Keeping the Cost of College Down

Here are some ways to help make college more affordable:

Find out about Pre-Paid Tuition Plans

Find out about Tuition Payment Plans

Serve in AmeriCorps or other National Service Programs

Take Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams in high school

Participate in career-focused educational programs such as "Tech Prep" or "School-to-Career"

Enroll in a 2-year college: then transfer to a 4-year college

Work part-time while in school

Take advantage of Armed Forces educational programs

Serve in AmeriCorps or other National Service Programs

AmeriCorps is a domestic Peace Corps in which thousands of young people are working in community service projects around the country in exchange for a living allowance averaging $7,500 per year; health care; child care when needed; and an education award of $4,725 per year for paying back a student loan or for financing postsecondary education. Under some circumstances a person can serve part time and receive an education award of $2,362 per year.

AmeriCorps projects serve communities throughout the country. All meet at least one of four national priorities: (1) education; (2) public safety; (3) human needs; and (4) the environment. For example, AmeriCorps members teach state-of-the-art computer skills to teenagers, tutor grade-school children in basic reading, or organize innovative after-school programs in some of the education projects clean up urban streams and inland waterways, monitor dangerous trends in air quality, or test-start city-wide recycling programs.

There are many different points in a person's educational career when participating in AmeriCorps is an option: right after high school; during or after college; and during or after graduate school or occupational training. AmeriCorps members are recruited locally and nationally. To find out more about AmeriCorps members are recruited locally and nationally, you can access the National Service Web Site at http://www.cns.gov.

You can also call the AmeriCorps Hotline free of charge at 1-800-94-ACORPS (1-800-942- 2677) or TDD 1-800-833-3722.

Take Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams in high school

Many high schools offer Advanced Placement (AP) courses and exams. AP courses are college-level courses that help students prepare for college-level work. After taking AP courses, students can take AP exams offered in the same subjects as the AP courses. If students score a grade of 3 or higher on an AP exam, they can often receive college credit. Students with high grades on AP exams in many different subjects are sometimes granted a full year of course credit at the colleges where they enroll. The receipt of course credit can result in savings in college costs. These savings can be quite large if it means that a student is able to place into a college as a second-year student; such a student might save the cost of tuition and fees for a whole year of college.

However, not all colleges and universities give college credit for a grade of 3 or higher on an AP exam. Contact your child's high school to find out if AP courses and exams are offered. Write to the admissions office of the colleges that are of interest to your child to find out if they give credit for an AP exam grade of 3 or higher. For more information on AP courses and exams, write or call.

AP SERVICES
P.O. BOX 6671
PRINCETON, NJ 08541-6671
phone: 609.771.7300
(TTY) 609.882.4118
Fax: 609.530.0482
E-Mail: apexams@ets.org 

Participate in career-focused educational programs such as "Tech-Prep" or "School-to- Career"