Paying for College is becoming more difficult and I wrote about the Perfect Storm recently. Now let’s introduce the Perfect Solution for College Costs.
Sharing the Burden:
- Grants
- Gifts
- Scholarships
- Work
- Loans
- Money out of your own pocket, that you worked hard to earn and probably already paid taxes on
OK. I got a little carried away with that last one. Can you guess which of these sharing partners I like the least?
That’s right, your own money should be the last thing that you plan to use. If we do plan to use “Our Own Personal Savings” (OOPS), we should at least make sure that we get a tax break or some other benefit.
Scholarships:
- Work these early. Sorry, I meant: encourage your son or daughter to work these early
- Online sources: Try government sponsored sources first if you are just starting out.
www.fafsa.ed.gov – FAFSA site
https://studentaid.ed.gov
These two are going to be a safe place to start collecting information. - There are a myriad of online sources for scholarships, mostly private.
Stick with ‘Free’ sites – they feed most of the paid sites. - High School Counselor
I probably should put this one at the top — if you are chasing scholarship dollars, this is the best resource.
Encourage your son or daughter to visit them, repeatedly, and ask for scholarship applications.
Timing:
- Overall Plan – start at least 18 months, and preferably 24 or even 36 months before college start (1st child)
There may or may not be a lot of work to accomplish 3 years ahead, but trust me…getting your plan started that far out is not too early! If you find there IS a lot of work in your particular plan, you’ll wish you started 5 years ahead! - Scholarship search – start 18 months and preferably 24 months ahead
Yes, in fact there are scholarships that Juniors can apply for that pay during 1st year of college; so it makes sense to start getting your Share when it becomes available. Scholarship deadlines are earlier than you think! - Personal Financial Plan – 3 years ahead, much longer if you can
Started a fund when they were born? Good thinking!
Now there are other things you can do, financially, and some may take a long time.
Come back here soon and I’ll tell you why every family should have 2 plans for College. I’m also going to get into some more detail about Finances and some dos and don’ts.
