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Pursuing higher education gives a career boost and prepares a roadmap for our future learning. However, the expenditure involved in boarding the flight of your dreams is touching new heights each day. The story of online education is not much different. The differentiating factor is a few like transportation cost and hostel fees etc. The rising prices of tuition and other education costs are adding to the stress on students making the need for finance a compulsion. With the leaping education costs in the background, you will jump off your seat if I tell you that there are online colleges that pay you to attend.
Let me walk you through the detailed information about such online colleges that pay you to attend.
Do Online Colleges That Pay You To Attend?
The answer is an emphatic “yes”. Many online colleges and universities have financial aid and scholarship programs designed to offset the entire tuition fees. You are free from the stress of taking big chunks of loans that you keep paying even years after finishing your graduation and the post-graduation courses. Such colleges grant scholarships and aid to pay their students. These tools of financial assistance help in reducing the burden on the students and their parents.
In a way, this can also be interpreted that these online colleges are paying the students to attend college.
How do Online Colleges That Pay You To Attend?
Some universities take partial financial aid responsibility and some take full responsibility to impart free education. We will discuss here the ways in which these online colleges pay you to attend college-
- Corporate Reimbursement Of Tuition Fees:
Many employers permit reimbursement of tuition fees for courses recommended by them. They may be relevant to their roles in the company or it may be envisaged by the company that these courses can upskill their employee to perform better.
These companies may benchmark attaining certain qualifying grades to be eligible for this reimbursement program. An added benefit is that if your employer has enrolled in an education support program under IRS rules, you will not be liable to pay taxes for first income up to $5,250. Though you will be liable to pay taxes on any amount, exceeding $5250.
- Financial Aid From College-
Many colleges have their indigenous financial assistance programs, which may even cover up to 100% of the tuition and other education-related costs. Tuition costs in public colleges are low as compared to some private and liberal arts schools. Resultantly, these big colleges offer generous financial assistance.
To derive this benefit, you must register on the federal government’s free application for federal student (FASA) aid. Only students that fill out the FASA form and register on the portal can be beneficiaries.
- Minorities and Merit-Based Scholarships-
Colleges do not want scholars to be deprived of higher education due to their financial constraints. Therefore, they offer scholarships and grants to students belonging to minorities, athletes, and other such talents with unique skills.
Though such financial aid may be as good as the tuition fee but still can give some respite to the students.
The best way to learn more about the online colleges that pay you to attend is by contacting the high school or university counselor. You may even research on public portals like CareerOneStop, advocated by the US Department of Labour.
Also read about: Best Paying Jobs without a Degree
Online Colleges That Pay You To Attend: A Promising Alternative To On-Campus Colleges
For students who want to upgrade their professional skills by pursuing higher courses but do not have the privilege to study leave or for students who do not want to make a compromise with their side hustle income due to their family responsibilities, on-campus colleges may not be most feasible.
Let us discuss some alternatives to regular on-campus colleges that impart almost free education and offer quality similar to that of on-campus colleges.
The monetary benefit of online programs that pay you to attend colleges depends on your choice of course, then the stream such as science, arts, music, and so on. To gather precise knowledge about such online colleges, you should always explore the college website.
List of 8 Online Colleges That Pay You To Attend Colleges
1) Berea College
Berea College is a private liberal arts college situated in Berea, Kentucky. Established in the year 1865, Berea College has been sponsoring the tuition fees of students for more than 130 years.
Its primary purpose is to provide access to high-quality liberal arts education to students who despite having merit are deprived due to their financial constraints. Earlier, a part of the tuition fee used to be waived. Later in the year 1892, when college authorities realized that many students overworked themselves to arrange for their tuition fee, it was totally waived off.
Berea College on an individual student bears about $44,000 per year with an objective to surpass the financial barriers and impart a better life to students.
2) Barclay College:
Barclay College, situated in Haviland, Kansas Campus is a leading online college that provides annual scholarships to the tune of $2.7million and takes pride in providing more than 100 years of excellence in Christian education.
Works on a mission to provide students with a bible-centric environment for impactful Christian living and guidance.
Barclay College provides undergraduate programs in Youth Ministry, Pastoral Ministry, Worship Arts, Psychology, Sports, etc and graduate programs include a Master’s degree in Transformational leadership.
3) University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge, established in 1754, is the 5th ancient institute of higher education in the United States. This prestigious University ranks in the list of nine pre-independence universities. It also ranks among the top 20 national and international universities.
Spreading knowledge across various academic streams like business, engineering, Computer Science, Humanities, etc to creative streams like arts, film, media, dance, etc.
Scholarships and grants at the University of Columbia are totally need-driven, some are based on your academic performance as well.
4) Athabasca University
Athabasca University is an n Canadian Online University offering excellent online courses that give you a professional flair and learning.
The University is dedicated to making every possible effort to give the financially undernourished students an equal opportunity in gaining a world-class education.
When you apply for financial aid and scholarships, the University checks your eligibility for the same and manages finances effectively to fund your education at Athabasca University.
5) Southern New Hampshire University
Southern New Hampshire University, situated in Manchester is a non-profit university offering valuable courses at very low tuition fees To let their students derive the maximum benefit from their courses and to bridge the gap between scholars and their courses, they have the lowest tuition fees in the nation.
They provide financial aid to students by giving heavy rebates on their tuition fees that is gift aid and provide aid in getting loans and part-time work as a part of their self-help aid.
6) Lipscomb University
Lipscomb University, situated in Nashville offers a world of options to students by providing an average financial aid package worth $24K annually. The University is a premier Christian University providing a variety of scholarships, federal aid, federal work-study, and loans enabling students to optimize their financial avenues.
Lipscomb University is ambitious about its mission that education should not be restricted or deprived due to one’s financial limitations.
7) University of The People
The University of People, situated in Pasadena, California is an online college that pays you to attend classes. It has empowered more than 9000 students belonging to about 194 countries across the globe.
The University takes great honor in its unique value as a non-profit university that provides financial aid for tuition fees making education within reach of many deprived sections.
8) City College Of San Fransisco
Situated in San Francisco, The City College is a two-year-old college renowned for imparting the opportunity to attend free education.
In the City College of San Fransisco, students get benefits of numerous possibilities in addition to free tuition. Some of the popular courses that are students’ favorites are biology, physics, liberal arts, humanities, etc. The successful students are the testimonials to the brilliant teachers and other rich resources the University has.
Also read about: Best Paying Jobs in United States
Online Colleges That Pay You To Attend: Key Takeaways
With the student loan debt topping all charts at $1.5 trillion, pursuing higher education is a luxury more than an educational need. College becomes an expensive affair for students with limited financial resources. Going to a dream college becomes just a dream with education inflation soaring globally. And not getting financial aid through scholarships and grants become a nightmare for financially compromised students. The education cost burdens imply a delay in buying their own house or foregoing their dream to attain greater heights by studying for a post-graduate or a graduate degree.
A large number of Universities like Ashford University, Purdue University, Hampshire University, and a few others listed above offer financial help to boost their career trajectory. In the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, more universities are making transitions from on-campus courses to online courses. This lays off our shoulders to drain our earnings in paying loan instalments even after completing our graduation or post-graduation course. In such a scenario, choosing to pursue courses from online colleges that pay you to attend is a prudent decision.