Let’s talk about college for a moment. Whether it is you, your children, or your grandchildren thinking about college, I want you to make smart choices with your money. Too many people fall victim to the lie that you MUST take out student loans in order to go to college. Y’all that is just wrong. You do not have to go broke paying for college.
You can use your money wisely where college is concerned, and it is not that hard. Here are 4 things you need to do to ensure you don’t go broke paying for college.
COLLEGE CHOICE IS KEY
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- Many states offer a free or almost free college experience for the first couple of years if you attend a state school rather than a private school. It does not matter where one gets their core classes, so why not get them at a community college where the tuition costs are minimal or even free for the first two years? Seriously, be smart about this.
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- When the core classwork is finished, do not lose your mind and think you have to go to a prestigious school to get a better education. You don’t. For the most part, you can get the same education at a public university that you can get at a private college for less half the cost of that pricey private college. It is extremely rare for a business to hire someone based on where they went to college. Just sayin’.
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- Choose in-state schools. Going to an out-of-state school increases tuition costs for the same education by 3-4 times. This is ridiculous! Unless you can get enough scholarships and grants to cover the cost of out-of-state college, keep your hiney in-state.
SCHOLARSHIPS AND GRANTS ARE A NECESSITY
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- The job of a high school student should be to work as hard as it takes to get as many scholarships and grants as they can. The student needs to make it their full time job in their junior and senior years to apply for this money. Period. Parents, set some boundaries for your high school student on this topic. For example, they must apply for 5 scholarships or grants per week in order to have car privileges or spending money. I promise it won’t kill them, even though they will act like it does.
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- This goes for adults returning to or going to college for the first time. Spend every free minute applying for grants and scholarships.
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- HERE is a great article from Anthony O’Neal about planning for college while you are still in high school.
WORK LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT (BECAUSE IT DOES)
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- A huge percentage of students hold down a part-time or full-time job while they are in college, so don’t shy away from working while you are in college or from setting the expectation that your child or grandchild will work their way through college. They need to have skin in the game and be paying for some, or all, of their own expenses. Again, it will not kill them and studies show that students who work their way through school do just as well academically as those who do not.
PARENTS NEED TO BE PARENTS
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- Not only do we have a student loan crisis on our hands in this country, I would argue we have a parenting crisis, as well. Ooops, did I say that? Yep, I did.
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- Parents, you are the parents and you make the decisions because the money is your money. An 18-year old does not have the wisdom to make good decisions about college choice and student loans. The student loan industry pushes and justifies that loans are good and normal and your teen will become a victim if you do not act wisely. Student loans financially cripple millions of people for years after they graduate from college. Read THIS article about the Top 5 Student Loan Myths.
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- Do not let your teen push you into going into debt to pay for a school you cannot afford! Too many parents end up sacrificing their future because of poor choices about paying for their children’s college. Read THIS article about parents who learned the hard way.
Are you already buried in student loan debt? Did you take out a parent plus loan and now have to dip into your retirement savings to pay for it? There is hope and I would love to help you develop a plan to kick that debt to the curb. Take advantage of my FREE 30 minute money coaching consultation session and let’s chat. Schedule by clicking HERE.
SDG/FCA!
