Anyone who has attended college knows that it is an expensive business. Every year several students graduate with debts that amount to thousands of dollars. The credit crunch has made it even more difficult to bag scholarships or education loans. This situation has given rise to a new concept called peer to peer lending.

Brothers Michael and Matthew Kopko have started GradeFund that is aimed at helping students pay their way through school and college. No, it does not offer scholarships or loans. There are no killer interest rates or pay back deadlines. The only thing you have to do is score good grades.

The concept behind GradeFund is simple. Students can use the gradefund.com website to create a profile like that on Facebook. They can then use templates to send out invitation to their friends and family, asking them to sponsor some money in exchange for good grades. For instance, you can ask you family to sponsor say $10 for an A grade in Biology. Several companies and philanthropists have also come forward to sponsor students who care capable of scoring good grades.

Sponsors do not have to come up with hefty amounts. They can choose to pay as little as $5 for a specific grade. For instance, your sponsor can offer to pay $5 if you get a B+. Sponsors can also choose to donate by subject area. For example, a sponsor can offer to donate money to students who ace certain subjects like chemistry or zoology.  As a matter of fact, GradeFund’s first corporate sponsor is ZooToo.com. They pledged $15 for 100 students who excel in veterinary medicine.

The GradeFund website permits students to upload their transcripts. You will have to enter your classes and corresponding grades. The company then verifies the transcripts and collects money from sponsors. Once you have accumulated $100 in donations, GradeFund will send you a check. You can withdraw amounts less than $100 for a $5 fee. GradeFund also has a facility wherein they send the money directly to your school if your sponsors permit it.

By signing up for GradeFund you also increase your chances of being found and hired by companies on account of your good performance and excellent academic record.

It takes just a few simple steps to get a donation, however small it may be to help pay your college expenses. Simply create an account at GradeFund, invite sponsors, upload your marks transcript and receive funds.

If you are not a student, you can encourage students to excel academically by offering to sponsor them in GradeFund. Every time you sponsor an A grade student through GradeFund, it will donate five cents to the One Laptop per Child mission. That way, you can help educate children all across the world.

As of now, GradeFund has over 15,000 users. The company and the concept behind it have been appreciated by students and sponsors alike. After all, it is a great way to reward students for academic excellence and also to find good students to perform for companies and organizations.

With college fees at an all time high, many students find themselves struggling to pay bills and meet deadlines. Some students take a semester off so that they can work and earn enough money to pay their bills. Many students even find themselves at risk of being cut off from college. The question is how one can save for college? What resources can we make use of?

Tuition, room and board for a 4-year degree course would cost anywhere from $40,000 to $150,000 per student depends on the course. Parents need to save for their children’s college expenses from very early on. Section 529 investment plan is a good choice to start with. Parents can also use Education Savings Accounts to save for college expenses. Contributions to Education Savings Account are not deductible, but amounts deposited in the account grow tax free until distributed.  The beneficiary will not owe tax on the distributions if they are less than a beneficiary’s qualified education expenses at an eligible institution.

If your savings are not enough to cover the college expenses, there are a number of scholarships and grants meant to help eligible students meet their college expenses. So, how do you find the right scholarship for yourself? The best resource is the internet of course. It would be a good idea to check out government sponsored scholarships first. The government allots billions of dollars in scholarship aids each year so, trying for a government scholarship will be worth it. Web sites like students.gov, edu.gov and fafsa.gov will provide you with information on government sponsored college grants and scholarships. You can get an idea of the criteria for student aid and the expenses covered. Students.gov even has a detailed college planning course. FAFSA is the Federal Application for student aid. You can apply for FAFSA midterm. Many students who were previously supported by income from their family find themselves stranded when family members suffer the brunt of the recession and lay-offs. Federal aid is of great advantage for such students whose families cannot contribute as much as they used to.

Collegeboard.com, fastweb.com and scholarships.com are other websites with dedicated resources for those pursuing scholarships. Many of the scholarships on offer have rolling deadlines. You can easily apply for these scholarships online. A point to be noted while searching for scholarships on the internet is that many sites request personal information from you such as age, address, e-mail, phone number and so on. It would be wise to go through the privacy policy of these web sites so that you know who has access to your details. In this way, you can prevent your mailbox from being flooded with spam and junk mail.

Sometimes scholarships and grants are simply not enough to cover tuition costs and other expenses. In that case, students can go in for education loans. There are three categories of education loans:

• Student Loans
• Parent Loans
• Private Student Loans

As in the case of scholarships, government loans are the best option as far as student loans are concerned. These loans can be obtained at a minimal interest rate making it easier for parents and students to pay them back. Moreover, government loans also have a grace period which permits students to get a job before starting repayment. With government loans, you also have the option of “loan forgiveness” wherein your loans are written of in exchange for volunteer work, military service or public service.

Many private banks also offer attractive rates on their loans. This is a fine option for those with good credit. However, you may not be able to enjoy the privilege of grace period.

If you are looking for a good student loan, search the internet for a list of trusted lenders from both the private and government sector. Sites like simpletuition.com and studentloanmonkey.com are valuable resources for those hunting for student loans. You can compare the loans cited in different sites and settle for one that is best for you. Many websites have calculators that you can use to calculate monthly loan payments and so on.

Colleges also go to great lengths to keep students enrolled and prevent them from dropping out due to financial issues. Many schools provide emergency loans and grants to students. If your college has such a provision, be sure to check it out.

If you plan to apply for student loan, do your homework well in advance. Start researching early so that you know what options you have. Banks and educational institutions require a number of supporting documents and letters of recommendation from faculty before they can sanction your loan. You can discuss the requirements and other details with education counselors in your college or university. They should be able to help you choose a good student loan plan. They can also guide you on how to apply for scholarships and whom to approach.

The resources to help meet your college expenses are all out there. You just need to know where to start. With the right approach, you will be able to secure a grant or loan to help you pay those mounting bills.

Related Link: Saving For College