Help Your Kids Avoid Student Loan Debt

Student Loan debt equals $1 trillion in America - and growing. One of the things I regret is not researching all of my options prior to just jumping up and going to an extremely expensive college that I'm still paying for over a decade later - but that's another post all together .

So I've listed a few things to consider to help your kids avoid a 5-digit student loan debt when they graduate college:

1. Consider community college for 2 years and an in-state university for the remaining 2 years.
2. Scholarships - Apply! Apply! Apply! (did I say that enough?) Research programs that your child can get in to now to increase the chances of a grant/scholarship.
3. Discuss obtaining and maintaining a job. Believe it or not this gets much resistance. However, there are work-study programs at the school or part time jobs that have been negotiated by the school that will allow your child to meet their school demands. And let's face it; tuition and fees are not getting any cheaper the last time I checked.
4. Consider a free tuition college! Do I WISH I would have known about this when I went to school! I've left a link for you guys to research on your own; most charge room and board but nothing beats free!

Hope this helps! Feel free to add any tips you have on how to avoid the 'student loan debt trap'.