About 19 million heading off to college next month.
College is not a one-time expense - "One of my friends likens it to buying a luxury car, then driving it off a cliff ... repeat that four times ... then you can imagine what it's like to pay for college."
Before you write your first tuition check, check on the school's performance, too.
How many people who start at that school continue for a second year?
How many graduate in four years?
What about six?
Paying tuition to a school with rotten retention and graduation statistics is probably a huge waste of time.
The National Center for Education Statistics offers a great Web-based tool called College Navigator that give the essential statistics.
- Get credit for AP classes - take the tests, it's worth it at about $86 per subject; that's a fraction of the cost of even a single unit at a public or private university.
- Take summer classes at the community college in your hometown. (Make sure you pick courses that can be transferred)
- Rent or borrow books
- Work for food - a student can work for a restaurant or school cafeteria and probably get either free or discounted food. Remember to pack a lunch - as it's far less expensive.
- Pay as you go - Thousands of schools allow parents to spread their payments out without paying interest.
- Choose you loans wisely - there are two types - federally offered loans and those offered by private lenders. If you must borrow, seek federally guaranteed student loans, which have a maximum interest rate of 6.8%. Most private loans are variable. This could double the cost of your education.
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