Category — College Finances

Paying for a college education requires a lot of financial planning.  Most parents begin thinking about how to finance college many years before a student is ready to embark on a college career.  Your college student may or may not be involved in this planning.   But whether or not your college student is involved in the bigger financial issues such as tuition and other college expenses, it is important that your student become financially literate in order to survive financially during and beyond the college years.

A growing national problem

Financial literacy involves the ability to read, manage, and communicate about personal finances and to have the skills and knowledge to make competent financial choices about banking, credit, insurance, taxes and investments.  How does your student stack up?  Most high school graduates don’t do very well.  High school student spending may create an unrealistic lifestyle.  Iowa State University tested high school seniors’ understanding of money management.  The average score was a 57% – a dramatically failing grade.

[Read more →]

College parents’ task of estimating and preparing for the cost of college may just have become more realistic.  As of October 29, 2011, all colleges receiving federal aid will be required to provide a Net Cost Calculator on their college websites. The new net-price calculators are intended to help future college students and their parents have a better sense of the cost of attending a particular college for a particular student.

According to the College Board, the average cost for tuition, fees and living expenses at a four year private college was $38,590 last year.  Grants, scholarships and aid lowered that costs to an average of $11,380 to $17,130 for most students. Obviously, college “sticker price” may be dramatically different from the actual price.  The new net price calculators are intended to help provide a clearer picture by making college financing more transparent and colleges more accountable.

[Read more →]

Amazon.com has just announced a new program of textbook rentals for its Kindle e-reader.  If you have a college student who is facing the purchase of textbooks this year, you may want to discuss this new program with him.  For students who already own an e-reader or similar device, this is especially exciting news.  Students who do not own a Kindle may now want to consider purchasing one.  The good news, however, is that textbooks rented through this rental program may also be viewed through Amazon’s “rent once, read everywhere” philosophy on other devices such as a PC, IPad, IPhone, Android, Mac, Blackberry, and others through the Kindle application.

Amazon’s new Kindle rental program claims that it will have “tens of thousands of textbooks” available for this 2011-2012 school year.  Most books are being offered for rental at up to 80% off of the list purchase price of the hard copy of the book. Students will only need to pay for the time that they need the book.

[Read more →]

College is expensive, there’s no argument there.  Many families rely on financial aid to make college a possibility.  For most families, that financial aid package contains a combination of scholarships, grants, loans, and possible work-study for their student.  So you’ve received your financial aid package (which never seems enough, but it helps) and your student has headed off to college.  You’re all set.  Or are you?

Although there is no guarantee that the amount of financial aid that your student is offered for freshman year will be maintained for all four years, most colleges do honor and continue their offering unless family circumstances change.  Most families can count on that level of aid continuing for their student’s four years at college.  If your student needs more than four years to complete his degree, you should check with the school about their policies regarding fifth year financial aid.

[Read more →]

College is expensive.  We all know it.  Parents and students alike think a lot about college finances.  Some parents and students need to work harder than others on making a college education possible.  There is a lot of thought given to, and a lot written about, how to finance a college education.  Parents and students work to understand the right choice of college, financial aid packages, scholarships, FAFSA forms, work-study jobs, grants, and loans.  But beyond these big financial concerns come the smaller day-to-day decisions that students make to help make ends meet as they navigate their way through college.

[Read more →]

College is expensive.  There is no way around it, and no argument about it.  Tuition and fees are high, the cost of textbooks has skyrocketed, and there are more unexpected expenses than you anticipated.  Sometimes parents pay all costs, sometimes students pay costs, and often parents and students together share the burden.  Some costs are fixed and some are flexible.  Although most parents and students have no control over the price of tuition and fees, there are some living expenses over which your student may have some control.

Hopefully, you’ve discussed costs and expenses with your college student and helped him to create a budget.  Whether you will be sending him spending money or he will be responsible for his own finances, there are some things that your student can do to keep expenses in check.  Depending on his situation, he may want to include a few of these suggestions or as many as possible.  Whenever you have your financial chat with your student, you may want to help him think through some ways in which he can shave a few of his expenses.  Ask him to consider implementing a few of the following suggestions.

[Read more →]

The reality these days is that most college students will work while they are going to school.  The cost of tuition is high – and climbing.  In some families, parents may bear all, or a majority of the costs of college, but the majority of students are expected to contribute to expenses.  Students may contribute to tuition and fees, or they may be responsible for earning their own spending money.

Most college students have summer jobs which help them to earn some of their income, but many students know that they will need to work while going to school.  If your student will be working during the school year, he will first need to decide whether to try to find a job on campus or off campus.  There are advantages on both sides.  Your student may have been offered Federal Work Study as part of his financial aid package.  If so, he will be looking for a qualifying job on campus.  Not all campus jobs qualify for work-study funding, so he should be sure to ask.

If your student decides to look for a campus job, she may feel that she will have few options.  Of course, the number of options will depend on the size of the school, but there may be more choices available than your student realizes.  Encourage her to start her search early – possibly checking listings on-line over the summer.  Campus jobs may be in high demand, and priority often goes to upperclass students.

[Read more →]

One of the “hidden” costs of a college education, which parents and students sometimes forget about, or underestimate, when calculating expenses, is the cost of textbooks and course materials.  Students, and their parents, are often taken by surprise at the high cost of these tools of the education trade.  Students are sometimes able to purchase used textbooks, either from the college bookstore or online, but that often requires that students plan ahead.  Unfortunately, students do not always have the information that they need early enough.

In August of 2008, Congress made changes to the Higher Education Act; renaming it the Higher Education Opportunity Act and reauthorizing it.  The new Act has several changes, but one which goes into effect in July 2010, and which immediately impacts students, concerns providing textbook information to students earlier. 

[Read more →]

For many college parents, the moment when your college student comes to you and says that he wants to move off campus is a nervous moment.  For other college parents, the moment comes as a natural next step.  For still others, the move off campus may actually be a relief.  The decision of whether or not to live off campus rather than in a campus residence hall is a big decision, and a very individual one.

The time when your college student decides to live off campus, whether that moment comes in the first year of college or in senior year, is another moment when you, as a parent, are confronted with, and reminded of, your student’s growing independence. You may feel that the decision is the right one for your student, or you may feel that your student is not yet ready for the increased responsibility.  Your job as a parent is to help your student think through the realities and consequences of this decision, and to ask the right questions.  Help your student explore the advantages and disadvantages of this move.

[Read more →]

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.

[Read more →]