Photographed by Christy Kurtz. While going to college can be the most exciting time in a young adult's life, the insurmountable amount of debt that piles up is a far cry from a frat party — welcome to the real world, kids. And, these days, college has become so expensive that even parents can't — or won't — pick up the entire tab. In fact, according to Fast Company, more than 70% of college graduates in 2012 left with an average debt of $30,000 because financial aid just wasn't enough.
With this in mind, Wesleyan University grad Cabell Maddux (along with two buddies) created a support system called Scholarships Expanding Education (SEE), which uses the crowdfunding approach to help students pay for college. While there are a few other similar sites already in existence, with GiveandSee.org anyone can launch a scholarship fund for a student in need. So, for example, Grandma and Gramps can set up an account in your honor for a birthday present so you don't have to campaign yourself like you're running for class president.
While Maddux realizes that some schools might not be too keen on donations from SEE (as to not compete with their own programs), the budding entrepreneur told Fast Company, "We want to build and provide another access point to financial aid. We want to make this simple for the schools as well.” We think we're going to start a fund for our unborn children now. Who knows how expensive college will be by the time they're all grown up. (Fast Company)