There is one piece of scholarship strategy that holds unequivocally true: your best chance of winning a scholarship is by applying to local ones.

Because your biggest expense as you pursue you university education is going to be tuition, the college you attend is quite likely the most important factor in determining how much debt you will — or won’t — need to take on. Which choice should you make?

How a quick email to the scholarship office saved me $2,500 in tuition.

Have you internalized the idea that you can’t make good money until you graduate? Change your mindset! Just because you don’t have a degree yet doesn’t mean you can’t find a part-time job that pays well.

The Advanced Placement program is one of the most popular and accessible ways for high school students to get college credit. But you can’t just show up to class, do the homework, and expect to automatically get college credit.

Besides AP and other college-level classes you can take in high school, there are also state-sponsored programs that allow high school students to take actual college classes and “double dip” by getting high school credit for the college classes they take.

College tuition, books, and fees aren’t the only things you have to budget when looking at the big picture of your college expenses. Living expenses add up, too. If you want to graduate without debt, you’ll have to be mindful of your spending habits. New clothes, the latest gadgets, food delivery, restaurants. All of these are cool, convenient — and can quickly empty your wallet.