How To Pay For College Learn From Others Mistakes

HomeFinanceFinancial aidHow To Pay For College Learn From Other Parents MistakesThis page may contain affiliate links.Oct 29, 2018 The college admissions process (and the high school years leading up to it) are arduous and stressful, but we mustnt forget to appreciate how exciting a time this can be as well. Most parents will feel a sense of relief by May 1, the official Decision Day, when their child makes the final determination about where to attend college. Unfortunately, for many parents, that relief is short lived as their worries turn to figuring out how to pay the college bill. I feel particularly sad when I get phone calls and messages from friends and readers asking for advice on different options for loans and where to find the best rates. In many of these conversations, my friends will admit they should have started earlier understanding how to pay for college and they should have done more research. Its frustrating knowing I could have helped these friends and readers more, but I couldnt get their attention at the right time. I know, people want to avoid dealing with topics that are difficult and unpleasant, but that doesnt prevent the inevitable that your child is going to college and youll have to pay for it, somehow. I recently posted an article with a chart that gives parents a quick look at what their EFC might be based on their adjusted gross income. The flood of comments from the parents in our Paying For College 101 Facebook group should be a warning to parents of 9th, 10th, 11th graders dont delay in understanding the financial aid process, figuring out your EFC, and how to do research to find affordable colleges BEFORE your child applies. If youre a parent of an 8th 11th grader, read these comments and take action. You basically have to go into it expecting nothing from FAFSA. Make a list of schools you can afford so there are no surprises. Look for schools that give good merit awards. Some will even post it on their pages. My daughter got into a school she wanted. Our responsibility was nearly $170,000 for 4 years. This. After she received good grants and aid. And, oh yeahwe have 3 kids! Unless you have the cash sitting there, its just no longer possible. Ive been sad for days. Its so sad when you see First Time In College FTIAC* Parentsfirst generation students. The shock on their faces when you explain the student loan cap to them. Then the Parent Plus Loanit is just awful!   *FTIAC First Time In Any College We have done some research and have learned that if my daughter becomes a teen mom or goes to prison, college will be virtually free. Hmmm. I just burst into tears. We will have 2 in college in two years. Well be living in a van down by the river for sure! My daughter got accepted to the #1 college of her choice But can she attend? Um, No Its 67K per year and we really dont have that kind of cash lying around. Sad part is FAFSA thinks we do! It just doesnt pay to be hard-working middle class folk trying to make an honest living!  Ã‚  Forgot to add this school does not offer ANY merit-based scholarships, so basically if you dont qualify for financial assistance, you get zilch!! This is all so sad and disheartening. I am sick of high school always promoting getting in, but not having the conversation about how to pay for it. And not everyone is a valedictorian. The EFC provided by FAFSA is not a reality, its a joke! Each college my daughter applied to, our true out of pocket expenses were nearly 3 times our EFC. I did everything wrong when it came to playing the financial game for college with my high school senior!! If we could come up with our expected contribution we would need to live in a shoebox and we didnt get a PENNY of $. 10 Tips For Helping Parents Pay For College I wish I could say that if you listened to me and read everything I suggested you would never have a problem paying for college then Id be a national hero! I cant solve all the problems in the comments above, but theres a good likelihood you could avoid some  of these issues by starting early to become an educated consumer of higher ed. Heres some quick and dirty advice, that if some of the parents above had followed maybe they wouldnt have ended up in the situations they did 1) As soon as possible, find out your EFC (Expected Family Contribution), as shocking as it may be. 2) At the start of high school, explain to your child that doing well academically in high school will help in many ways. Grades in each  year of high school contribute equally  towards creating their GPA. So, getting higher grades in 11th grade doesnt override not such good grades in 9th. Best to give it their all from the beginning. 3) Although more colleges are going test optional, a lot of schools  (even test-optional ones) still give merit scholarships based on test scores. So doing well on the PSAT, SAT, and ACT isnt just for increasing their chances of admissions, its also for trying to get more merit money to put towards tuition.    4) Learn everything you can about financial aid how the EFC is calculated, what year will be your FAFSA base year, possible strategies for shifting income, when to maximize retirement contributions and when not to, the ins and outs of 529 plans and how much to put in one in your name vs. a grandparents name. 5) Research, research, research, and target colleges that are more generous with need and merit aid  BEFORE your student applies.  Using data to help with this is recommended, and luckily, theres lots of data to help with this: % of financial need met, % of students receiving financial need, % of students without need receiving grants, average grant size, and more. 6) Have a serious conversation about money and how much you can afford to pay towards college BEFORE your student starts the college search process. 7) Use each schools net price calculator to see what your familys net price will be for all the schools your student is interested in. 8) Make sure your students list of colleges is financially balanced, and includes schools  with tuition you know you can afford based on the schools net price calculator. 9) Stick to the idea that the only loans your student will take out are the Direct student loans from the government, which max out at $31,000. This should limit their debt to a manageable amount after they graduate. 10) As much as youd like to be able to pay for more, KNOW THE RISKS of  co-signing a student loan, KNOW THE RISKS of taking out a Parent Plus loan, KNOW THE RISKS of taking out a home equity loan, and DONT touch your retirement savings.    If youve read this far and you dont want to be like one of those parents behind the comments above, consider looking at purchasing our College Data Spreadsheet (click to see a sample)  which helps organize all the data you need to do a thorough college search.   It combines data from IPEDS (government data) and  Common Data Set information  in ONE place  to sort, filter, and compare colleges the way you should to find affordable colleges and those that are generous with merit or need-based aid. In addition, you will be able to : Compare the  average net price  of over 1,500 schools See which school  offer the best financial aid By using the information in the College Data Spreadsheet, my middle child was accepted to the first 3 schools she applied to and received merit scholarships ranging from $5k to $30k per year!