BOOK: Debt-free U: How I paid for an outstanding college education without loans, scholarships, or mooching off my parents

AUTHOR: Zac Bissonnette

SUMMARY

The thrust of this book is self-funded college education. Zac Bissonnette gives advice on how to get a tertiary education without plunging into debt. He dismisses the necessity of student loans or other loans to finance tertiary education. He even discounts the benefit of scholarships, saying they are overrated. He argues that only a few students will qualify for them and hence, they are not a certainty, so one should not depend solely on them.

Bissonette warns against getting too caught in the hype of Ivy League schools and other private universities referred to as “good schools”. It is not the school one attends which will determine success, he says, it’s making the most of the college experience. With that in mind, he says people can save a wad of money by choosing colleges based on the affordability of their offerings rather than their rankings, which he describes as mere propaganda that benefits only college officials.

Secondly, the writer advises, one should seek other ways of earning income before and while attending college. Bissonette, for example, started working online while in high school and when he went to college, he expanded this and was able to support himself. He also saved and invested his money, making use of “any and all opportunities”. Today, he is a known financial writer. As a matter of fact, he wrote this book in his final year at college.

One is also made aware of some of the most common traps into which college-aged students and their parents fall and how to use the advice of guidance counsellors, college admissions officers and other officials who one might think genuinely care about them (some do) but are merely doing their jobs.

WHY IS IT WORTH READING?

This book provides useful information for any person thinking about going to college, and their parents. Even those already enrolled can learn a thing or two from Bissonnette. Everything might not be applicable to everyone, but it promotes responsible attitudes, not only financially, but also on the educational front. It teaches financial independence, independent thought, and causes readers to take a step back and practically consider not only the hype of attending a so-called brand name university, but the purpose of college and how to set themselves up for a debt-free post-graduate life.

— Aldane Walters