Week of February 12, 2004

 

Paying for College - Part I

This will be a three part series of articles dealing with different ways and stages of paying for college. Part one will be dealing with financially strapped families who can not afford to save for college. Next week's article will be for families that are able to invest some capital into their children's higher education and the final article will be on how to save money for students and parents during the college years. 
 

Paying for College: for the Financially Strapped Family. 

Going to college is possible for everyone who graduates with average grades in high school. The difference for the financially strapped household is that it takes a lot more work and preparation to get a child into college. However, with effort and determination most things are possible. Here are a few starter tips about getting children into college without investing financially.  
 

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Preparing Youngsters: 

College should be a topic of conversation starting at a very young age. For many families it is financially challenging to cover the monthly cost of living. The thought of putting the suggested $100 a month into a college fund is out of the question. The good news is that a college fund is not the only deciding factor where achieving a college degree is concerned. There are scholarships, loans, grants and many other options to take into consideration. The key is to start children young into thinking about college. 

Once a child is old enough to baby-sit or have a paper route 50% of their income should go towards saving for college. There are costs such as application fees, tests, clothing for the interviews, forms, and possible transportation that can rarely be avoided.  

For the child, the focus should be on school work as the main "job". Good grades provide the best chances of scholarships, grants and of course acceptance into the college of choice. Extra curricular activities should emphasize leadership skills and community service if at all possible. Having the child start up a new program for the school and or community is looked upon very favorably by admissions boards. Also, consider that joining organizations such as Boy Scouts offers eligibility for additional college scholarships and great leadership opportunities. Make sure to mark down organization names, dates and work done in a book that will enable the child to remember exactly what was done when filling out college applications. Collect letters of recommendations from places the volunteering or group work took place. These names, places and letters could come in handy when applying to college. 

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The High School Years: 

From the first year of high school, have the child collect scholarship information and put it in a binder. Over the first two years of high school, the child will be able to gather a substantial amount of information on grants and/or scholarships for university. At some point mark down application deadlines on the calendar for the scholarships the child is most likely to receive, to make sure the deadlines do not pass unnoticed.

Here is a great website to start off the scholarship search: http://www.scholarships.com/ 

The child should work hard in school and take all the advanced placement courses that are available. By graduating year, the students in advanced placement courses generally receive college credit for them, which comes tuition free and looks terrific on an application to college. 

Applying to colleges: 

Apply to several colleges to ensure better chances of acceptance and different financial aid packages. Consider applying to Junior colleges, which are a lot less expensive and switch to a four year college for the last two years to receive a full undergraduate degree. A college close to home will cost a lot less on tuition and save on room and board by living at home as well.  

Have a few meetings with the academic advisor at the high school. The advisor has been dealing with college applications for years and will most likely have good insight into where to apply and what to put on the scholarship applications. Be friendly with the English department of the high school. There is nothing like an English teacher to look over a college entrance essay.  

Frugal Fanatic Tip: 

If finances are seriously tight try borrowing a suit for the college interviews. The suit should fit well and look professional however, high fashion is not necessary. If need be, ask a local church or goodwill to help in this department. There will always be a suit available, especially if it is mentioned that it is needed for college interviews and will be returned in top form. Organizations such as Dress for Success: http://www.dressforsuccess.org could also be helpful in interviewing skills and finding an outfit to wear.