Although inflation and rising tuition costs can have a significant impact on the overall cost of a college education, you can take steps to send your children to college for less. Before you can determine how much you can contribute to your child's college savings, you need to take a careful look at your family's spending habits and make changes or reset priorities as necessary. In addition to cutting back on your other expenses, you can begin looking for ways to shave college costs.
Step 1
Invest in a 529 college savings program, suggests finance expert Suze Orman. This type of savings plan offers advantages that other savings plan options do not. One benefit is that most withdrawals for tuition and expenses are tax-free. Another advantage is that a 529 savings plan is usually exempt from consideration for state financial aid. Consequently, students will not receive less financial aid because their parents have a 529 savings plan for them.
Step 2
Send your child to a public college rather than a private school. Your child can still receive an excellent education at a state college, but you will save a large sum of money on her tuition. The College Board estimates that the annual tuition cost on average to attend a public four-year college is usually less than $9,000 compared wth private four-year colleges that charge an average $26,000 and upward each year for tuition and fees. Get the most for your money by comparing several different state colleges to find one with a good reputation that has the features you are looking for in a public school.
Step 3
Enroll your child in a community college for the first two years of his education. Look for a community college that offers articulation agreements with four-year universities. After completing his associate degree, if your child is able to maintain the necessary GPA for his program of study and meets any other requirements, he will receive preferred or even guaranteed admission to a four-year college with which the community college has an agreement. With this method, you can save tens of thousands of dollars on the total cost of college tuition compared with attending a public college for all four years.
Step 4
Sign up for college rewards programs. Earn rewards by shopping at participating retailers online. The monetary rewards are then placed into a tax-deferred college savings account. Many of the nation's largest retailers participate in a college rewards program.
Step 5
Save as much as 20 percent by comparison shopping for textbooks rather than buying them at the college bookstore. Shop for textbooks online and receive discounted prices. A student can also buy used rather than new textbooks at the college bookstore. Sharing textbooks or using reserved library copies are other options. Keith McCann, bookstore director at Cleveland State University, suggests renting textbooks for 50 percent less than you would pay to buy them new.
Step 6
Convince your child to live at home or with a family member and commute to college if feasible. Not having to pay for college room and board is a major savings.
Tips and Warnings
- Purchase a computer during the back-to-school sale when you can usually find great rates on both laptops and desktops. If your state offers a tax-free shopping day each year, you could purchase your child's computer for college at that time. If your child attends college away from home, getting a dorm room or renting an apartment near the college saves on the expense of maintaining a car. Your student can use public transportation or walk if she lives near the campus and downtown area.
