There are major expenses in every person’s life: cars, houses, marriages, children, medical bills, and many others. One of (if not the) most expensive item on that list is attending college. Many colleges charge tens of thousands of dollars for each semester of attendance, making it very difficult for many people to attend those universities. Whether you have to pay $4,000 or $40,000 per year, you’re going to need to come up with some sort of plan of how you’re going to pay for it. There are countless ways to come up with the money to pay your tuition bills; the ones below are just to get you started.

When thinking about how to pay for college, your first thought will probably be loans. Student loans get a great many people through college every year; they also cause a lot of headaches for recent graduates when they have to start paying them off. But no matter what your financial situation is, it’s likely that you’ll be looking at getting some pretty serious loans to help pay your tuition, housing, and grocery bills. Fortunately, getting a student loan is a fairly easy process. You can apply for a federal loan (which is usually a much better deal than a private one) by going to FAFSA and filling out some forms. Depending on your family’s financial situation, you may qualify for a subsidized loan, which means that you don’t have to pay any interest on the loan until you’ve graduated–this can save you a large amount of money, especially if you’re in a program that will take more than four years. All students qualify for unsubsidized loans, so if you don’t qualify for a subsidized one, you’ll still be able to get some money. You can also speak with financial aid counselors at your college; they have a great deal of experience in dealing with lenders and loans and can often provide some valuable advice.

After loans, scholarships should be next on your list. Even though you can’t rely on scholarships to pay your entire tuition bill, they can take a hefty chunk out of it. Although it helps to have had an outstanding academic career, this certainly isn’t a requirement for receiving a scholarship. Many scholarships are given on the basis of ethnic group, intended career path, or some sort of competition. Speak with your high school and your college about scholarship opportunities. Your employer is another possible resource in the hunt for scholarships. Once you’ve exhausted your local options, head online and start searching; sites like College Scholarships.org, CollegeBoard, and FastWeb can be very useful in helping you find scholarships that you qualify and can apply for. There are thousands of opportunities out there, so using a search service can be very useful in narrowing them down to ones that you think you have a chance at. The vast majority of scholarships require some sort of essay, so once you’ve gotten a list of opportunities together, start writing!

Once you’ve applied for as many scholarships as possible and gotten information on loans, take a look at your budget. Will all of your expenses be covered? If not, it’s time for every college student’s bane . . . looking for job!

It’s two o’clock in the morning. You’re half-done writing your paper. You’ve completely run out of ideas. It’s going to be a long night. And you’re starving.

If you haven’t found yourself in this situation yet, you probably will in the near future. And while I can’t turn back the clock, write your paper for you, or give you ideas to write about, I can certainly help you out with the last part. While you may be tempted to go to the nearest vending machine and get a candy bar or break into your last packet of ramen noodles, making a healthier choice will be much more beneficial; it’ll keep your energy up without making you crash really hard right before you write your conclusion (and the sun comes up).

One of the most under-utilized health dorm snacks is trail mix. You can buy bags of pre-mixed mix, or make trail mix yourself, which will give you a healthier (and more customized) result. Unsalted peanuts, M&Ms, raisins, dried cranberries, pretzels, pieces of cereal . . . you really can put in whatever you’d like. Just try to balance really sugary items with healthier ones that contain fiber, like the peanuts. Trail mix can be very calorie-dense, but it’s also very filling, so grab a handful and keep writing!

Although they’re probably not your snack of choice, it’s hard to deny that vegetables are very effective in curbing midnight hunter cravings. Because of their high water and fiber content, vegetables make great healthy dorm snacks. If you have a refrigerator in your dorm, throw a bag or baby carrots or grape tomatoes in a plastic bag and snag a few when your stomach starts rumbling. They’ll keep you satisfied until you finish your paper and go out for a celebratory pizza.

Fruit is just as effective as vegetables are—when you need a quick pick-me-up, grab an apple or a banana instead of something with a lot of refined sugar. The natural sugars will give you a little energy boost without the extra calories and preservatives that you’ll find in more processed alternatives.

If you were to poll every college graduate and ask them what they couldn’t have lived without in their dorm, I would be willing to bet that one of the top answers would be peanut butter. On bread, a tortilla, a piece of fruit, or straight from the jar, peanut butter is a wonderful healthy dorm snack. It’s a little high in fat, but as long as you moderate your intake, you won’t have anything to worry about. Like the above items, it’s filling and provides you with a few essential nutrients. The biggest benefit of peanut butter is the protein that it contains; this will fill your stomach and help keep your energy up. You can put peanut butter on just about anything. If it’s edible (and in many cases, even if not), trust me, peanut butter has been put on it.

This is just a small list—healthy dorm snacks can be found all over the place. You’ll quickly figure out which snacks keep you in the energy boost-crash cycle; avoid these and go for healthier options.

Curricula vary widely between different academic programs in college; English majors will take a lot of English classes, while computer science majors will take computer science courses (obviously). However, there are some classes that all students, regardless of their major or intended career field, benefit from taking. Even if you have little interest in some of the following subjects, consider taking them; you’ll appreciate the fact that you did.

Business

An introductory business course is one of the classes that every college student should take, regardless of their major. These classes teach essential concepts like supply and demand, cost-benefit analysis, and basic accounting. All of these skills are important in the professional world, no matter what position you hold within a company. Because we live in a business-driven economy, understanding the basic workings of business and business relations is very beneficial. You may also find that you can use many of the lessons that you learn in your personal financial life.

Statistics

Statistics are an important part of both academia and the professional world. Learning to understand the concepts behind statistical analysis will help you develop effective academic work; being able to prove that you’ve done extensive statistical analysis will give your work a significant amount of credibility. Some fields, like computer science, sports science, chemistry, and biology involve a large amount of research, making this information requisite; however, a student in any field can benefit from learning to think in a statistical manner. This becomes even more true in the professional world, where it is likely that you will be asked to develop reports about various things; by using proper statistics, you can be sure that your work is as effective and persuasive as possible.

Physical Education

The United States is quickly becoming extremely unhealthy. For this reason, it’s important that every student take steps to help ensure their own health.  Physical education courses are included in those classes that every college student should take. Low-level and introductory courses such as nutrition, exercise science, public health, anatomy, and stress management can prove to be very beneficial and will aid you throughout the rest of your life. Because of the large number of health-related courses available, it should be easy to find one that appeals to you and provides useful information.

Humanities

It’s very likely that you’ll be required to take at least a couple humanities courses to complete your degree, especially if you’re at a liberal arts school. If you aren’t, you should definitely go beyond your requirements and take at least a couple humanities classes, like literature, history, or philosophy. All of these courses can be very rewarding and greatly contribute to your overall ”culturedness”. You may be surprised how often the information that you use in these classes becomes useful, even if you’re in an unrelated field. More than any of the others, these classes are ones in which you can find something that really interests you and spend time learning more about it. Find one that appeals to you and have fun with it!