How To Give Your Child A 4-Year College Education Without Going Broke: by Carol M. Klamo (books for new readers txt) 📕

Remember, your child will get into most of the schools he/she is applying to (unless they are reaching for the Ivy’s or the most competitive schools).

So the question is not, “Will my child get into this school?” Instead, the right question to ask is, “Will this school be able to give me the money I will need to send my child there for the next 4 years?”

If you haven’t realized it yet - college is very expensive these days!

Even a state school can cost you $18,000 or more per year when you include tuition, fees, books, room and board, living expenses, etc.

A private university can easily run you $34,000 per year and more!

And that’s just 1 year! Remember, you have 3 more years to go after that. And what about if your child wants to go to graduate school?

It’s definitely expensive no matter which way you slice it, but there are ways to minimize these costs.

One of the best ways to do this is by picking schools that historically have the best policies of giving financial aid.

A brief explanation of the financial aid process is necessary for me to explain this to you.

So, here we go.

Financial aid is awarded at each school based on a calculation of a family’s “financial need”.

Financial need is calculated by subtracting the Family Contribution (this is the minimum amount you will be expected to pay at ANY

school) from the “Cost of Attendance” which includes tuition, fees, books, room and board, etc.

So, if a school costs $20,000 and the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

calculates your family contribution to be $10,000, your “need” at that school is $10,000.

It works like this:

$20,000 (Cost of Attendance) - $10,000 (Family Contribution)
= $10,000 (Financial Need)

Financial need determines how much financial aid your family is eligible to receive. However, just because your need is $10,000, does not mean you will be offered $10,000 at that school.

This is where picking schools that historically give the best financial aid packages come in.

You see some schools can meet 100% of your family’s financial need while others will only meet 20% or 30%.

The other thing you must know when picking schools is how much of the “need” they meet in “FREE” money, which you never have to pay back, and how much need they meet in “Self-Help” money, which includes loans that you do have to pay back.

By knowing each school’s ability to give financial aid, in advance, you can pick schools that you have the best chance of getting money from.

This puts you, instead of the schools, in control of the process.

By knowing, in advance, which of the schools can meet most of your need, and give you more FREE money and less loans, you will also save yourself the time, energy and hassle of applying to schools that will never

be able to give you the money you need to send your child there.

This type of planning should be done as soon as possible before your child’s senior year of high school, so you don’t end up visiting and applying to colleges you will never be able to afford.

If you’re wondering how you can find out about this type of information, you can start by asking the financial aid officer at each school. Some of them will be completely honest about their ability to give money, and others will keep very silent about these numbers. Also, some of this information can be found on the College Board's web site. It just depends on whether or not the school is reporting this information publicly and accurately.

The other option is to use the services of a college-funding consultant who maintains an updated version of these statistics on a computer database.

Whichever way you decide to do it, make sure you know each college’s statistics on meeting your financial need, and typically how much they give in FREE money versus Self-Help (i.e., loans and work study) before

applying to them.

Once you know these numbers, you are in the driver’s seat, not

the schools.

You can also save yourself a lot of time, energy, and money by not

applying to or visiting schools that will never

give you the money you need to send your child to their institution.

Chapter #6

“8 Vital Questions Every Parent Must Ask Colleges Before Applying For Financial Aid...”

If your child is in his/her senior year of high school and hasn’t started filling out their college applications -

Make Sure They Do It Right Now!

You Must Find Out The Financial Aid Deadlines At Each College And Make Sure You Get The Financial Aid Forms In Before The Earliest Deadline!

In addition to getting all your applications in accurately and on-time, you also want to stack the cards in your favor by asking these 8 Vital Questions to the financial aid officer at each school:

Question #1

- Does your school guarantee to meet 100% of my child’s financial need at your school, and if not, what percentage of need does your school meet for the average student?

Most schools do not meet 100% of a student’s financial need. It is important for you to know this information, in advance, before your child spends time and money applying to a particular school that will NEVER be able to give you the money you need to send your child to that college.

Question #2

- Does your school have a standard “unmet need” formula for students who apply for financial aid?

If a school says “Yes”, you want to know by how much they leave the average student short. For example, if your child has a need of $10,000 at a school and they have an average “unmet need” of 50%, they will probably only award you $5,000, and ask you to come up with the other $5,000 on your own.

Make sure you find this out before you apply, it could end up saving you a lot of time and money!

Question #3

- Does your school have a ceiling on the maximum amount of financial aid a student can qualify for?

Some schools have maximum ceilings of $5,000 per student. If this turns out to be the case, and you are eligible to receive $10,000 -

You’re Out Of Luck!

Question #4

- If my financial need remains the same for the next 4 years, will my child receive the same financial aid package in years 2, 3, and 4 at your school?

Many schools will award students a great package the first year to attract them to go to their school.

Then, in years 2, 3, and 4, they offer them a much lower package even though their financial need is the same, since the school knows there is a very slim likelihood that the student will transfer after they’ve already attended that college for 1 year.

Question #5

- If my family’s financial need increases in year 2 at your college, will your financial aid package be adjusted accordingly, or will it remain the same?

Some schools will not adjust a student’s financial aid package after the first year.

This becomes a serious problem especially if the family’s income drops in the later years of college.

You must know this up front, so you won’t have to make a tough decision later.

Question #6

- If my child doesn’t apply for financial aid in his/her freshman year of college, can he/she apply for aid in future years?

In some cases, it may make sense for you not to apply for aid for the freshman year, especially if you have not done planning and you have all of your assets in the wrong places.

However, some schools have policies of giving priority consideration to students at the school who are already receiving financial aid.

If this is the school’s policy, you may be shut out from getting financial aid for all 4 years.

Find this out before you apply!

Question #7

- Does your school have a “cut-off” date for guaranteeing that a student will receive financial aid?

If they do, make sure you get your financial aid forms in before their cut-off date, or there’s a good chance you won’t get any financial aid!

Question #8

- What is your school’s policy on packaging outside scholarships into a financial aid award package?

Some schools will replace the FREE money you found with FREE money they were going to award you. So, in effect, you gain nothing by finding an outside scholarship.

Other schools will allow the outside scholarship to replace the loan money they were going to give you.

Obviously, it’s better if they replace loan money rather than FREE money.

Make sure you find out each school’s policy before you apply.

***

Failure to ask colleges any of these 8 Vital Questions could end up costing you a lot of time, money, and frustration.

Make sure you take the time to ask each school these 8 questions.

I promise you, it will pay off!

Chapter #7

“What You Must Do After You Fill Out Your College Financial Aid Forms...

And Why It’s Still Not Too Late To Increase Your Eligibility For College Funding!”

If it’s after January of your child’s senior year, you may be finished filling out your FAFSA and CSS Financial Aid Profile forms.

There’s only one slight catch...

You’re Not Done Yet!

You see, even after you file your financial aid forms, there are still several more “steps” you need to complete.

To begin with, immediately after electronically filing your FAFSA, you will receive a summary page and within 72 hours you will receive a multi-page document from the Federal processing center called the “Student Aid Report,” or “SAR”.

The SAR is basically a computerized print out of all the personal and financial questions you answered on the FAFSA.

Typically, there are a few sections to the SAR.

Section One gives you instructions for making changes, and lets you know if you’ve made any mistakes that need to be corrected when filling out the FAFSA.

Part One of your SAR will also tell you if you qualify for a Pell Grant.

Don’t worry if you don’t and your SAR says you’re ineligible. Most middle class and upper-middle class families DON’T qualify for a Pell Grant since this is a Federal grant that is only meant for low-income families.

If you do happen to qualify for the Pell Grant program, rest assured that all of your information has been electronically sent to the schools which you requested to receive your information.

Regardless of whether or not you’re eligible for the Pell Grant program, your SAR will also tell you your “Expected Family Contribution” which is how much the government expects you to pay towards your child’s college education.

Look at the second section of your initial summary page of your SAR below