College application season is in full swing. Parents and students are filling out forms, editing essays, and checking their bank accounts. Students worry about getting rejection letters, but some parents may worry more about what they will do once their son or daughter is actually accepted. There’s a lot of information out there—both good and bad—about paying for college. I want to clarify a few of the less-than-true statements you may have heard.
Myth #1:
You can’t afford college, or you can’t afford the college of your dreams.
Many students and parents see the tuition price, the cost of living in the dorms, and the price of textbooks and say there is just no way they could ever afford it. Let’s face it, college is expensive! It’s the largest single investment many families ever make. However, two out of three students get at least some financial aid to help make college more affordable, according to Sallie Mae, the largest education lender.
Students can receive a combination of grants, loans, scholarships, or work-study jobs to help reduce the cost of college. So, don’t ignore a college just because of its “sticker price.” If a college has higher tuition, students often can get more financial aid to help cover the extra cost. For example, parents with incomes below $60,000 aren’t expected to contribute to the cost of their child’s education at Harvard.
Myth #2:
You have to be very poor, very smart, or uncommonly talented to qualify for financial aid.
Financial aid comes in many forms—grants and scholarships, which you don’t have to repay, and loans, which you do have to repay. There is need-based aid for students who come from lower income families and merit-based aid for students who excel in athletics, drama, debate, instrumental music, community service, and many other areas.
You will find financial aid from a number of sources: the federal government, state government, the college or university itself, a parent’s employer, and many other organizations. When students take the time to discover all of the possibilities, they can be surprised at what offers for aid they may receive.
One good source for information is http://studentaid.ed.gov, where you can get Funding Education Beyond High School: The Guide to Federal Student Aid. The guide is also available in print at many public libraries and schools or by calling 1-800-433-3243.
Myth #3:
You can get more scholarships by paying someone to search for you.
Scholarship scams are everywhere. Beware of any group or individual that guarantees a scholarship if you pay a fee. There are many very good, FREE scholarship sources—check out www.fastweb.com or www.finaid.org.
Myth #4:
My child will pay for college herself, so it doesn’t matter how much money I make.
Most need-based financial aid is based on parents’ income and assets. Most schools require students to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in order to qualify for need-based aid. That form asks for income information similar to what you need for your income taxes. You can find it by logging on to www.fafsa.ed.gov. After submitting the FAFSA, students receive a report that shows how much the government expects you to pay towards your child’s education. If you’re not ready to actually file yet, you can get an estimate of your expected family contribution by going to www.act.org/fane.
Myth #5:
You can wait until you get accepted to a college before worrying about financial aid.
Most financial aid is doled out on a first-come, first-served basis. Since most students will search for some type of financial aid, you shouldn’t wait too long to get started.
Looking for financial aid is probably not the way that most teenagers want to spend their free time. But a little work now can go a long way in paying for an education tomorrow.
My parent don’t make much combined >65000. They pay a mortgage, support my grandmother who lives with them, pay taxes, bills, etc. I can’t even expect them to pay for my textbooks (~$400) each semester. And only about 1/2 of my tuition is covered by financial aid in the form of LOANS! That’s about ~$4000 every semester. I receive about $250 in grants per semester; that doesn’t even cover my textbook costs! I was recently declined for a private loan from my bank whom I’ve already taken out 4 educational loans with. There reason was that based on mine and my parent’s income that the accumulated debt from all previous loans would be too high if I take out another loan. WHAT!?? I’m a 3rd year undergraduate, I have 2 more years to go and my bank that I’ve been with for 7+ years will not loan me any more money for school!! ..How am I supposed to pay for the rest of college? MYTH #1 is NOT a myth -it’s reality for people like me. You know how tough it is to focus and find motivation to study when you don’t even know if you’ll be able to afford next semester. And get this! – you can’t drop out cause as soon as you do you’ll have to pay back the loans! But you can’t stay in school cause you can’t afford it! Oh isn’t this great…
Myth #1 is making light of an unwise financial choice. Scholarships are based on grades, abilities, and so on. They are less likely to cover a large chunk of tuition compared to Financial Aid. The money from grants and other resources are little compared to the overall reckless spending that will take place utilizing Financial Aid. I’d rather you take advantage of a community college to ‘save’ money. You’ll be able to take General Education classes that are less expensive keeping good quality, instead of paying a hefty price at a 4-year private or public institution.
“The ability to think is the ability to make wise decisions using discernment.” – J. Randall
I can honestly say that this article actually made me angry. It give people the idea that if they work hard and make smart decisions they can pay for college. Not true. Some of us just get dealt the worst hands in life and that makes paying for college a near dream. I’m 21 and the first person to ever attend college in my family. My mom is a sinlge parent, with me in my third year of college and my sister about to graduate from highschool. As a whole, we make less than 50 grand a year. I’ve paid my own rent since I was 18, and the idea of anyone in my family helping me pay for school is entirely laughable. I went to community college for two years to keep my education costs down, and could barely afford that. Now that I’m transferring to a four-year university, I’m not even sure how I’m paying for THIS semester, let alone three more. I’ve got lots of scholarships and grants, because I’ve maintained a high GPA and have financial need, but it’s still not enough. My Pell grant is only 800 dollars. Why? Because our education system views me as a “dependent” of my mother and factors her income into my education costs. Even if I move out and pay rent somewhere else, I’m still her dependent until I turn 25 or get married. Even with all my scholarships, grants, and student loans, I’m still $6,000 short for this semester. PLUS loan perhaps? Oh yes, I have one. One that my mother made me sign a contract for stating that while the loan is in her name, I will really be paying back. And thank’s to my mothers credit score, I can’t get more than $2000 dollars. I can’t get a bank loan, because my credit score is low thanks to the high balance on my credit cards, which I used to buy $500 dollars worth of used books and make two tuition payments. Their are just some people who can’t get the money they need. Even though I have a 3.8 G.PA, even though I’m a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, even though I spend approximately four hours every week doing nothing but searching and applying for scholarships, even through I’ve worked full time making minimum wage trying to scrap up anything I could save for the last three years, I’m still not sure how I’m going to pay off my tuition by the end of the semester. That’s reality. Some of us don’t get the help we need.
Here’s my story….
I’m a freshman in college going to my second semester. I spent my first semester at a community college (Due to the fact that I was accepted for the spring semester at my 4 year college) I paid absolutely nothing for my fall semester at my community college. Even brand new books were free. The community college even awarded me $600+ for not using all of my financial aid. If I weren’t young and dumb I would’ve at least spentmy first year there but because my parents already paid the enrollment fee for my 4 year college and I had a bunch of local scholarships only awarding for a four year school I have to go. My mother was unemployed (now working 2 part time jobs because the economy sucks. And imagine she has her MBA and Nursing Degree) and my father’s self employed job was very successful before the turn of the economy and now it’s failing. We don’t have enough money to send me and my brother to college. THAT’S THE REALITY. I worked my ass off just to get $8000 worth of local scholarships and that doesn’t cover my spring semester. I’m always worrying about the next semester. Stop writing false claims about financial aid. Financial aid doesn’t begin to cover college expenses for MOST struggling Americans. Our country is setting us up to fail.
all the myths are lies
My mom makes less the 45,000 a yr. The college I was accepted to costs $42,000. I received a $16,000 artistic scholarship from the college school, and with pell and fed direct loans a total award of $24,500. My mom and I still have to come up with $18,000. My mom is a single mom, never received child support, and I worked my butt off. Whats the point of working your butt off when even when you get an amazing scholarship you still can’t go to a school other then community college. its true when they say the rich get richer and poor get nowhere. All my hard work was for nothing.
am dropping out of school i cant pay my university bills i need help.
am in the university of Ghana in africa
I’m 28. When I started college my parents made over $200,000 per year combined, but they didn’t have the ability or willingness to help. I was always on the blocked list for registering since my bills were past due. I worked but that only paid for housing. I actually got a full tuition scholarship for being top of my class and scoring a 31 on the ACT. I maintained a 4.0 for the first year in 20 cr hours of pre-med classes. I eventually had to drop out when my immune system failed. I transferred to Baylor eventually and even though the tuition is 3 times what my public state university was, I got scholarships and need based aid. It still wasn’t enough, but I would say that going to a private school can help if you are a student in need. Many of the students will be paying their own bills via their parents income, and that leaves more aid for needy students. Also, many alumni of private colleges donate so I got scholarships in some semesters with some rich people’s name on it! I was stuck in the middle zone where my parents where high earners but didn’t help me out. My advice to these students is to just travel or work for a few years instead of starting college. Or go to a community college for just one year and get straight A’s. Then when you transfer, you will get scholarship aid based on college rather than high-school grades alone. I went back to school when I was 26 and classified as an independent student, and I got $22,000 per year of need based aid that I don’t have to pay back. I can finally go to college without financial stress beyond what is manageable! I think this is a good article, but I definitely see where the commenters are coming from. Hey, college is not the only way to make money or be successful. It is not a right, it is a privilege and it is super competitive. Stop complaining and figure it out!!! Another solution is to start a blog about your college experience and post video updates every week. If you gain some followers (and you will) then when you hit a spot where you need $4,000 to pay for next semester, just post a new video and talk about it, then end the video with a request for help “if anyone is able.” People will help!! Trust me, I’ve done this. Here is the formula: post videos that help people understand your college journey and reason for going. The better and more sincere your reason for college, the more likely people will engage and help. Just help others while you are in college in whatever topics you can, and people will not allow you to fail or drop out for money issues. Give and you will receive. Too many Americans want to sit around and get without giving first. What have you done for anyone else lately? Share your knowledge in a blog. Tutor people with videos on your stronger subjects. Even other college students have wallets. Help people and you will not fail.
I have issues with the myths and the entire financial aid situation. My son will start college this fall and we are having issues determining where we will get the money to pay for it. I went back to school late in life and we are currently paying 800 a month for my student loans, which is not taken into consideration when determining what the family is expected to contribute. We are not low income so he doesn’t qualify for any grants. We are not wealthy, but in that lovely middle class who is expected to pay for everything.
Additionally, my son has a 2.9 GPA and needs a 3.0 to qualify for the lottery scholarship. He is an Eagle Scout, but he did not qualify for the scholarship because he will turn 19 this year.
The United States has the most expensive tuition on the planet. The planet. Runners up are Canada and Great Britain, but the average cost in Great Britain is only $5000/yer. Some difference! I grew up in a middle class family that was dangerously crazy to the point where child protective services took me away from them. I became an emancipated minor – only colleges would refuse to look at only my earnings to determine financial aid. They said they could do that until I was 32 years old. As a result I am about $100,000 in debt – this is $60,000 in actual tuition debt PLUS $40,000 in added fees when I was forced into forbearance several times. Do yourself a favor – don’t get an education in the United States. Head to Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, even the UK – places where they aren’t throwing their students to the wolves.
I googled and found this article. I have a 15 year old who is an very good student with good grades. I wanted to get an idea of what it might cost and read the article above; the article makes it sound as if it is a breeze to get the needed funding to go to collage…After reading comments from everyone, it saddened me to see the struggles to afford to attend collage. I am extreamly worried for my son. I wish I could pay for him but I fall into the middle class category which sounds like the kiss of death.
This article is ridiculous. I’m supposed to start cosmology school in the fall and currently have a full time job that barely pays the bills I have now. Im not sure if the government is aware of this, but the program Im going into requires me to go to school for 16 months straight and has me going to class 5 days a week from 9-4. And they don’t offer any living expense loans until I complete my first 3 months. According to the lady I did my college tour with I’m supposed to get a summer job or have my parents help me. Neither of my parents are employed and I already have 2 jobs that hardly cover the bills I do have. Unless I can get a 14,000 dollar loan to cover my living expenses for those 16 months, college won’t be an option for me. Something needs to be done about this.
I have to agree with Lindsay Smith about this, as it made me about as angry as it made her. The truth is, college isn’t magically paid for, especially your dream college, as that’s probably way more expensive than other colleges. This article tries to support the pipe dream that everyone can afford to do college how and where they want if they just work hard enough. For those of you who are reading this article, I have to say don’t get your hopes up, because some of you, for academic, financial, or other reasons, simply won’t make it. I was considered one of the best and brightest students in my high school, and everybody was always so certain that because of that and the fact my family had a total yearly income of less than 40,000 dollars, my college would be all but free. WRONG! In reality, colleges can’t just give you free tuition, they have operating costs, and they can’t afford to lose money on students. I hate to be the voice of doom here, but don’t be taken in by these ideas that no matter who you are, college is an option. Sometimes it really isn’t, and much as it may seem like it now, it isn’t the end of the world.
The most difficult part of college is paying for it. I meet way to many undergraduates who don’t even understand basic logic… so apparently anyone can get a degree as long as they have the cash.
Well I sorry to say I agree with the individuals that say this artifical is a farce. I have one child in college and another ready to go in the fall. I was always told that when you have more than one child in college you are eligible for more money. That was a lie. I got nothing more. My imaginery EFC changed but that didn’t change how much anyone would give me in grants or scholarships or loans. Right now I am broken hearted that I don’t know how to pay for my second child to attend college. I went back to the financial aid office of the private school my son was accepted to and wants to attend and they gave me an additional $4000. Grateful as I am, I still need to come up with $25,000 for him and $27,000 for my daughter. Okay so where is this supposed to come from when I make the only income in the house and that amounts to about $84,000 in adjusted income. Middle class gets the short end of the stick. I can’t pay my mortgage and bills and college. I have borrowed against my mortgage and 401k which everyone says don’t do. So what should I do. Tell them to stay home and flip hamburgers. Sorry for the sarcasm but we need to wake up. Education is a right for the privileged not the average person. If I were dirt poor, I could get a full ticket. What happens to people who work hard to get a little something. We end up out in the cold !!!!
Biggest Myth is:
Students can receive a combination of grants, loans, scholarships, or work-study jobs to help reduce the cost of college.
All this program has REALLY done is to INCREASE the cost of college for everyone who attends! You students & parents get a temporary break and maybe actually get an education but in the long run this program only makes you FOREVER beholden to the Federal Government!
Time to stop all government assistance to everyone – sure it will take time to reap the benefits of less government but it took 60 years to get us to $16,000,000,000,000.00 in debt – this makes us all slaves!
Just lost my job. Husband gets 2% raise this year and first son in college has loans on his own and the parent plus loans we signed for. Just got his 6% tuition increase for next year letter. We have house mortgage under water and a maxed out $50,000 equity loan. Second son has 30 ACT and good scholarships and grants, work study, but not enough to attend. Also has lots of AP credit. Daughter will be senior in high school next year. We’ve spent over $100,000 in education for them so far and not one college degree yet. Grandmother left them $20,000 each but can’t be touched until they are 23. Colleges say its an asset. Some asset! We pay tax every year that can’t be used for need now. Community college for what? We need more on the job training programs in fields where there are actual jobs that can provide a decent wage and lifestyle. There is no middle class.
I also in shock. The financial aid package is no where near what my daughter will need for a tuition that is 51K per year without books or a meal plan. Single parent here, widowed since she was age four and middle income. I just refinanced our home last year and have 30 more years to pay this off. The “wonderful” loan at 7.9 percent as part of the fin aid package is more than 40 percent of my total income. Huh?? My daughter is heartsick since I just told her the REAL deal-there is no way I can take on any kind of loan since there is NO money after paying bils. I am opting to try to sell our home and perhaps I may be able rent a studio apartment on my own. Is this what we expected it would come to? Absolutely not. I agree with the person that states “if we had NO income” we would be better off. Horrible.
This article is a farce and it is completely WRONG to get a person’s hopes up that they can afford college. Our son was just accepted to college in Boston. He did get scholarships worth $15,000 but that leaves us with over $27,000 more to pay that we don’t have. We just can’t justify having him owe almost $120,000 when he graduates. How would he ever pay that off? Sadly, he is not going to attend. I will never forgive myself for not being able to afford to send him. My heart is broken and I can’t understand how all these kids are able to attend. Are that many people putting themselves in astronomical debt or are that many people rich enough to pay in full? We, as a middle class working family, just can’t do it. I keep thinking that we”ve failed him as parents but then again, wouldn’t we be failing him more if we let him accumulate that much debt at such a young age with no guarantees on how he’d pay it back? You just can’t win.