At what point should we take tuition prices into consideration? Before my child applies? After?
From the Pros
From Lynn Whalen, Executive Director, Public Relations and Marketing, Lincoln Land Community College: Before! The amount of student debt you accrue can affect your life for many years after college.
From Springfield Academic: It is important to know the percentage of students who receive need-based aid and merit aid at a particular school. For instance, Northwestern University covers 100% of financial need (Cost of Attendance-Estimated Family Contribution) but does not give any merit-aid (academic) scholarships. This formula applies to most highly-selective colleges. In Central Illinois, Illinois Wesleyan University and Bradley University are known for giving large need-based and merit aid packages.
From Mary Beth Stephens, MBS College Coaching LLC: The federal government requires all colleges to have a “net price calculator” on their website. Don’t try to find it on your own, just search for it. Each school has to include certain basic questions; some ask more. After completing the form, you will receive a determination of what, if any, merit aid your child may receive, and a breakdown of other financial aid you may qualify for. This determination is not a guarantee of admission or of the aid, just an estimate. It can be extremely useful for a family to determine if a higher priced school isn’t really as high priced as they thought.
From the Moms
From Julie Kaiser: We always kept an eye on tuition. If it was way over our family’s budget, we discussed the implications well before making a decision about whether or not to apply. Our family goal was no student debt.
From Angela Try: After acceptance and merit aid had been calculated in.
From Denise Beauman: For us parents, it was when she applying. Some of the schools have a hefty price tag and we knew the college fund wouldn’t cover all of it. But we also knew too how hard our child worked and we didn’t want to stop her from applying to the schools she wanted too. After our student made her decision on where to go, that is when we started to talk about the money.
For tips about when to talk college finances with your child, click here.
