Talk to the financial aid office if you are struggling to pay college costs

The median weekly earnings for an employee with a bachelor’s degree is $1,173, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, compared to $774 for someone who has some college education, but no degree.

“In this day and age of automated employment applications, often prospective employers are inundated with resumes,” he said. “In that situation, let’s say an employer has four job openings and they receive 4,000 applications. Often times the first cut is, let’s eliminate someone that doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree.”

Graves considers herself fortunate. Just before the final year of her program, she received four scholarships through her college’s foundation that allowed her to complete her degree.

Where to Find Financial Help

There are several financial aid options to investigate if you are faced with dropping classes or, worse, dropping out entirely. Here’s what our experts recommended:

Always fill out the FAFSA

Even if you think you won’t qualify or if you think you won’t need it, always fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) from the US Department of Education. Forgoing those forms, he said, can send a message to your school’s financial aid office that you have the college savings you need, making any type of financial help next to impossible.

“There’s an inherent belief that if you don’t fill out the financial aid forms,” he said, “[you] don’t have financial need.” Gift aid with the FAFSA is free money for college expenses, students should max out their federal aid each year. Read more