college
There are five places where you have a significant opportunity to lower your costs for college. Now I am not talking about how you are going to save money for college . This is not about putting away money for the next 15 years in anticipation of paying for your 1st grader's college down the road. These are actions you can take now when you have a high school student and college is on your doorstep.
1. The place to start is lowering your expected family contribution or EFC. This is the baseline calculation developed by the federal government used to determine how much the schools and the government think you can spend on your student's college education. When you fill out a FAFSA form (free application for federal student aid), you are providing the feds with the information they use to determine your EFC. In a nutshell, your EFC is determined by the student's income and assets, and the parent's income and assets. Now if you know how to manipulate those income and assets, you can lower your EFC... you can lower your baseline. And the lower you get your baseline, the less money you will spend on college.
2. Identify the schools with the generous financial track records. I cannot overstate the importance of this step. Not all schools treat students equally. Some schools are far more generous than others. For example: a student applies to four different colleges and all of the schools have a sticker price or more than $20,000. At school 1, he will pay $10,000. At school 2, he will pay $15,000. At school 3, he will pay $20,000. And at school 4, he will pay $25,000.
Tag: college
