Kal Chany is the author of the book Paying for College Without Going Broke. I recently asked Kal to provide some financial aid tips for prospective college students. According to Kal, it's never to early to start thinking about aid—there are many things that juniors, sophomores, and even freshmen can do to trim the cost of their future education. Some of the most effective strategies are below.
10 Tips for Trimming the Cost of College
1. Get the best score possible on the ACT or SAT. Colleges don’t just consider your standardized test score(s) in their admissions decisions—they consider them in their financial aid decisions as well. Even a 10-point increase in your SAT score, for example, could save your family thousands of dollars. Simply put, colleges want students with high test scores and they give better aid packages to these students. You should enroll in a test preparation course or, at the very least, buy a book with practice tests or sample questions.
2. Be a smart shopper. Check schools’ financial aid statistics on PrincetonReview.com. Your chances of getting significant aid will be better at schools that give generous financial aid packages. Also check out The Princeton Review’s Best Value Colleges lists.
3. Don’t immediately rule out a college because you think it’s too expensive. The higher the cost, the more aid you may receive. Many colleges—especially the private ones—have increased their aid budgets to attract applicants whose families are now more cost-conscious given the state of the economy. A generous aid award from a pricey private school can make it less costly than a public school with a lower sticker price. But have some back-up schools in case you don’t receive enough aid to attend the pricier schools.
4. Apply to “financial aid safety schools.” You should purposely apply to some schools where your test scores and academic record exceed the school’s admission standards. These schools, in addition to being “safety schools” in the traditional sense, are much more likely to give you merit-based aid or a better need-based aid package (i.e., one with more scholarships or grants and fewer loans). You should also apply to schools that you can afford without much—or any—aid. Most likely this will mean applying to a public institution in your home state as well as a nearby school that would allow you to live at home and skip the cost of room and board.
5. Consider attending a community college for two years. After two years, you can transfer to a pricier school to finish your bachelor’s degree. The diploma won’t say “transfer student” on it—it will be identical to the one earned by the student who paid high tuition for all four years. Just plan ahead and be sure that the college to which you expect to transfer will accept the community college’s credits.
6. Be realistic about outside scholarships. These scholarships account for less than five percent of all aid awarded. Research them at PrincetonReview.com or other free sites. Steer clear of scholarship search firms that charge fees and “promise” scholarships.
7. Earn college credits while still in high school. You should take AP classes, as many colleges award credits for high AP exam scores. Also take “dual enrollment” classes if they are offered at your high school. Dual enrollment classes are special classes at your school that will earn you credit at a nearby college. You’ll be able to take these credits with you when you start college.
If your high school doesn’t offer dual enrollment, consider taking CLEP (College-Level Examination Program) exams in the subjects you take in high school. Depending on the college, a qualifying score on any of the 33 CLEP exams can earn students 3 to 12 college credits. (See The Princeton Review's Cracking the CLEP, 5th Edition.) Some students have cut a year off their college tuition through AP classes, dual enrollment, and/or CLEP.
8. Explore whether “cooperative education” (co-op) programs are offered at the colleges on your list. Over 900 colleges allow students to combine their college education with a job. It can take longer to complete a degree this way, but graduates generally owe less in student loans and have a better chance of getting hired after graduation.
9. Talk to your parents about maximizing your family’s aid eligibility. Financial aid awards for your first year of college will be based in part on your family’s income for the calendar year beginning Jan. 1 of your junior year and ending Dec. 31 of your senior year of high school. For this reason, it is not too early to begin planning when you are in the 9th or 10th grade. Your family should consider making the appropriate adjustments to its assets, debts, and retirement funds. Suggest to your parents that they read a consumer-friendly book that explains the financial aid formulas in detail, such as The Princeton Review’s Paying for College Without Going Broke. If your family has a complicated financial situation, it may be beneficial for your parents to hire an independent financial aid consultant.
10. Learn as much as you can about how the aid process works. In theory, financial aid funds are supposed to go to those who need the money the most. The reality, however, is that financial aid funds flow to those who know how to navigate the aid process to their best advantage. The more you know about the process, the more confident you can be that you will get the most aid possible!
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