8 alternative ways to pay for college

The news on college costs is mighty grim, but there are plenty of creative ways to keep your college dream on track.

Dwindling state and federal aid, lower endowments and drops in fund raising have forced many colleges and universities to raise tuition prices and cut back on financial aid programs.

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What's a cash-strapped student to do?

Get real and then get creative.

First off, face facts -- These are trying times for anyone pursuing higher education.

It's time to pull out all the stops. Be flexible. Be determined. Be willing to give the unusual a try.

Here's a roundup of some offbeat and overlooked strategies for pursuing and paying for a college degree.

1. Accelerate your degree
Accelerated classes cram a semester's worth of material into six- or eight-week sessions. The classes, while intense, can really help to move up your graduation date. You land the degree you want at a much lower price.

Tuition in an accelerated degree program at Albert Magnus College in New Haven, Conn., is about half of the cost of its traditional degree program. And many schools offer bachelor's degree programs in three years instead of four.

For students on the physician track, George Washington University in Washington, D.C., offers a seven-year program integrating a bachelor's degree with a medical degree, saving a full year's costs.

At Seton Hill College in Greensburg, Pa., a student can receive a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in elementary art education for the price of a bachelor's degree.

An accelerated degree program is a great option for a student with a clear career goal. If you're ready to work hard, why not put your college education on the fast track?

2. Be a transfer student
Consider the power of credit transfer.

In many cases, credits earned at a less-expensive college or university can be transferred and applied toward a degree from a pricey, elite school. You could earn a prestigious diploma at a fraction of the price.

So why not attend a community college for a couple of years and then transfer to your dream college? It's not as if the fancy diploma you'll hang on your wall will say "transfer student."

Taking the transfer-student route will save you some serious cash. Every credit earned at a low-cost community college could save you hundreds of dollars in tuition. Also, by bunking at your parent's house, you could knock down your room-and-board charges to zero.

"You get some of your core curriculum out of the way for a cheaper price," says David Cooper, who runs the college-bound Web site Wiredscholar at SallieMae.com.

The first step is learning about articulation agreements at your dream university and nearby two-year colleges.

An articulation agreement specifies which community college course credits will be accepted toward a bachelor's degree at the four-year college or university. It also outlines scholarship requirements and specifies what kind of grades a student must achieve to transfer to the four-year school as a junior.