I have two kids who are in in 6th and 8th grade. I have very little money saved for college. I know for a fact that unless I win the lottery I won’t be able to pay full for both of my kids college education. I have talked to my kids about going to an instate college. They understand and are ok with it. Please advise on what are my possible options to pay for kids college education. I know about FA but and private loans. Both my kids are doing well in school. Mostly As and couple of Bs.
One possibility is to have them go to a community college for a year or two and get a lot of basic courses out of the way before transferring to another university. I know quite a few kids who have done that. A lot of instate colleges are very affordable, especially if the students qualify for some merit aid.
Don’t loose heart, 2 years at community college, merit scholarships, financial aid and loans can help.
What state?
Are you lower income?
The best thing your kids can do now…just be the best students they can possibly be. Get the best grades they can get. When the time comes…prep for the PSAT, SAT, ACT and get the best scores they can get. The higher the scores, the more merit aid options as well as acceptances open up to them.
Lots of students commute from home, and start at local colleges. This can save a lot of money.
Do all you can to take advantage of tutoring opportunities at school and on Khan Academy. If they are athletic or participate in other activities, that is an avenue. In-state 4-yr school or a plan of 2-yrs community college/transfer to a 4-yr college is also possible. It sounds like your children will be able to get student loans and possibly work study and Pell grants, depending on your income.
I would avoid private loans because as they stack up, you aren’t able to keep getting more debt to fund college. You could easily end up with child #1 not being able to finish college or having too much debt to get more loans to send child #2. Also, all that debt is bad for your future retirement. Continue to talk to your children about doing their best in school and getting an affordable college education.
Look at the current cost of attendance at your in-state schools and look at where your current finances put you. If your income is very low and your children test well, they maybe able to get aid at a private school that is generous and meets more need.
You can see, we all have thought about this topic. Save what you can and help them access resources.
@thumper1 has it right on! At this point, good academics, good grades, good attitude. Then, the test scores. Those open up possibilities for scholarships. Bear in mind starting right now that the schools with the most name recognition can give great financial aid, but if you are not eligible for enough aid to make it work, it’s the schools with less name recognition that give the best chances for good scholarships…
Without knowing where you are in income and assets, we can’t advise much more. Are your kids going to be full need kids or are you going to be expected to pay for their college, given your financial numbers? Schools don’t care much about personal issues–it’s what your pay is that really drives the financial aid process.
If they have an interest in the military, have them check out jrROTC or what it takes to get an ROTC scholarship or into a service academy. If they have a special interest in an activity, see what’s available in your area.
They just announce the Evans Scholars in the paper yesterday. Evans Scholarships are full COA and go to golf caddies. They have 15 in our area, and I don’t think they’ve ever awarded them all; this year there were 13 given out. Students have to do it for 2 years before applying, so really have to start as high school sophomores. There are a few golf clubs in this area who have programs, and while it is hard work to lug clubs around for 2 years, the payoff is a full 4 year scholarship.
If you can, go to the awards ceremony at your child’s high school for the seniors. I didn’t even know some of the small local scholarships existed until mine were graduating - too late! There were DAR essay awards, photography awards, things from the local American Legion. There was one for a ‘safety’ video, and three kids got $500 for making a really bad video about shining lasers into airplanes. My kids could have made a better video!
Keep a notebook of all the community service (and the sponsor’s contact info), all the band programs and theater playbills and science medals. It’s hard to remember it all when you go to write college applications,
Check for state programs that will reduce tuition. I live near, not in, New Jersey so I don’t know the details, but I believe they may offer free community college tuition if a student’s grades are good. That takes care of two years right therOther states may have something similar. And if your kids do very well in high school and have scores to match, don’t be afraid to look into private colleges. Some of them meet full financial need, and some others offer generous merit scholarships. Luckily, you have plenty of time to learn about all of this.
Have your kids do SAT prep on Khan Academy, with the goal of making merit semifinalist/finalist on the PSAT/NMSQT. Also have them take advantage of available AP classes so as to get good scores on the exams to earn college credit. This could save a lot of money.
- Figure out what you can afford to contribute.
- Try the net price calculators on some colleges of possible interest to see if need-based financial aid may make them affordable. (Some colleges' net price calculators also ask for student grades and test scores to estimate merit scholarships.)
In addition to what the above come out to be, your state of residency and the students’ grades and test scores will be helpful in helping others give tailored suggestions. (Obviously, the latter will not be available yet for students before 9th grade.)
What’s your income?
If it’s below 125K and they keep doing well in a rigorous curriculum*, are excellent at one or two activities (music, sport, charity, etc), and score high on standardized tests, they have a shot at a “meet need college” that should be cheaper than your state school.
They should be focused and nice (no cheating, no record of bad behavior, etc). Obviously they should do well in school but prep for the PSAT (summer before junior year), then study for the SAT throughout junior year and take the test + subject tests + the ACT in the Spring. Many scholarships, especially at public universities, depend on test scores.
You could put a little away in a 529 for them. Even it’s only enough for a plane ticket to come home for Christmas, or books… It’ll always help.
They can start working and saving at least half their earnings. (limit them to perhaps 4-5h a week so that it doesn’t distract from school).
Run the NPC on these colleges, using your current income and assets
your instate flagship
Miami Ohio
College of Charleston
St Olaf
Denison
Vassar
Bowdoin
Penn
Yale
You should see very different results. Which are affordable?
4 years of English, preferably honors, including if possible AP English
Foreign language through level 4 or AP
Math through precalculus honors, Precalculus + AP Stats, or (best) calculus
Bio, chem, physics, + one of these at the AP level (or APES if aiming for a non STEM major)
4 years of history/social science, preferably honors, including if possible 1 AP History
some “personal picks”, especially junior and senior year, indicating what they’re good at/interested in academically
Thank you everyone for the quick replies! You guys have no idea how much your responses helps me emotionally and psychologically.
My kids are very much aware of the importance of excellent grades. They know how their academic performance would greatly help with college admissions and potentially getting scholarships. They are both in honors Math and Science classes. They both play sports; tennis, basketball, and track. However, they are not the “top players” type.
My kids are very ambitious and I am very afraid of disappointing them.
Currently, our income is over 125K BUT, this is another issue, my husband has Asperger Syndrome. So basically, we do not have financial stability due to him not able to keep a job longer than 3 years. I only make a little above 40K. We live in Ohio.
Please be careful when thinking about using 529 assets to pay for plane tickets. Yes, I get that this advice is probably more about the amount, but I’d hate for you to come back in a few years worrying about taxes due on 529 withdrawals. Books, other educational expenses; that’s wonderful.
Ohio is filled with great public universities…and a bunch of them…that could be affordable for your family. Plus there are a bunch of smaller privates that give decent merit aid (e.g. Denison).
It’s a little too soon to really start looking at colleges…but you are right to at least be thinking about the costs.
Have them sign up for SAT question of the day app. It will expose them to the test early with no pressure. Also a vocabulary word of the day app. Good grades and test scores can get big scholarships.
Just some thoughts:
here’s the killer about college for us (income in the mid 100s.) Room and Board. It’s so pricey. If you don’t have a college near by, it just takes a good chunk and there’s no money back for it on your taxes. –
Also: financial aid (grants & loans) is very very income based. They look at your IRS info from 2 year before. Some private colleges give grants; many state schools don’t; just merit money and loans.
right now, you can get up to $2500 back on your taxes for money spent on tuition and fees If your income is below $180k I think. My thoughts about athletic scholarships : put the money that you might pay to club sports away for college! it’s hard to get athletic $. Have your kid in HS really practice on those tests, and perhaps get a summer job for some of the college expenses when they can. (We are depleting our savings right now; but after 7 semesters with our oldest two, we have not had to take out any parent loans yet. That’s our goal.)
@TdoesCollege - Saying the money would be enough for plane tickets doesn’t mean that the 529 money would be traceably removed from the 529 and spent on plane tickets. It means that a plane-ticket-equivalent amount of money would be able to be applied to college bills, freeing up the actual cost of the plane ticket in another part of the family budget.
@2boysmom84 - Run the Net Price Calculators at the websites of a couple of your home-state public universities, the colleges/universities where you and your husband studied, and a couple other random places you think now that your kids might like. Sit down with your husband and talk about the money thing. Is everything clearly out of possibility? Are some workable? Can you start squeezing a little money out of your budget and stashing it away? Could you live solely on his income and save yours? Get your heads straight so that you can be straight with your kids about how much your family can afford.
@happymomof1 Thanks. That was what I was trying to get across. You said it so much better than I did.
One of the most shocking things for parents is that a high GPA is usually not enough to get merit scholarships…high ACT/SAT scores are needed as well. This is the time of year where we see posts from disappointed families who are shocked that their A student didn’t get much/any merit. Then we learn that their child’s ACT/SAT scores were good, but not high for the schools that they applied to.
(There’s a thread in this section about those who expect merit simply because the student was accepted to a school…if the student isn’t a top stats student for that school, the school is less likely to award significant merit.)
Keep your hand on the pulse of which schools offer merit for particular scores. (Some schools offer little merit or no merit at all). Be aware that schools that are awarding merit now, may change their policies by the time your child applies but still keep formulating lists of schools.
BE very aware of “net costs” after merit. Too many people get flattered and excited about $20k per year offers of merit…only to later realize that the school costs $65k so they’re still going to have to pay $45k. Always look at net costs.
Be aware that some privates have artificially raised their rates just so that they can offer nearly everyone a $10k or 15k or so merit award. That is just smoke and mirrors and obviously you’d still have to pay a lot.
If your children have AP or Dual Enrollment opportunities, then take advantage of those. They could end up starting college as rising sophomores or juniors (they still would apply as incoming frosh…not as transfer students…to get the best merit opps.).
If you’re in a state that has some sort of “running start” program, take advantage of that. Those students take community college classes while still in high school and graduate with high school diplomas and AA degrees at the same time. Those students STILL apply as incoming frosh because those AA degrees were earned in high school. Once they’re in college, their college level is adjusted. But they’re still incoming frosh for admittance, scholarship and aid purposes…which is a GOOD thing.