Get other people to pay for your university tuition

School for free? Sign me up.

That’s what I thought when I first heard about students in Toronto using crowdfunding to pay for their post-secondary education. There was a moment of sadness when I realized it’s too late for me, but then I remembered that I could share this information with you guys.

‘Cause when I was in high school, if I’d have heard that there was a way to have one’s university education funded by complete strangers, I would have been all over that.

We’re not talking student loans, or any loans. We’re talking free money. Sorta.

It’s called Crowdfunding. And it’s a beautiful thing.

You may have seen some Indigogo campaigns floating around lately—PEI funny guy Patrick Ledwell used the platform to help fund his book, I Am An Islander. Kickstarter is another big name in the crowdfunding space that you may have heard of.

At its very most basic description, crowdfunding allows the average joe (or jane) to tap into a social network begging for money to help reach a financial goal.

Crowdfunding is changing the world of self-employment. It’s huge for start-up businesses and child entrepreneurs. That’s obvious. But high school students are also getting wise to the fact that crowdfunding is a viable way to get cash for school.

And yes. There is a catch.

You need to be able to offer something in return.

For example, in the case of Patrick and his book financing pursuit, in exchange for contributing $30 towards his goal, he gave away a copy of his book. 51 people took that deal. He had various other packages leading up to the largest one which is a “Point Me Where to Go” package which included credit in the book, a live comedy performance, and four signed copies of his book. He earned almost $1,000 more than his goal. Smart dude, that Patrick.

So how would you use crowdfunding to pay for your university education?

No. You tell us.

Use your imagination! If you do something like this, whether for your education or a business start-up, please come back and let us know about it.

Would you be interested in reading more information like this, about obtaining funding for a small business, on N3XT?