There are a number of factors that go into choosing a college and one of the most critical is money. This presentation offers helpful advice about calculating the money factor when selecting a college

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How To Calculate The
Money Factor When
Choosing A College
If you or your child is headed towards the
senior year of high school, congratulations!
The majority of high school is now behind
you. But there’s something big coming your
way and it’s called choosing a college. So,
where do you think you would you like to be
– near the ocean, close to great skiing, in a
small town or living the urban life?
(Continued …)
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Questions to ask yourself
While an important question is where would you like to live for the next four or five
years an equally important one is which school or schools offer an education that would
fit best with your career plans. In other words, if you believe that you seriously want to
be a veterinarian, you'd probably be better off not going to a school that offers only a
liberal arts education. Conversely, if your dream were to teach history at the college level,
a school with a strong liberal arts bias would be a much better choice than one that
includes the word Technology in its title.
Of course, you cannot separate any of this from the fact that some schools may accept
you and others may not. If you or your child is carrying a straight 4.0 average, has been
active in extracurricular activities and a student athlete, the odds are that he or she will be
accepted by most schools. But if he or she has been carrying a B average and not an
athlete, some of those letters may be ones of rejection.
The money factor
Finally, there is the inescapable fact that college costs money. While it's hard to figure
this all out, a good way to start is by creating a spreadsheet using information from the
financial aid offices of the schools you or your child is considering. This should include a
column for tuition, room and board, books and fees, transportation, cell phone fees and
miscellaneous expenses. Of course, your vertical column will consist of the various
schools being considered.
Once you've filled in this information you should have at least a rough idea of what a
year at each of the schools will cost.
Half the equation
Determining what a year of college will likely cost you is only half the equation. The
other half is calculating how you will pay for it.
This typically will begin in January of next year when you fill out the Free Application
For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). You will need to complete this form even if you don't
think you'll be applying for federal student aid because virtually every college in the
nation uses it to determine what if any aid it will offer you or your child. As an example
of this, you will need to have the following documents or information available in order
to fill out your FAFSA.
• Your Social Security number (it’s important that you enter it correctly on the
FAFSA!)
• Your parents’ Social Security numbers if you are a dependent student
• Your driver’s license number if you have one
• Your Alien Registration Number if you are not a U.S. citizen

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• Federal tax information or tax returns including IRS W-2 information, for you
(and your spouse, if you are married), and for your parents if you are a dependent
student:
◦ IRS 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ
◦ Foreign tax return and/or
◦ Tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands,
the Marshall Islands, the Federal States of Micronesia, or Palau
• Records of your untaxed income, such as child support received, interest income,
and veterans non-education benefits, for you, and for your paren
• Information on cash; savings and checking account balances; investments,
including stocks and bonds and real estate but not including the home in which
you live; and business and farm assets for you, and for your parents if you are a
dependent student
Before you take out a loan
One staggering statistic we read recently is that the average college student graduates
owing around $30,000 in student loan debts. If you would like to keep your child from
graduating this much in debt, be sure to ask the schools that he or she is considering for
their Financial Aid Shopping Sheets. This is a form developed by the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB). It’s now being used by more than 2,000 schools and is
designed to provide parents and students with good information and a clear set of facts
before they sign up for any student loans.
A helpful website
The CFPB has a section on its website titled “Paying for College.” You might take the
numbers from the spreadsheet you developed on college costs and plug the information
into this website to see comparisons of first-year college costs – three schools at a time.
This will also show what you might owe in student loan debts when you graduate. Even
if you have not yet received any financial aid offers from any schools, you should be able
to use it to at least make estimates. You can also tweak the numbers by changing factors
such as living in off-campus housing rather than in a dormitory and then how that choice
would affect how much you might need to borrow in student loans.
What kind of aid might you receive?
Naturally, the best kind of aid to receive is the kind you don't have to pay back. If you or
your child is a stellar athlete, he or she might qualify for an athletic scholarship. And
while academic scholarships are difficult to obtain, there is always that possibility.
Beyond this most schools offer other aid in the form of work grants, grants-in-aid and
what’s called work-study programs. In addition, the US Department of Education (ED)

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offers free financial aid in the form of Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational
Opportunity Grants (FSEOG), Federal Work-Study Programs, and Teacher Education
Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grants. It’s also possible that
your state offers some forms of financial aid. Where we live there are Denver Foundation
Scholarships and Boettcher Scholarships that cover the full costs of a four-year education.
There are more than 30 other scholarships available to students in our state including one
for young men and women who were golf caddies
A one-word recommendation
When it comes to borrowing money to pay for college, we have a one-word
recommendation: Don’t – unless there are simply no other viable alternatives. Beginning
life after college owing $20,000, $30,000 or more is sort of like having a millstone
around your neck. It will limit many of your financial choices for at least the first three to
five years after you graduate. You might find you have to take a job you don’t like very
much just so you can pay on your student loan debts. And if you’re in a field where you
will need a graduate degree, you would likely end up piling more debts on top of those
debts.
The one word to avoid at all costs
If you are forced to take out student loans there is one word you want to avoid at all costs
and it is the word default. You are considered to be in default on a student loan the day
after you miss a payment. Yes, just one day and one payment. Ninety days after this, your
lender will report your default to all three credit bureaus, which will have a dramatically
negative affect on your credit score. It’s even possible that your debt will be turned over
to a collection agency and trust us when we say this is something you just don’t want to
see happen. Debt collectors have a reputation that’s well earned for being totally pitiless
when it comes to collecting a debt. In addition, if you have a default on your record
within the past three years you could find it impossible to buy a house using a FHA
(Federal Housing Administration) guaranteed loan.
Not an easy decision
As you have read, there are a number of different factors that go into choosing a college
or university, not the least of which is money. Many students today are electing to spend
their first two years at a community college and then transfer to a four-year private or
public school. This is a way to cut college costs considerably and yet still graduate from a
“name” school. For that matter, many other students are choosing to get their
undergraduate degrees from middle-of-the-road state schools and then use the money
they saved to get their graduate degrees from more prestigious colleges or universities.

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It's sad but true that like many things in life, choosing a college or university can come
down to a trade off of what you would like versus what would make the most financial
sense for you and your parents.
In addition, if you have a default on your record within the past three years you could
find it impossible to buy a house using a FHA (Federal Housing Administration)
guaranteed loan.

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Does this sound familiar?
• You are tired of worrying about money…
• You are losing sleep due to mounting credit
card debt…
• You are fighting with your partner about the
bills…
• You are living paycheck to paycheck…
• You are falling behind on your debts…
• You are losing hope…
It’s time to talk with National Debt Relief!
Call Toll Free 1-888-275-4499
Or Go To
http://www.nationaldebtrelief.com/free-student-
loans-quote-now/?src=PDFs