萨尔曼·可汗的故事：支付大学学费

so when I was in high school back in the 90s even then college was at least from my point of view very very expensive and now it's only gotten more expensive and I remember thinking you know there's no way I'm gonna be able to go to one of the you know a school that could you know at that time cost ten or fifteen thousand dollars a year now those same schools cost thirty or forty thousand dollars a year at least that's the stated a price for tuition you know my mom was a single mom she'd kind of you know sometimes worked as a manager at a convenience store and she did a bunch of series of jobs to kind of make ends meet we were on depending on the year free or reduced lunch and and so I just imagined look I my only option is you know either go to a local school or get a full ride scholarship if I can but then my sister opened my mind she was three years older she applied to Brown University which at that time the tuition the stated tuition was I think already in the high teens thousands if not $20,000 a year and when she applied she then applied for financial aid and I didn't even know this thing called financial aid existed and so she got she got some federal grant money she got some federal subsidized loans Brown gave her some grant gave her some loans then there was some small parent contribution and she also had to do work-study but they made a package for her so that she was able to go now it wasn't easy she had to she had to do some work study my mom didn't have to do some contribution she did have to take on some debt but she was able to go so that completely opened up my mind so when I applied to college I didn't let that be a constraint on me I said let me just figure out where I really want to go to college because I knew this financial aid thing existed and what a lot of people don't realize is some of the most selective colleges that have at least you know the stated tuition is high actually have some of the best financial aid programs they're very very generous with their financial aid and so I applied and I got into MIT and then I I did the financial aid process and it was incredibly good I thought it made it very you know I I but I left MIT with about I think I'll be over about thirty thousand dollars in loans I had to do some work study but overall it made it affordable they're very doable and for me that thirty thousand dollars in loans you know I couldn't imagine a better investment in in my future so you know I would say you have to be careful you don't wanna get too far in debt you definitely want to weigh what you're gonna take on in terms of debt and aid versus what you might be able to make and career are possibilities but you know I think it was a very powerful thing for me to see my sister and and what opportunities are available that aren't always obvious