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Unlike most students, paying for college without colossal debt was no problem for Zac Bissonnette, author of the new book Debt-Free U: How I Paid for an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching Off My Parents. His main problem? Being too good-looking.
"The publisher said, 'The problem with this book is that it doesn't say anywhere in the title that you wrote it. It looks like it's just some model on the cover,'" Bissonnette said. "And I don't know how to say this without sounding like a douche bag, but the art director was like, 'If you were ugly, you wouldn't need that subtitle.'" (More on this quandary later.)
Bissonnette, 21, is a senior at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst majoring in art history. Now, you may be thinking, "What could he possibly know about money? He looks like the newest cast member on Gossip Girl or something. I want to hear this advice from Suze Orman, please. Suze?" But in actuality, Debt-Free U serves as an incredibly handy guide in navigating the tumultuous seas of college and is indeed bursting with advice on how to get through college debt-free.
Other gems include not relying heavily on financial aid or scholarships, not going to a private college, how bonkers college rankings are. Not to mention the two -- count 'em, two -- references to the Bennifer mega-flop Gigli.
Bissonnette's conversational tone makes the book very accessible and even, dare I say, fun, so much so that it's easy to forget how much research was actually put into it. The subtitle (How I Paid for an Outstanding College Education Without Loans, Scholarships, or Mooching Off My Parents) doesn't help either. As it was pointed out earlier, it's merely there to remind you the book wasn't written by a 40-year-old and, while it suggests an autobiographical narrative, Bissonnette said Debt-Free U is about 90 percent research, most of which he did while still in high school.
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