4 Affordable Ways to Continue Your Education (Without Going Back to School)

What do you think costs $34,740 in the USA? No, it isn’t a shiny new sedan. Although it might be hard to believe, that is how much tuition and fees costs for college students right now. That’s a lot, right? Maybe it’s so much that it’s put you off achieving your dream of continuing your education and working towards a better career, but it shouldn’t.

You see, although that is the average cost of education at a private college in this country, there are ways of continuing your education for less. If you opt not to go back to school, you can boost your qualifications for far less, here’s how:

Study Online

Okay, so if you do a rn to bsn online degree or get your MBA via a distanced course, you will still technically be enrolling in college (in most cases at least), but you won’t actually have to go to school because your course will be completed in your own time from the comfort of your own home. With the availability of live recorded video experiences, online learning platforms simulate in-person classrooms, fostering engagement, collaboration, and flexible self-paced review, thus enhancing comprehension and retention. By continuing your education in this way, you could save $12,000+ and you’ll still get the same cache you would completing a course on the same campus. It’s a pretty sweet way to continue your education when you’re on a budget. No matter what you want to study, there’s likely to be an online course out there that you can engage with – whether you want to study finance online, taking a nursing degree, study English literature, or anything else!

Take an Apprenticeship

If you’re looking to continue your education in a more practical direction, doing an apprenticeship, or job-based learning, as it is sometimes known, is a very viable option. You’ll gain a nationally recognized industry-based certification while earning $15+ per hour. Since you will be learning real skills in the real workplace, you may even find that it works out better for you than doing a traditional degree at college, and since you can find apprenticeships in sectors as diverse as healthcare and finance, it should not be too difficult for you to find something that allows you to work towards your dream career. Best of all, it won’t cost you anything!

Take a Nanodegree

Massive Open Online Course providers such as Udacity now offer nanodegrees which enable individuals who want to learn new skills and advance their career opportunities to learn professional subjects to a high standard for a fraction of the cost that going back to school would set them back. For instance, you can take a nanodegree in Artificial Intelligence for just $600 (at the time of writing this) and a nanodegree in digital marketing for just over $1000. Both of these courses are fully accredited and could help you to secure a career with a major corporation, and they cost tens of thousands of dollars less than the average college degree!

Become Your Own Teacher

Of course, if you don’t require formal qualifications and you’re just looking to learn for the sake of learning, it has never been easier to continue your education for free/very little. There are several free online education resources that you can leverage to boost your skills. Sites like the Khan Academy, Lynda.com, MIT OpenCourseware and others will all enable you to learn whatever it is you want to learn to a high degree, and all without the high cost of college education. It doesn’t get better than that!

Become a Caregiver

Life as a caregiver isn’t for everybody. But if your dream career involves helping others, then it may be for you. There are several routes to make that happen with or without a college degree or any prior training in the industry. Companies like Caregiverlist make it easy for caregivers to get trained, get their certifications and find jobs so you can get started right away.

College may be expensive, but your education doesn’t have to be. So, take advantage of the wonderful opportunities afforded to you and become the best you can be.