college fees & tution

Dyanne - posted on 09/03/2009

There are sooooooo many scholarships out there that no one ever applies for, do a scholarship search...my son goes to a private college on scholarship...went to a private high school on scholarship...there are scholarships for everything...apply, apply, apply...all they can say is no! Most major stores also provide scholarships!!

Sandra - posted on 09/03/2009

My son and I both had a few grants to attend college through all the areas listed above, but I found this to be a better help to us and it doesn't just help with your college tuition. check out the website: www.greatcareerplan.com/?youngs92

Amy - posted on 09/03/2009

Quoting AERESA:

He has to be 24 to apply for fafsa, I will look into applying for a loan for him. What is the name of the subsidized an unsubidzed loans?

You can do the FAFSA at any age, as long as you are a high school graduate.  They just will require the parent's information.  Our son is 20 and has been doing his since he started school at 18. 

Oh and check out www.finaid.org, they help you look for financial aid. 

There are several places to go through for loans:  Sallie Mae, Chase, collegeloan.com, and Wells Fargo are just a few.  You can check with your bank too.

Amy - posted on 09/03/2009

We used fastweb and also check and see if the school has a work study program. Some schools offer it for a few peoplen who qualify.

Bess - posted on 09/01/2009

The kids need to meet with the scholarship consular at the college. These consular can help them see what scholarships and grants they are eligible for. Also look at business and companies locally that have scholarship contests see if your child is eligible that way too. Also talk to the schools financial aid dept they will help too.

AERESA - posted on 09/01/2009

He has to be 24 to apply for fafsa, I will look into applying for a loan for him. What is the name of the subsidized an unsubidzed loans?

Christine - posted on 08/31/2009

We have 3 kids in college. All of my kids apply for FAFSA in January, and take school loans. Hubby and I have a certain amount that we pay for each child each year, and the rest they have to fund, get scholarships or grants, or take out loans. We do not qualify for Parent Plus loans (thankfully) so they get the max in both Subsidized and Un-Sub loans. That really makes them appreciate their time at school, because if they screw around... they are paying for most of it.

We put them all through 13 years of private schooling so that they could have a good foundation for college and beyond.

Mary - posted on 08/27/2009

It's hard out there both myself and my youngest son are in college and they will not give him a loan, I had to apply for a parent plus loan first, if denied then they will give him one, gethey are getting tough with the loans. good luck

Karen - posted on 08/27/2009

This applies more to parents with kids that are just entering High School, preparing for college later. Keep up a very high GPA, above 3.5, all four years. Get your ACT, SAT tests completed during the Jr. Year. Take all your academic classes as AP classes and take the AP tests, this will knock out a year of college while in High School and get all the basic studies courses out of the way. Start your applications the summer before your Sr. year, early bird, early commitment gets the academic scholarships. Do not overlook the private schools, they have more academic scholarships available than public schools, room and board costs are comparable with public schools. If your child has more than one field of interest, see what schools are offering scholarships in one of those fields and apply there. Pretty much any college, you have to pay room and board on your own through family funds, student loans or financial aid, unless you are fortunate enough to get a full ride scholarship. If your child can qualify to be a RA in the dorms, Room and Board is part of their pay, plus a very small allowance. My daughter has the State of Florida's 100% Bright Futures Scholarship (pays less for private), plus a supplimentary academic through the college that caps out of pocket tuition at 1,500 a year for up to 5 years. She had to commit to the college in early September of her Senior year in High School and be one of the 1st 500 incoming freshmen to commit. Timing counts. If your child is serious about going to college, they must understand that the work starts in 9th grade. Scholarships are looking for well rounded students, commitment, leadership. It takes being very envolved in activites as well as great grades, join organizations, sports, clubs, especiall NHS, BETA, student council, mentoring, volunteering in your community or Church, Drama. My daughter was in several clubs, student council, Drama, taught in a Wednesday afternoon after school program at our church, worked in the childrens program at the local library, the summer reading program at the Library and worked part time as a library aide making less than minimum wage. But, the library would work around the clubs and other activities. Your child's main job in High School should be preparing for College. That burger joint or grocery store job may pay better for buying clothes and buying CD's, but the time it consumes costs them in building their college resume and the scholarships will pay a lot more in the long run. Ours are ending up being worth around $100,000, with a degree and minor that is taking 4 1/2 years. Support and encourage your child emotionally. It is hard to have to start planning your future when you are ony 14, but in this day in age, unfortunately, that is what it takes.

Joan - posted on 08/26/2009

There are a lot of websites for scholarship info; not all are reputable. I suggest that you work with your high school guidance office to find those that you can trust. Most scholarship applications do require some sort of essay, but many times a generic essay can be "tweaked" to meet the requirements - no need to write a new essay each time. It all depends on how much time you and your child want to spend on filling out the applications. And, it's very important that this is something your child owns; don't be tempted to do the work for him/her!

Stephanie - posted on 08/25/2009

Besides the federal pell grant, most states have some type of grant program that will help towards some of the expense. Also I received info from the state unemployment office that they have a program that would help pay for some college also. Another thing to think about (which we did) is to have them get their prelim studies at community college (way cheaper) and then transfer to 4 yr university. Most CC have programs that are focused on transferring students to university. Our CC even has dorms so they get the real experience of not living at home. One other note, sometimes the scholl itself has grant money that they award that is not from fed or state program. Hope I helped some. My son just entered his freshman year.

Eileen - posted on 08/25/2009

Both of my college sons are in college now. One applied for a lot of scholarships but didn't have much luck with getting any. A lot of those require lots of hard work with writing essays which neither one of my sons wanted to do. But we always told them that we would pay half of their college expenses and the rest was up to them. So they both will have student loans when they are out of college to the amount of over $30,000. Every year we apply for financial aid through FAFSA and the loans that they receive cover a good portion of their tuition. But since both of them don't live at home, we have the rent for the apartment or their on campus housing to pay for. I will be so glad next year that our older son is going to graduate!

AERESA - posted on 08/24/2009

thx u !

Lisa - posted on 08/24/2009

Fastweb.com has a lot of information about different ways to pay for college. They have a host of scholarship listings, etc. Check with the school theres always work study that provide funding.