Top 10 Tips for College Planning – Part 2
7. The college car discussion. I remember when my daughter was a senior in high school and came back from an out-of-state college visit. She was excited to tell me all the details. She had memorized a lot of statistics while on her visit and during our conversation she slipped this comment in:
“Dad, 96% of the students have a car at XYZ College.”
I thought about it for a second and replied, “Great, then you won’t have a problem getting around.”
I’m pretty sure that was the response she was looking for.
Our personal conviction was that our kids would be better served without a car their first few years in college. I’m proud to say that my oldest daughter decided to go to the private out-of-state college, worked and paid for the uncovered portion, then transferred to an in-state public university after two years. By graduation she had no student debt, purchased a nice, used car in cash, fully funded a ROTH IRA and still had money in the bank. My second daughter is will finish in 3-1/2 years and the money she is saving by finishing early will help pay for her Master’s degree.
8. School books. One of the most outrageous expenses of a college education is the cost of books. College textbook prices are 812 percent higher than they were a little more than three decades ago, according to a think tank called the American Enterprise Institute. Over the past decade, there has been a battle back and forth between textbook publishers and the consumer. The first competitor was the off-campus used bookstore. Colleges countered with buy-backs and used book sales of their own, but then upped the ante with professors getting paid to publish new editions, with only minor changes, and then requiring the new versions. A new on-line industry has emerged, selling new and used books, as well as renting them. Publishers have tried to counter this by packaging books with bundled software or on-line codes which will only work once, and making certain editions university specific to reduce competition. Unfortunately the adverse effect has been for students to forgo the books altogether, relying on making copies of certain sections from other student’s books or just taking notes in class.
The most cost effective method I have found to procure textbooks is to rent them on-line. It removes the hassle of buying and selling new or used books and typically costs less than the net of those transactions as well. Most on-line businesses provide free labels for shipping the books back at the end of the semester.
9. To work or not to work while in college? My views on this question have evolved over the past few years. While my children were in high school I was of the opinion that they should limit working to the summer and use their free-time during the school year for sports, extracurricular activities, and social interaction with friends.
While I still maintain that view for high school, my views on working during college have changed. Both of my daughters have worked during college and it has been a positive experience for them. It has allowed them to stay debt-free, given them some extra spending money, and also provided invaluable experience in working with others.
10. Don’t leave money on the table. Scholarships given by colleges are the most common type and are typically automatic, based upon grades, SAT/ACT scores, athletics, music or other extracurricular activities. There are also national scholarships from large corporations, which you can research on the internet, but the best places to search first are local scholarships sponsored by, your church or religious denomination, Rotary Club, Kiwanis, American Legion, your employer, and local businesses. One of the best ways to fund college, which I participated in, is through a military service academy or ROTC program. Both of the processes are very time consuming and you need to be looking into it no later than Spring of your student’s Junior year in high school.5 Yes, there is a five year military commitment after graduation, but I also looked at it as guaranteed job placement. In addition, after five years you can choose to continue a military career or you can apply for a job with real world experience, discipline and management skills that all employers covet. Through the Service Academies or ROTC, tuition, room and board, and books are 100% paid for and you receive pay while you’re going to school. Not all colleges have an ROTC program. Of those that do, many only have one branch of the service offered. If your son or daughter is interested, my suggestion is to first investigate what branch of the service would be the best fit. Next pursue the Service Academy associated with that branch and conduct an internet search to see what colleges have ROTC programs for that branch of the service.