Teaching Resources · Paying for College
Paying for College — Lesson Plans, Worksheets & Teaching Activities
Everything Money Instructor has for teaching students how college actually gets paid for — financial aid and loans, the real cost of a year on campus, and how to build a college budget that survives contact with reality.
Teaching students how college gets paid for
Paying for college is the largest financial decision most students will have made by the time they turn twenty — and it is usually made with very little practice. These lessons and worksheets give students that practice: comparing loan types before signing, seeing what interest does to a balance over ten years, and building a budget for a year on campus.
The classroom materials below are lesson plans and printable worksheets for teachers. Underneath them you will find plain-English background reading you can assign to students, or point families to.
Lessons & worksheets for the classroom
Ready-to-teach material — each includes a lesson plan and a printable student worksheet.
Careers & Paying for Education Unit
A complete 5-day classroom unit: what careers require, getting hired, comparing job offers on total compensation, reading an award letter, and working out what your own path costs — and the gap you still have to cover.
Student Loans 101: The Basics
What a student loan actually is, how interest accrues while you study, and the difference between federal and private borrowing — before students sign anything.
College Budget Worksheet
Plan a year of college expenses — tuition, housing, food, books, and the costs students forget — then check the total against what is actually coming in.
College Budgeting Generator
Generate a fresh college budgeting worksheet with new figures every time, with an answer key — so every student gets a different sheet.
Background reading for students and families
Plain-English explainers — useful as pre-reading before a lesson, or to send home.
- Paying for College: FAFSA, Grants, Scholarships, and Loans
- 529 College Savings Plans Explained
- Federal vs Private Student Loans: What’s the Difference?
- Student Loan Refinancing vs. Consolidation
- Avoiding Credit Card Debt in College
- Tax Filing for College Students
- Renter’s Insurance for College Students
- How to Save Money on College Textbooks
Related teaching topics
College costs sit inside the bigger picture of borrowing and budgeting.
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