Black and Educated📚

Listen, one thing I'm gonna do is get a free degree, because why not? Here are some helpful tips that you can use if you are trying to go back to school, but do not want to take out a bunch of student loans. Some background information about myself: I have a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Education and I am working towards an Associates Degree in software development.

1. If you want to become a teacher - If not, disregard this step.

Apply for the SC teacher loan and forgiveness program. At first, you will have to teach for a certain amount of years and then your loans will be forgiven. In college, I took out a loan and I have only been teaching for 2 years and it has already been forgiven. If you do not live in SC, see if you state offers teacher forgiveness loans.

2.Military Benefits (If your parents served )

If you are a military child you may qualify for education benefits because your parents served in the military. The VA offers two benefits that you can qualify for, they are called Chapter 33 and Chapter 35 benefits.

Chapter 33 benefits is also known as the G.I bill. This bill is awarded to your parents to help them pay for school, if they decide to enroll in college. However, the benefits can be transferred to a dependent if they decide not to further their education. In my case, my father transferred half of his benefits to me and the other half to my brother.

The other benefit is called Chapter 35, to qualify for this benefit your parents must have retired with 100% disability. This is how I paid for my masters degree. This benefit last for 45 months, as long as you are a full time student. With this benefit, you are awarded with 1400 dollars a month, that you can put towards tuition or housing costs. Below, I provided the link to help you see if you can qualify.

https://www.va.gov/education/about-gi-bill-benefits/post-9-11/

3.FREE TUITION

Many Technical colleges are offering free tuition for Spring, Summer and Fall semesters. Meaning that you could receive an associates degree for free! Why not jump on this? I would definitely recommend someone to take advantage of this, just in case you possibly want to make a career change later in the future. All you have to do is apply! I took advantage of this opportunity and I will graduate in December with my degree in Programming and Software Development. Why would I switch from teaching to Tech? .....Because that is where the money is.