Anyone want to give me $150,000 plus? College funding. How does everyone make it happen?

Question

Just doing the math for my daughter's first 4 years of higher education and thinking... WOW, how are we going to do this? We haven't even been able to buy a house yet! Not looking for smart @$$ remarks, just sympathy I guess... or real offers (I know, yeah right) I am looking into scholarships, etc. My main problem is that we are in the lower end of what is still considered middle income and it astounds me what they think we can or should be able to afford. They don't take into account all of a family's other expenses! I don't think these amounts have been adjusted for cost of living in quite some time (gas and grocery increases?!) Saving money has not been an option since we already live by the skin of our teeth to stay in the school district we live in which we think is important. Real words of advice or encouragement? Our oldest has an A/B average. Not the top of the class, but ok.

Answer 1

I noticed in another question that you have a high school sophomore daughter. She does have several things going for her with her grades, and if things are done right, she could have money to attend college. It is a good time to start searching for college, but there needs to be done some work on your daughter's end partly, too. It will make sense after you read the entire answer. I will include some free resources to locate money for her to attend college.

First, the college's financial aid office and website has a list of private scholarships offered from outside organizations and companies. Sometimes a college major's website will list scholarships, too.

Second, the public library has a book listing scholarships with some not even listed on the web.

Third, the high school guidance office has a list of local scholarships and state scholarships & grants. This can be done in the senior year.

Fourth, a campus work study job can help with money needed during the school year. The program is funded by the federal government. It will be a job on campus and most times can work to your availability schedule. There should be a box on the FAFSA form for it.

Fifth, fill out the FAFSA form after January 1 of his senior year of high school. I recommend applying no later than mid February. It will qualify her for need based financial aid from the federal government and the school itself. It will come in the form of scholarships, Pell Grant, student loans, and the work study program. It does not matter if he was accepted or not. All it matters is that he list the schools he applied to for consideration.

Sixth, study and practice for the SAT or ACT tests. It can help bring merit scholarships from the college itself. Prepare for the PSAT which could bring in scholarship money with excellent scores. I recommend using test preparation book, software, or a test preparation course.

Seventh, states do offer grant and scholarships for students with excellent grades. Search Google.com and Yahoo.com for these grants and scholarships with your state's name.

Finally, I recommend joining several free membership scholarship search websites. There are scholarships for a variety of things including ethnicity, clubs, hobbies, and even wearing duct tape to the high school prom. Most are updated on a regular basis. Most offer a customized search based on information entered onto a form on the website.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Rather than trying for scholarships, try for grants or loans. Getting an education is one of the few things worth going into debt for, in my opinion. Talk with the school's financial aid office to see what steps they recommend. My son ultimately ended up waiting until he was 23 and emancipated from me (with very little money) and his father (who apparently doesn't understand the word "help"); he's on grants and loans, and I'm happy to say he will be a senior this fall, graduating with a B.S. in mechanical engineering.

Answer 3

How do we get our kids college paid for? By teaching them good study habits, teaching them how to prioritize, go to their school functions, hiring tutors or tutoring them in their off subjects, helping them prepare for and master standardized testing from elementary school on, helping them maintain as good of health as possible, probiding them with structure, safety and fun at home, providing good nutrition, and then...........watch the scholarships come in! If they are Hispanic or Part/Full African American, make sure they check off that they DO WANT to be considered for National Achievement or Hispanic Scholars awards when they take the National Merit Scholarship exams (PSAT) during their first year of high school! If they do not check that box (many don't even know what it is!) they won't get the recognition! And there are tuition FREE colleges for students who do well on the PSAT --- IF THEY CHECK that box! .

Answer 4

start out at community college or a state school. CC's are affordable for virtually anyone and then she can transfer for her last 2 yrs and save you boatloads of money. otherwise, you are looking at borrowing it all with loans and that will not be pretty when she is finished. if you go that route, make sure she picks a field that will allow her adequate income to pay back the loans

Answer 5

People will boo me but I work for ROTC. We offer full scholarships (all tuition and fees), $300-500 monthly stipend (300 for freshmen, 350 for sophomores, 450 for juniors, 500 for seniors), $900 per year in book money and most universities have some form of incentives. One of the Universities in my area offers a free dorm room and the other university offers $1,000-4,000 yr. depending on grades.

This is how I did it myself without any help from my parenst.

Answer 6

student loans all the way... campusdoor.com is what i use