It’s not a big secret that a college education can cost you or your children years of debt. But with a little hard work, I do mean actual labor, they may be able to get a free education. More and more universities, and not just the U.S. military academies, are now offering some students everything from free tuition to free room and board.
These are just a few of the deals offered by unique universities:
1. College of the Ozarks – Students pay no tuition in exchange for at least 15 hours a week at a campus work station at this top liberal arts school in the Midwest.
2. Deep Springs College – This two-year, all-male liberal arts college in California offers free tuition, room and board in exchange for at least 20 hours a week of hard work on its ranch.
3. Berea College – This Kentucky college provides a full-tuition scholarship to every student, in exchange for at least 10 hours a week in one of the school’s 130 labor departments.
4. Olin College of Engineering – One of the top undergraduate engineering programs in the country, this school provides every admitted student free tuition for four years.
5. Cooper Union – Located in Manhattan, this school offers degree programs in art, architecture, and engineering, and every admitted student receives four years of free tuition.
Other more specialized schools with similar deals include: Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Alice Lloyd College in Kentucky, the City University of New York’s Teacher Academy, and UC-Irvine School of Law (this year only) in California.
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Wow. I didn’t know that there were any programs like this out there. Thanks for the heads up.
This is a great post. My daughter is 13 and we are just now beginning to look at college costs (wish we would have started investing 13 years ago.) I have a friend who has twins headed for college for the fall and is scrambling like crazy to find scholarships and loans. I am hoping preparation will help us have things in line. Dave Ramsey discusses this a bit–that in order to stay out of debt don’t send your kids to schools you can’t afford. Simple but insightful. When I was in college–St Louis University–there were lots of kids who worked on campus to help pay expenses. This is a great option. Perhaps it will help them value the education more and not party their college money away! Perhaps!
The work at Deep Springs is not in any way to pay for the education. It is another facet of the education. If you want to look at any intention of ‘paying back’ for the free ride, then perhaps you could point toward a ‘life of service’, though this is by no means standardized or manditory.