How to save money with scholarships and other alternatives

Hello everyone, as most I have children headed to college in a year or so. Im wondering if some of you might have any suggestions on methods of doing college a bit cheaper. I have looked up quite a bit of information on scholarships. But, they seem so distant in regards to obtain ability. Any info will help. And thank you in advance!

I’d suggest you start by doing searches here on CC - particularly in the Financial Aid and Parents forums.

The bottom line is there are two types of aid: financial (need-based aid – often referred to as “grants”) and merit aid (based on stats or other criteria – often referred to as “scholarhips”).

The best merit aid comes directly from the institutions.

There are no shortage of outside scholarships out there, but they are hard to get and/or are not particularly large and/or are only for one year and many of them have a need component.

Some merit aid is given automatically, based on stats. Some is offered by admissions, with or without applying separately for it. Mostly you have to be well above their 75%ile and they have to want you.

None of the ivy leagues offer merit.

How much can you afford to pay? Do you need to find a full-ride for your kid, or are you just looking for a little bit of help?

Our EFC was pretty close to the cost of an in-state public U, but was four times what we could expect to be able to scrape together. Our kid didn’t have the GPA and test scores for big merit scholarships. She spent two years at the local community college, then transferred to an in-state public U. The money we saved the first two years helped pay for the last two years. Lots of other parents we know did just exactly that same thing.

You could have your child do 2 years at a community college to get their general ed out of the way andthen transfer r to a state college.

I think when you look at the sticker price of colleges you may reject some as being too expensive. Make sure you understand how that college’s aid works before you dismiss it as too expensive - but of course be realistic and be ready to dismiss some schools as just too expensive.

I started by looking at our public schools and deciding that they were affordable, even if we ended up being full pay. That established the budget (well, that and looking at my bank account). My kids had other ideas and started looking at other school, but knew that the budget was the budget. We found out about state scholarships, state grants, what merit scholarships were available from schools. One child found an affordable OOS school almost immediately and looked at very few other schools. The second one looked at everything, including service academies. Some of the most expensive schools would have provided the most aid. She ended up at one in that was much more expensive than an instate public but less than the $70k elites, and the school provides a lot of merit aid to her.

Try to have your kids keep an open mind when looking at schools, and not get fixated on one. If you want suggestions, post here about your state, generally what they are looking for, and generally their stats. You will get a ton of suggestions, and even info on scholarships and grants available.

Unless your kids don’t have the stats for great merit at schools that offer scholarships, I wouldn’t do the 2+2 route (CC to a 4 year) because then your child will miss out on great merit scholarships.

The BEST scholarships come from the colleges that offer them.

Both of my kids went to college for nearly free. They both had top stats and got huge merit scholarships. Not everyone has that option, but some lower-tier colleges give generous merit for good, but not top, stats.

A few years ago, there was a poster MomFromTexas who needed to find “free rides” for her kids. One of her kids had very modest stats, but she still found a free or near-free ride for him.

If you can pay “something” towards college then your kids may have more options, especially once adding a $5k student loan from your child.

The UMaine system has a couple of schools that have reduced OOS tuition AND they give merit for rather modest stats.

USouthDakota and SouthDakotaState have cheap OOS tuition and may have merit as well.

UNewMexico is often generous with merit.

If your goal is to just get your kids a college education and they’re not picky about where they go, then hopefully something can be found.

Also, have you ran the Net Price Calculators on various schools’ websites to see if you’d get much in grants?

How much can you pay each year for EACH child?

Are you low/modest income?

Is your income/assets too high to get much/any need-based aid?

What are your kids’ stats? Test scores and GPA. What year in high school are they?

If your students have very modest stats, then it’s possible that they may end up doing what MOST American students do…and that’s commute to the local CC/state college.

These forums can give an impression that everyone goes away to college. Most students do not simply because most families can’t afford tuition, room, board, books, fees, etc. By living at home, many families save $10k per year or more in college costs. When a family can’t pay much towards college, then THAT savings is like a nice contribution.

Also…have your kids work/save each summer to contribute towards college. They may need to pay for all of their text books, fees, and personal expenses.

Also…be aware that some schools “pad” their COAs to make it easier for families who want to borrow (bad idea) a lot so that their child can have the best dorm and meal plan. My kids’ undergrad has a few “levels” of dorms, and choosing the priciest one can add about $4k per year to the COA. By choosing a “standard double” dorm, the family saves a good bit!

Also…some schools require a pricey freshman meal plan for the first year, but only require a small (or even NO meal plan) as sophomores, jrs, Srs. That can mean that the last 3 years will also be less expensive.

Be aware that going to college far away can mean high travel expenses, especially around holidays. Also, if parents plan on helping with Move In and/or attend graduation, parents weekend, etc, traveling across country can be expensive.

If possible have your kids take as many AP and dual enrollment classes as possible. Look at a few schools your kids might be interested in applying to and get familiar with their rules for credit earned in high school and which credit will actually count toward a degree. For example my son will likely go to a Texas state school and they all require Texas State Government so he’s taking that DE at our local CC. Our school allows students to take two CC courses a semester in 11th and 12th grade that combined with his AP credits should allow him to finish his BS in 3 years instead of 4. If your school doesn’t offer many AP classes look into CLEP exams.

To keep costs down, look at instate options, or ones that offer merit to bring costs to same as in state options.

We found out that although we make too much for Pell grant, we qualify for a state grant. So that saves us several thousand dollars and D is not that far away, saving on travel costs, plus her insurance is accepted without problem at her school.

As 3scoutsmom mentioned above CLEP is a great way to save money on college. It also can save the student aot of time also. My oldest boy CLEP’ed out of one whole semester. And we saved about $5000. Make sure they take the studying part seriously. Dont let them go in unprepared. A good CLEP Study is worth its weight. We used Prime Educational Soution’s Study Guide. They had a special all the CLEP Study Guides for $75. Not sure if they still have the special going on. [Here]( http://clixtrac.com/goto/?237900) is their site. Good Luck, also there are alot of CLEP Videos on Youtube, they cover alot of the subject matter of the different exams.