Will Saving Money for College Cost You?

I saw this article about saving money from college, and it had some interesting tidbits. Here is the paragraph that caught my attention:

In 2007, according to the College Board, the average financial aid package totaled $9,500 covering 43% of tuition, fees, and room and board for one year at the average four-year college, public or private. This underscores the need for families to save in a dedicated college savings account to supplement the remaining costs. However, 60% of parents think that if they save too much toward their child’s future education that it could negatively affect their child’s chances of receiving financial aid. And that is just one myth about saving for college. Here are the other seven.

Let’s look at this really closely for a moment. I have mentioned that rarely do people pay “sticker price” for a college. I love to read about how the AVERAGE parent saves 43% of the average college costs – in both public and private school! This article implies that we should therefore panic about the cost. I like to look at the bright side, though. On the bright side, college costs are not as astronomical as they appear on the brochures.

There are people who believe you “should not” save for college because the more you save, the less that will be awarded to you through the FAFSA. This article says that saving money will not hurt you (at least with financial aid.) For our family, we did what we could to save for college, knowing full well that we couldn’t save enough to pay the “sticker price” for a private school. We tried to save enough for the kids to attend a public university while living at home. That way, if they didn’t get ANY scholarships, we could still afford college. Our FAFSA results confirmed that we weren’t penalized for our savings at all. Each family is unique, of course, but don’t hesitate to save for college because you think it will cost you in financial aid.

Here is a link to the original article, in case you are interested. I think they are trying to sell me a 529 plan, don’t you? LOL!

Eight College-Savings Myths

Of course, another way to get into college is to win BIG with merit scholarships! Check out my Getting the BIG Scholarships DVD for how to make this strategy work for your family!

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