You, Yes You, Can Go to College for Free

It's been quite a while since I've written here, but I've found some inspiration to write this post since this subject is something I have to explain to people on a regular basis.

So many people are amazed when they hear that my wife and I go to college and don't pay a dime.  So many people claim they either can't afford to go to school, or don't know how or where to start.  For anyone that doesn't know I will state it here....grants and loans are readily available and easy to get, you just have to put in the SMALL amount of effort to get it done.  "Yeah but don't you have to pay that back?" is THE most asked question that comes next.  To explain this you have to understand the types of financial aid available.

Grants are financial aid from the Government that you receive based on your income, and you do NOT have to pay these back.  Depending on your situation, you can attend school using grants alone to pay for tuition and books.  Also available if need be are loans from either the school you choose, or also numerous other financial institutions.  Personally I only went with loans from my school since the interest rates are very reasonable and the entire process is very easy and workable.  You DO have to pay loans back, but not until 6 months after your graduation from school in most cases.  And keep in mind, you are going to school to earn a degree that will help you get a better job/income, so this is an investment to better your situation in the long term.

Now the big question that everyone seemingly wants to know...."Where do I start?"  Many people get this info., and even though they claim they wish they could go to school for free like I do, they STILL never follow up on it.  All that is required is to obviously go to your school of choice and register (this can be done online on the school's site, just follow their instructions,) then go to FAFSA.gov (which is the website for Federal Student Aid) and fill out the info.  THIS is how you get the ball rolling, all the information you fill out determines how much aid you are eligible for.  These 2 simple steps can get you in college, and at no cost.

Keep in mind the information I have provided is for the Federal Student Aid site, but there are tons of ads out there offering loans and grants for college.  Some of these ads could be trying to talk you into high interest loans and taking things in a confusing direction, so be sure and do your research if you are going to look into any other grants and/or loans.  If you are unsure and just want to stick with the actual government grants and loans, stick with FAFSA.gov.  And keep in mind, ALL schools have a counseling office for the express purpose of helping you!  If you are 100% lost on the idea of college, 1 trip to a counselor can answer all your questions and point you in the right direction.

So there you have it, college for free, available to just about anyone that isn't making 6-7 figures, and in the case do you really need financial aid?  I will answer any questions in the comments below if anyone still finds any of this confusing or would like anything clarified.

Business Building, College, Marriage.....Time to Update!

Time to get this blog updates, as it's been neglected for awhile now, just because life has been very busy. As I've posted here before, I'm back in college, while balancing keeping all my online businesses running smoothly while growing at the same time, and I even got a week long marriage and honeymoon in there! The base of making it all happen was the college decision. Basically, I run my websites in hopes of making money....college grants and loans are there for the taking, and that money will help you go to school and get educated in your field (mine being e-commerce of course,) so why the hell would you not take the free money, get the education, and just run full speed from there. You're getting paid to get educated, which only helps you do more and make more down the line. Anyone who says free college money is for losers, must just enjoy making life harder on them self. The extra cash from school has helped greatly while I continue to work towards building my streams of income from online business. School does take up some time that could normally be used working on directory submitting, blogging, etc., but I've also noticed that by not having all that free time, I tend to think up a LOT more ideas about things I need to do or could do. Many times I'll have assignments due, and I'll just brainstorm what I'd do on a blog or something if I had that time free. Then when I do find some free time from school, I get the blog post up, so things have been productive on all fronts. I'm hoping when school is done, I can be more productive and get a lot more things done.

One major change that I haven't been a part of as far as "hands on" goes, but does affect me, and I've enjoyed watching, is the transformation/merger of Cognigen, the company I've been a member of for years, and which the company that brings together all the telecom services I offer, to Commission River. The new management team has come along, and brought a ton of much needed updates and improvements, which has given me a much needed boost to once again dedicate more time to working on selling more telecom services. Cognigen has always been a reliable company that always paid and I never had to question the integrity of the company. It simply had become outdated and behind the times. I think in order to keep selling agents happy, the company has to give us the latest tools, and show them they really want to help them succeed, which is exactly what the new team is doing. Luckily, I had the patience to learn about Cognigen, and was lucky enough to find some people already in Cognigen, who were willing to help and get me going. Once I was in, it was hard to get someone else in the company, and have to explain everything to them, without a whole lot of tools or references from the company. I think Commission River will not only help new agents understand how to get started, but will also deliver everything that veteran agents need to promote the products, and make the sales. I've had my cell phone site now for a few years, but this change in management, and their motivation for the company, has me wanting to work more and expand out with our VOIP services, and eventually our new service, which is credit card ordering and comparison. With all this going on, I'm hoping to get some free time to update this blog more, and keep a record of my progression, as I now have a few streams of income finally coming in, so all the working and waiting is slowly showing some pay off, so with patience and even more hard work, the progression I've made in a few months, will soon start snowballing into something bigger.

Going Back to College to Improve My Online Business...Finally Some Direction in College!

Last week I returned to college (via online courses) for the first time since 2002. I graduated high school in 1999, then took a year off, and started community college in 2000. At the time, I had no clue why I was going other than "college is good," therefore i just went and took basic classes, with 0 actual plan in mind. I surprised myself by getting an A in English 1, (prob the first A I'd gotten in a class since the early 90's) and did pretty average in the other classes like History 1, and a class in Microsoft Excel which I took just because I had a mild knowledge of the program from learning it in high school, so i signed up to take that class online. I took a full 12 hours in the first semester, then dwindled down as time went on, until I took time off again in 2002 due to burnout. I was just going and taking classes, with no degree in mind other than just something general, and I was also involved in the wrestling business at the time as a referee and manager, so weekends had distracted with the travel, doing shows, after parties, etc. My focus was off, and I knew if I kept going, I'd blow more money and get a less than stellar grade in more random classes, nothing really clicked, so i just "took time off" again.

Anyway, looking back to 1999, that was the time i started noticing the idea of "Making Money Online." I've already stated here in past blogs about my experiences with some companies, and I've also talked about my current telecom business, and my various other projects such as making money blogging, etc. I've been fairly successful with these ventures, but after some time, I started thinking about more and more ways to enhance what I already knew and was working with. My fiance began taking classes last summer for the first time, and I'd been helping her learn about all the different financial aid that was out there and ways to obtain it. After seeing how well the financial aid system is set up at our county college, and then stumbling across the E-Commerce certification that the school offers, I finally saw the opportunity to enhance what I was already going with my business online. I could finally take classes that go hand in hand with the things I do daily with my website, blogs, etc. Talk about a difference! 7 years ago I was bored to death with random classes, and now I'm taking Marketing and web page design classes which will enhance, and even teach me totally new things that I can apply, and see results with in my now chosen "Career" of working for myself, on my own time. The schedule for online classes are great, and very laid back, more my style.

For anyone who is working online, or has a certain interest they want to enhance, I'd definitely recommend finding out about financial aid at your closest school. Not only are you enhancing what you're doing or learning something new, but the government will even pay for it as long as your not already banking at a current job. There are even more opportunities out there with loans on top of grants if needed. This was an awesome opportunity for me to jump on in my transitional period of dropping my shitty unreliable day job to totally focusing on my own company, which will now eventually be backed up with a college education. It's an investment I couldn't afford to not take.