Finish College with positive net worth with no scholarships or loans

Since my kids started school this week it got me thinking about my school days and how a good start is very important.   Maybe this can help then again maybe it won’t.

When I graduated College I had $8K in student loans and on the last day of school paid it off.  I'm sure I wasn't the first and I know I won’t be the last to finish school with a 4 year degree from an accredited university debt free and positive money in the bank.

This really is a simple thing to do, but does require hard work and sacrifice.  Here were the facts I did not get a scholarship in fact didn't even apply for one.  Dumb I know.  My family paid for my first year of housing and took out a loan for the first year of school tuition.  

Here are cliff notes:

1. In-state school
2. Flexible job that has tuition reimbursement
3. Live with parents/family
4. Work extra hours over the summer
5. Internships
6. Credit card to pay tuition - don't carry balance just for the points

That's it. Easy right.

Are there smarter ways to do it? Yes. Out of high school I knew I wanted to stay in-state.  I liked the state where I lived and the cost of the schools.  My two choices had very similar programs one being the big school of the state in a college town and the other in the bigger city more of a commuter college.  I picked the school which my parents live and I knew I could get a job. The cities unemployment rate was 2.5% unlike the other school were jobs are very difficult to get being a college town. 

Once I picked my school I started to look for jobs.  What I was looking for was part-time during the school year with tuition reimbursement. This really was easy to do.  Many companies do this and some even in your field of study.   I started the new job when I started college.  Totally not what my major was and was at a furniture and electronic store where I worked in the warehouse.  They paid very well for the job $9-15 per hour plus they had $7,500 a year in tuition reimbursement.  This place happens to be owned by Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway.  Companies like Amazon, AT&T, Starbucks, Chipotle, Home Depot, etc. offer some sort of reimbursement.

Throughout college I work 20-30 hours a week and in the summer worked 40+, plus took summer school.  At the end of my freshmen year I realized I could move back into my parents’ house and pay for school with the income I had from my job plus tuition reimbursement. What I lost in "The college" experience I gain by being debt free when I graduated.  A couple of key things I did which was smart.  My college allowed me to pay my semester bills with a credit card.  As I said before don't carry a balance so I used this method to gain reward points on my card.  Advice: This is great, but I did fail in the card I picked.  I should of done a cash back or travel card. I paid off my one year load the day I graduated.  For those of you going into college or saving for your kids here is how much my college per credit hour changed in 4.5 years $83 per hour to $133 when I graduated (typical semester is 10-12 credits).  Masters was $200+.  You should never pay for your master’s degree there are so many way to get it paid for once you get into the workplace.  

In my senior year I had a very light school schedule and worked an internship with the school giving me two streams of income.  That's it easy.  

If you have debt when you graduate it's on you. Missing out on some party time is a small price to pay to being debt free and is better than a boot to the head.