3 Things I Did to Minimize My Student Debt -- and Pay It Off Quickly
Prior to college, I was a total stranger to debt -- I didn't have a credit card, and if I wanted to buy things, I saved up for them and paid in cash. The idea of debt never sat well with me. When I was applying to schools, I knew that student loans were the healthy kind of debt to have, but I still didn't want to graduate with tons of them. So I made choices that allowed me to finish up a four-year degree with just $12,000 in loans all-in. Here's how I pulled that off.
My top college choice was a private university with a price tag of well over $40,000 a year when you accounted for tuition, fees, and room and board. By contrast, the public, four-year in-state college I wound up attending cost around $12,000 a year. I was disappointed to not attend the more expensive school at first, especially since I didn't just get in, but also received a grant that would've cut my costs substantially. But because I was intent on minimizing my debt, I ultimately opted for the least expensive school I got into that offered a quality education.
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Source Fool.com
