When a person chooses to attend an institution of higher education they are not only choosing to get a degree, but also to incur thousands of dollars of debt to receive that degree.

College and debt go hand in hand because one of the only ways to attend college, which costs an ungodly amount, is to use Federal Loans. Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) are loans granted to any student attending college at the age of 18 and up. These loans are awarded for free, but then are expected to be paid back at some point at least before or after death.

But FAFSA doesn’t have to be the only option, there are plenty of ways to take less loans or go to college for a much lower price. One of the best options is scholarships.

Surprisingly, Colorado Mesa University and Colorado offer a large amount of scholarship opportunities. The ones I will go over today are the College Opportunity Fund (COF), Multiple Veteran Scholarships, Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative (COSI), the Reisher Scholars Program and the General Scholarship Application.

These are only a fraction of the scholarships offered to students, I highly suggest going to MAVzone and searching for financial aid. That page lists all the ways a Maverick can get financial help in attending college, including more scholarships, student employment, loans and grants.

Here is a breakdown of scholarships:

– COF: This is one of two scholarships Colorado offers is a state funding program that applies a portion of taxes back to students by offering a tuition discount. It can be applied to up to 145 credits. If you exceed that, there is a form to appeal for more credit hours.

– COSI: This is the second type of scholarship that Colorado has to offer its residents. It was signed into law on June 7, 2014 to address the “Colorado Paradox.” That means there are a high number of adults with college degrees in Colorado, but they come from out of state. COSI addresses this by giving scholarships to Colorado students who may not otherwise be able to afford college. “In the first five years, COSI has already awarded $47 million of state funds, leveraged $28 million in additional local and private dollars, and has served more than 75,000 students,” states the Colorado Department of Education website.

– Veterans Scholarships: It is well known that potential students will join the military just for financial aid, but veteran scholarships are not just for students who served. There are also certain scholarships that can be offered to children of veterans. There are, of course, scholarships for students who served as well. Check out the Veteran Services page of MAVzone to learn more.

– General Application: This one is open to all CMU students and the easiest to fill out. You can fill this one out by clicking on the Scholarship Application icon found on the home page of MAVzone. This application will automatically apply to all internal and external scholarship applications CMU accepts. There are a lot of scholarships all in-state Colorado residents can accept from major specific to household income. The application will only take ten minutes and will unlock a lot of opportunities! You can also find plenty of other scholarship opportunities on the app.

Grants are similar to scholarships. CMU offers Federal and State grants. Grants are automatically applied for when filling out a FAFSA application. The key to applying for financial aid is timing. It is critical to complete your FAFSA as early as possible after Oct. 1 before the fall semester you will attend. Keep in mind it does take a few weeks to process your financial aid application.

For out of state students, leaving your home state to pursue college is hard but can be cheaper, take it from me. I’m from California and CMU was cheaper to attend than any school in California. A really helpful tip is that I receive the Western Undergraduate Exchange, which is offered to select states on the West Coast for a significant tuition discount. CMU has the lowest standard GPA for out-of-state students in the West. All one needs is to maintain a 2.5 GPA and can be applied to 105 credits.

Also CMU offers merit scholarships for anyone with a 3.0 or above. The higher the GPA, the more money CMU will offer to pay your bill.

Work Study Funding or MAVworks provides students with award money by working a job at an in-state hourly wage. Work Study can be funded federally by awarding hourly wage loans. Then there’s MAVworks, which is funded internally by the school, applications open on Aug. 1 and Jan. 1 every year.  Applying students must meet the following qualifications:

– Completed FAFSA

– Qualifying In-State- ASSET, students may complete the CASFA

– International students who cannot qualify for Federal or State Financial Aid will need proof of eligibility for US employment

– Have a GPA of 3.0 or better

– New students will be evaluated based on High School or Transfer GPA

– Be ineligible to receive a Federal Pell Grant

– Not have been awarded State or Federal Work Study within the same academic year

There are plenty of ways to go to school debt free, so use this knowledge wisely when your next college bill comes around.