FINANCING COLLEGE EDUCATION: Financing institution suggestions for the parents and student

[ZeusAV]

Originally Posted by von949

Join the military=Free education

I agree. The new GI Bill pays 100% of tuition plus monthly living expenses. That's an extremely valuable benefit provided by the military.

[jeffpv]

I echo what someone wrote about going to junior/community college first. Get those generals out of the way. First, see which generals will be accepted at the student's hoped four-year institution, then sign up at the community college.
There is basically no point in doing general courses (ex. English 101) at $1000/credit, when you can do it for $150/credit.

That will save a lot of money. I really wish I'd taken that route before entering an expensive private school!

[BuckeyeAtHeart]

If the student is a good at self-studying, they might also want to check out the CLEP exams (another program offered by College Board). Just as was suggested above, check with the student's hoped-for college/university (usually just a simple search on their website) to see their posted CLEP policy. The exams are each $80 and a passing score (determined by the school) could earn as little as 3 credits, 6 credits, or even more (for the foreign language exams).

[gardener34]

thanks for the scholarship link.
The only thing we are finding with scholarships is, that the majority of them seem to be only to freshmen. So if you choose to do the community college for 2 years thing to save money, your options are limited to scholarships that are available to you. However, the amt you save with c.c. we will still be ahead. esp, when we have a student that does not have a clue what his major will be.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by gardener34

thanks for the scholarship link.
The only thing we are finding with scholarships is, that the majority of them seem to be only to freshmen. So if you choose to do the community college for 2 years thing to save money, your options are limited to scholarships that are available to you. However, the amt you save with c.c. we will still be ahead. esp, when we have a student that does not have a clue what his major will be.

Are we talking grants and scholarships from colleges or scholarships from outside sponsors like Target? Scholarships from Target Corporation

Most colleges provide scholarships and grants to students with good grades that they want to attend their school. These are merit scholarships or grants. They often call them Presidential scholarships, Name of the College Grant, Alumni Scholarship, etc. There are also need based scholarships based on the parents income. Any of them can be tied to grades but most often they are for four years and are not available for transfer students. That's why many posters on this forum will encourage people to attend a four year college instead of starting at a community college.

You can google the name of any college with the key words, "Name of college, Financial aid" and you can see what they offer and their criteria.