My name is Margaret Loftus. I’m a freelance reporter for the U.S. News & World Report’s 2021 Best Colleges guide and I have received permission from College Confidential to post here. I am interested in interviewing students (or their parents) who have found resourceful and informative ways to pay for college. For instance: someone who cobbled together a range of off-the-beaten-path scholarships or a student who was a savvy negotiator with a school and earned some more aid that way. Even an entrepreneur who has built a business to get them through school. I’m looking specifically for a student who will still be in college in the fall, so no graduating seniors. If this is you (or your child), please email margaretloftus@gmail.com. Thanks.
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You mean resourceful like fun and clever and readable? Or boring resourceful like eating your vegetables, saving over the course of years, choosing schools that are affordable and sacrificing things at home to pay for education first? I’m the latter, with one kid at a good LAC, one in trade school and a high schooler considering a service academy (plus a sixth grader of no account whatsoever.) No flash, just saving and budgets.
Boring Strategies for Affordable Colleges
If you are told there is no money, or you don’t know how much money, or there is a limited amount of money you need to choose colleges that are affordable for you family. For your parents, it used to be possible to work your way through college. This is no longer the case
Financial Need
If your family has financial need (according to FAFSA/CSS, not what you think!), you can get need-based grants.
• Look at Net Price Calculators on colleges to see if you would get need based financial aid.
• Apply to Colleges that meet Full need
Merit
Another way to get scholarship is through merit scholarships. Merit scholarships are used to attract strong students to a college. Ivy League schools do not give out merit scholarships because all students are strong that go there.
- Look for scholarships
a. Apply to colleges where your stats are significantly above average to get merit scholarships
b. Look for colleges with auto-scholarship based on gpa/sat http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ - Study for SAT on Khan Academy to increase your SAT score
Lower Cost Schools
Another way to save money on colleges is look for colleges with a lower sticker price. Also you can get credits for almost free in HS and then use them in college and attend for fewer years.
• Look for cheaper schools. In-state public schools are usually much cheaper than private/out of state schools
• Look to get as many college credits as you can in HS.
o Take AP or IB classes and do well on the AP/IB tests so you can get college credit. Find colleges that give extra credit for IB (e.g., SUNY Binghamton). If you have enough you may be able to graduate early. *Unless you want to go to medical school. Medical school don’t want you to fulfill the requirements of Bio, Chem, Org Chem, Physics with AP.
o Your state may have a “running start” or “dual enrollment” program where you can take college courses for free in HS
• Go to community college for two years, and then transfer to a state school
Oy. Yet another entertaining article in the works that will leave all too many students and families with the notion that their kid can magically do the same. The situations described in the OP are the so-rare-as-to-be-nearly-impossible events, and do not provide useful examples for the other 99.9999999999999%
If you want to write something that will truly serve the majority of your readers, go read through the Financial Aid Forum.
I agree with this 100x
Please start helping people become financially literate and understand the FAFSA and CSS Profile. This would be so much more helpful
+1 for @happymomof1
This article will make it appear that this is something any college wannabe can do.
To the OP…be realistic…what %age of college bound students or students IN college right now can cobble together enough money to fully fund…or even half fund college costs? Surely you are smart enough to know that %age is low…and you don’t want to mislead your readership.
OP should also note in his/her article that wee little almost “scam” that many colleges use–public colleges have been known to do this. They “keep the tuition low” and then charge fees. Administrative fees. Or extra fees tacked onto room and board. So then they can argue to the public or administrators “our tuition is low” but then the fees constitute about 50% more additional cost. State governments may tout in the press: Zero tuition for STEM majors! But the cost of room and board and fees are not included…and those alone can be about $80K for four years …
See for example Southern Illinois University’s pricing plan–
https://fao.siu.edu/_common/documents/2020-2021-financial%20aid%20documents/20202021_Undergraduate_Budget.pdf
@HKimPOSSIBLE. Have the OP read your first thread. This is a very uplifting story that might be interesting for your readers.
This is the second thread… Can’t find the first one.
Very real uplifting story about a kid that fought all odds being rejected since needed his green card. Took off a year, got the card, reapplied and has many amazing offers this year.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/2131364-reject-train-going-full-speed.html
OP- a better public service would be to remind families that there is NO substitute for covering off the basics- an emergency fund (in cash, not gold coins, a Picasso lithograph, a restored Corvette); life insurance, and a tax advantaged retirement account.
It’s April. In addition to the financial turmoil caused by Covid, I’m hearing about families turning themselves into knots trying to figure out how to come up with the dough to pay for… drum roll… Villanova. NYU. Fairfield. Trinity. Northeastern. Drexel.
These are fine schools. But I would not be taking out a HELOC right now to get bragging rights. Folks have short memories and it’s starting to feel like 2008 all over again- but worse- because people are dying.
I told one neighbor (at an appropriate distance of course) “read the fine print before you decide to raid your 401K for tuition” (she had said “we are going to the mat to figure out how to pay for little Susie’s first choice”, which is a perfectly fine but not academically outstanding or rigorous college) and her response was “who the heck has a 401K?”
This is a family with a home, two nice cars, just did a fancy home addition to install a “game room and home theater”, takes frequent vacations, etc. They are wondering if they are getting a refund from their country club if the “season” never opens.
So OP- do a public service and remind people that college lasts four years- financial ruin can run for a lifetime. And an unfunded retirement won’t last forever (at some point you die) but it can sure feel like forever if you are living on social security in a rented room because you used your home equity to pay for your kid’s college tuition.
OP, I think with COVID-19 top of mind for many, a good topic would be how to choose an affordable U, since parents (never mind students) may have a tough time staying employed with all the closures and employment downturn.
Also good to mention are new factors to consider now that COVID-19 has turned the world on its side.
@eldonjacob177. Why does work study take the life out of you?? Both my kids “wanted” to work during school. Both schools work study will adjust their hours around your schedule. Internships etc liked the idea both kids worked. Employers will also.
They both made friends at their jobs and it forced both of them to manage their time more wisely. Trust me, having too much time is not good anyway. We are talking 10-15 hours week not 40 hour weeks. Plus the extra cash is great. They have never asked me for money and when I offer some they both say they have their work money. There is some pride in that for them ???
You should talk to some military enlisted folks. The GI bill is a great way that many people use to pay for college.
OP you might be better off taking this back to your editor and reframing your story as How To Shop Smart rather than How To Afford. Covid has changed a lot of things and your readers might be in a different place than they were when this was conceived.