Blonch

Our daughter is in her final semester (we hope) at Baylor University – on track to graduate in four years. We are nearly through paying for college. Our experience challenges a couple of common perceptions about financing college. The first is college is expensive and it is therefore necessary to save money for years to be able to pay for it.  The second is that some schools cost more than others. We weren’t able to save up to pay for college and yet we have been able to pay as we go. Then, when our daughter looked at transferring from the more expensive private school to a state school, our cost was going to be the same, so I told her not to make the transfer decision be about money.

In the United States, the great equalizer is FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The form gathers information about your income and assets and determines your expected family contribution – EFC for the school year. That is how much they think you can afford. It is then the job of the financial aid office at your college to come up with a way for the EFC to be all you have to pay that year. For us, our EFC was a comfortable amount each year, and Baylor came through with the rest.

So don’t be intimidated by the prospect of having to pay for college – any college. Let FAFSA be your friend. More later about getting the most benefit from FAFSA and other ways to maximize scholarships.

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College Costs by PecosJack