With the never-ending talk about the rising costs of college tuition, you'd think it was impossible to get a college education without paying, wouldn't you? You'd be wrong. BusinessWeek had an interesting, and sort of inspiring, article last week about colleges and universities that make it possible for you to start your work life debt-free.

In some cases, such as the College of the Ozarks, you have to work for it, literally. That school offers free tuition as long as you are willing to work part time- Hard Work U. is the nickname the school has given itself.

Other schools don't require anything special to go tuition-free, except maybe special students. Most are small schools, and many are for students in certain disciplines, such as engineering, music, etc.

Here's a list of the schools mentioned in the article, with each linked up to the school's Web site:

College of the Ozarks (work study)

The Cooper Union (Art, Architecture and Engineering degrees)

Deep Springs College (Two-year, all-male; students finish college elsewhere)

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering

The Curtis Institute of Music

Berea College (work study)

United States Military Academy at West Point (Requires five years of military service after graduation)

Alice Lloyd College (work study)


City University of New York Teacher Academy (Requires graduates to become math or science teachers in New York City public middle schools or high school)

Webb Institute (Offers one degree: double major in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering)