For many parents, covering the cost of college for their children is a “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it” topic of conversation and planning.
Well, for those of you who are the parents of high school juniors – that bridge is right in front of you. Even if you haven’t spent the last 15 years in a disciplined savings plan that ensures you have the cash on hand to cover Susie or Sam’s college costs, there are still strategies you can employ to help cover the cost of college. And to begin with, you need to know that the underlying assumption on which all colleges base their financial aid and scholarship programs is very simple and very clear: the primary responsibility for paying for college rests with the student’s family and the student. Yes, it is your responsibility and we offer three suggestions for ways to tackle that commitment.
First: sit down with your spouse or former spouse and start talking. Make an inventory of the cash resources you will have available when the first bill for college – for fall semester, 2013 arrives. Yes, in just 14 months from now, July 2013, bills for the class to enter college in fall 2013 will land in parental mailboxes. Included, on the credit side of the equation, will be any financial assistance your son or daughter received based on academics, talent and need. The amount you pay could feel staggering, even if quite of bit of “other people’s money” (read: the college, federal and state governments, and external scholarships) has been subtracted from the college’s sticker price. Read More→













