Wherever you are in the world, I hope it's as gorgeous a day there as it is here in St. Louis today. And I'm not talking cool, crisp fall weather either--no, think 75 degrees, and sunny! Unbelievable. But let's not talk about weather. Let's talk about money.
Money is often the element that produces the most stress for people when their kids are looking at colleges, and for good reason. Sending a kid off to an undergraduate institution is tantamount to buying (and paying for) a brand new car every year for four years. Even with financial aid, some folks are still paying a big chunk of change to send their kids off--even at state schools. In fact, sometimes particularly at state schools!
So, a quick financial aid primer. I'm starting with the basics. You need to become familiar with the FAFSA website (www.fafsa.ed.gov) which every college will ask you to submit. Those letters stand for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. You submit it in January of your son or daughter's senior year in high school--not sooner. The fine people at FAFSA evaluate the info you've submitted and then determine what they think you can afford to pay, sending that info off to the colleges where your child is applying.
The second form that many schools will ask you about is the CSS Profile, which is on the College Board's website, and is not free (www.profileonline.collegeboard.com.) Submitting that form is a similar process, but the information requested is a little more detailed. You should do that as soon as possible during your child's senior year.
Each college will respond to the information generated by those forms differently. And this is the key to remember: financial aid offices are independent of each other, and therefore, the aid package that you receive will vary from institution to institution. How they process the info and what info they take into consideration--not to mention the actual amount of money they have available--will be different at each school. For example, once a student of mine received no financial aid because her father, who had been absent from her life since she was two, refused to submit financial records and that particular college's financial aid office required the information. Period. At another college, however, that same kid received a generous aid package, accepting the fact that the father was not going to be a source of income for this kid no matter what. So, things can really vary.
My best advice is always this: Call the financial aid office at each school where your children are applying, and ask for their guidance. Their job is to help make it possible for qualified kids to attend their institution. Most of them really want to help you. Even at the school that offered no money to my student above, the financial aid officer was genuinely sympathetic, but her institution's policy kept her from being able to help the kid.
Also, remember that aid usually comes in a package that consists of four parts: federal money that you don't have to pay back (grants), private money that you don't have to pay back (scholarships), a combination sometimes of federal and private money that you do have to pay back (loans), and occasionally the option for a student to have a campus job to cover basic expenses (work-study.)
For a really good explanation of all these options with a wealth of sources, go to the US News & World Report Education section on "Paying for College." Here's the link: http://goo.gl/2WJOs It's a wonderful resource that parents need to know about.
But remember, the best source to get the best answers you need is usually going to be the very people who give the money away--and that would be the good people in financial aid themselves. So, make a friend in every financial aid office where your kid wants to go to school, and ask your questions of that person. Don't try to bargain with them because it won't work, but do be honest in your concerns, and you will find that in most cases they will be really helpful. After all, they deal with these questions EVERY day. It may feel new or unusual or uncomfortable to us, but it's just routine for them. In fact, one financial aid dean told me that it is often the really unusual stories that are the most interesting to his staff. Go figure.
Best of luck! College is expensive, but it doesn't have to be out of reach. And there are people who can help.
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