Category — College Finances

High school seniors wait anxiously for that all important college acceptance letter.  Parents of those high school seniors wait just as anxiously for that all important financial aid letter.  Everyone agrees that college is expensive these days, and most of us need financial help to be able to afford it.  The financial aid letter which your student receives from his college may include several different types of aid.  Although understanding the finer points of these different types of aid and loans may at times seem like a full time job, it is important to have a general understanding of the different types of help your student’s school may offer.

How do schools determine aid?

Most schools use the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form to determine your financial need.  The FAFSA is filled out and filed with the federal government and the information is sent to the schools that you request.  The FAFSA is available in January of each year and can be completed on-line.  The federal government is working to make the FAFSA a bit simpler each year.

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As a college parent, one of your concerns may be where your college student will be living while away at college.  Yes, you are certainly anxious that his classroom experiences are strong, but you want to be sure that your student is comfortable, safe, and happy in his living arrangements.  Some of this concern may have to do with a compatible roommate, but you are also concerned about the physical facilities in which your student will live.

College residences are not what many of us remember from our college days.  If you’ve spent much time visiting campuses, you’ve seen the changes.  Students today, and their parents, expect a different living environment.  Services which were yesterday’s luxuries are today’s required amenities.  Today’s students may expect private rooms and bathrooms, suites or apartment style housing, internet, cable, kitchen facilities, parking and easy access to laundry facilities.  They are sophisticated consumers, and colleges and universities are using housing options as tools to recruit and retain students.  Housing that offers fitness facilities, spas, pools, movie theaters, convenience stores, and cafes are more and more common.  As college tuition rises, colleges feel that they need to offer students more for their money.  Campus housing is one area in which they are offering more.

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College is expensive.  Both parents and students know that they are investing a lot of money in a college education.  Some families have pieced together significant scholarships, grants and loans in order to pay for a college education.  This post is not about those bigger financial issues that make a college education possible.  It is about helping your student create and live by a daily budget for his living expenses.  Whether your student must pay for his own expenses, or whether you partially or fully fund his expenses, college is the ideal time for your student to learn to manage his money carefully.

Working together with your student to help her establish a budget may provide an opportunity for you to talk with her about her priorities, her needs and wants, her interests, and her goals.  You will get to know your student even better.  You will be helping her to establish an important skill for after graduation, as well as helping her to understand where her money goes now.  She may already understand, or she may be surprised to discover, how quickly little expenses add up.  Your student’s budget will be more and more realistic each semester that she spends at college as she learns what true costs are and what opportunities she may have to save.  If she is just starting college, her budget may be only an estimate and she will need to be flexible.

Thinking About Budgeting

Hopefully, your college student will be interested and willing to work at setting up a budget.  If he resists, try to insist.  Help him understand the importance of understanding where his money goes.  Convince him that if he wants or needs more money, or more independence, later, then he will have a more solid argument if he can demonstrate his spending responsibility.  Creating a daily budget is another step toward the responsible independence that both you and your student seek.

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For many college parents, January means the time has come to sit down and face financial aid forms.  The FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student Aid – is the place where most parents begin.  For years, filling out the FAFSA application has been a long and arduous process. This year, the process may be simpler.  Whether you fill out the FAFSA or your student does, many families will find the process easier this year.  For the nearly 20 million families that file the FAFSA each year, this is good news.

The FAFSA is required for any student applying for financial aid.  It determines the family’s expected contribution according to a congressionally determined formula, and most colleges use this information to determine the amount of aid they will offer.

This month the federal government is releasing a new form, and urging families to file their FAFSA on line.  The paper form contains approximately 107 questions, but the on-line form will skip certain questions based on answers given to previous questions.  In other words, the form will skip questions that don’t apply to you.

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Having a job while in college is a common experience for many students.  This is the second of two posts examining some factors that students might consider as they seek college employment.  In the first post, we looked at some general, but important, questions your student might think about. In this post, we look more carefully at some of the differences between on-campus and off-campus jobs.

Once your student has decided that he needs a job and has time to commit to a job, the next decision will be whether to look for an on-campus or off-campus job.  This is a complex question.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both situations.  You can help your student explore which type of job may be best for her by considering some of the following factors:

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Having a job while in college is a common experience for many students.  This is the first of two posts examining some factors that students might consider as they seek college employment.  In this post, we look at some general, but important, questions your student might think about. In our next post, we’ll look more carefully at some of the differences between on-campus and off-campus jobs.

Many college students today have a job while they are in college.  As we all know, the costs of attending college are high.  In addition to tuition and room and board, there are extra fees, expensive textbooks, and living expenses.  Many students head off to college knowing that, in addition to their academic work – and possibly their sports or other activities – they will need to have a job.  As college parents, we can help our students think through some factors to consider as they decide what kind of job they may want – and a major question of whether to work on campus or off campus.

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In our last post, we discussed students who may need to take longer than the traditional four years to complete their college degree.  In this post, we look at students who choose to accelerate their college experience to finish early.

 In addition to those students who may take longer than the traditional four years to complete their degree, there are a growing number of students who may decide to attempt to complete their college education in less than four years.  Students who finish in three or three and a half years may save on tuition fees.  They have the opportunity to get started working in their chosen field earlier.  However, these students may also need to give up some of the traditional college experiences in order to be able to complete their degree early.

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Your student has graduated from high school and is headed off to college, and you are picturing that next commencement ceremony in another four years.  Or perhaps your student has been in college for a year or two and you see that commencement just around the corner.  When your student walks across that stage it will be a big moment, and you are anxious for the celebration – and the last tuition bill.

 But there is a possibility that your student’s college commencement may not be exactly four years after high school graduation. 

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The majority of college students, and their families, are busily seeking whatever financial aid might be available.  Students and their families fill out the FAFSA, the College Profile, individual college aid applications, and local college aid applications.  Some pursue corporate or organizational scholarships.  There is aid out there, but it is sometimes difficult work to find it.

 Three graduates of Harvard University have established a new model for additional financial aid.  Made public in April 2009, their organization, called UniThrive currently offers aid only to Harvard students, but they hope to expand quickly – perhaps by the fall.

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Once the last of the final exams are finished in the spring, most students look forward to a long summer break before classes resume in the fall.  Students often spend their summer working hard at a summer job, but they enjoy having a summer free from classes, textbooks, papers, and tests.  Some students, however, may consider signing up for summer classes – either at their own college or at an institution closer to home.  There are some things for your student to consider before she makes the decision to continue classes during the summer.

Why would a student want to take summer classes?

Students opt for summer classes for a variety of reasons.

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