employee, in most cases, brings greater value to the job.

Company sponsored education programs pay various annual amounts depending on an employee’s time on the job and the relevancy of the program or studies to the employee’s job description. Check with your HR department for details on available tuition reimbursement benefits.

Another benefit to the employee is the tax exemption that they can receive as a student. Check with your HR department and your accountant to learn more about tax benefits.