**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

A guest post by Brooke Chaplan

A college degree is becoming more and more important in order to succeed in society and to get a good career. The biggest problem with college is that it often puts many students in massive debt immediately after graduation. Luckily, it is entirely possible to get an education without getting a ton of student loans. These are the four best tricks to get a college degree without going into debt.

Rent Textbooks
Most people forget to factor expensive textbooks into their college budget, which can cause you to spend a lot more money each semester than originally planned. As the price of textbooks continues to rise, there are now several places you can rent your required reading material for a fraction of the cost to purchase new.

Live at Home
Living on your own may be a major part of the college experience, but it can be extremely costly. Going to a local college like UC Clermont College or an online college while living at home may not seem ideal, but it will actually save your thousands of dollars in the long run. All of the money going toward dorm room rent, food, and other miscellaneous expenses can all be used towards your tuition instead.

Get Scholarships and Grants
The great thing about scholarships and grants is they are literally free money. Unlike student loans, you will never have to pay back the money you receive in scholarships and grants. There are thousands of different places you get scholarships and grants from, so you will have to do some extensive research. Most scholarships and grants require you fit a certain criteria in order to be eligible. Applying as much as possible is a great way to drastically reduce your college debt burden.

Take College Courses in High School
Taking the time to plan ahead can go a long way to help you save money on college. Every high school offers college credit courses for their more gifted students. Taking these classes in high school will allow you to start earning college credits without having to pay the high tuition costs. If you do well enough in high school, then it is entirely possible that you can enter your first year of college having already earned a semester of credits.

Nobody should have to go into crippling debt just to get a better education. If you save your money and follow these five tips, then you should have no problem graduating debt free.

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Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most her time hiking, biking and gardening. For more information contact Brooke via Twitter @BrookeChaplan.