1. Apply early, as soon as possible after January 1st, by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Also, check into state aid opportunities. Don’t wait until the last minute to apply for financial aid. Most colleges have a limited amount of institutional grant funds to award and when it’s depleted students may only be eligible for federal and state programs (i.e, the Pell grant and Stafford student loans.) You don’t have to wait until you are admitted to a program to apply.

2. Look for ways to accelerate your degree program. There are several college level examinations that you can take (i.e., the College Level Examination Program and DANTES) as well as college departmental challenge exams to gain credit. Look into possible portfolio credit opportunities for your work experience or prior learning. Portfolio credit may consist of credit for corporate training, professional licensure or certification, or other competency credit. These strategies can result in significant time and cost savings. Another way to accelerate your degree program to take courses in an accelerated learning format. Courses can be completed in six or eight week blocks. These classes are fast paced and present a large volume of information so are not for everyone, but they can help shorten the length of time you are in school and help you attain your degree for a much lower price.

3. If you are working toward a four-year degree, consider taking the first two years of general education coursework at a community college. The tuition is much lower and most schools have articulation (or transfer) agreements with four-year colleges and universities. (A community college articulation agreement outlines the course credits that can be transferred toward a bachelor’s degree at the four-year school.) Another cost effective strategy is to take college courses online or through correspondence – they are often less expensive than traditional courses and often allow you to work at your own pace.

4. Reduce the expense of textbooks. Textbook prices are escalating. Before the semester starts, get a syllabus for the classes you are taking and arrange to borrow the necessary textbooks from the public or college library. If you need to purchase the textbooks, research prices from online stores to find the best price. Many times you can get a used edition of the textbook for much less than those offered in the college bookstore.

5. Research college and university grants, as well as private scholarships. Many colleges offer academic merit or talent scholarships, and often provide special scholarships just for adult students or single parents. Make an appointment to meet with the financial aid advisor at your school’s financial aid office. He/she can help you find additonal resources, and when new opportunities become available, can contact you to let you know.

6. Check associations and organizations affiliated with your field of study for scholarships, as well as community and professional foundations. There are scholarships provided for certain ethnicities (African American, Hispanic, Native American, etc.) or members of various religious organizations. Financial aid is also available for military veterans and disabled persons.

7. Ask your employer about tuition assistance (TAP) programs. To be eligible for assistance, your degree plan should directly relate to your position or place of business. According to the College Board, nearly 86 percent of large corporations offer some type of tuition assistance for employees. TAP programs are usually administered through the human resources department or are part of an employees benefits package. If you belong to a union, check to see if they offer any scholarships.

8. Utilize eligibility for federal tax credits. For example, the Hope Scholarship Credit (up to $1,500 per year) and the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit (up to $1,000 per year) help reduce your income tax liability when you return to school. You can also deduct up to $1,500 of interest on a student loan. For more information, see the IRS Web site.

9. See if your school offers tuition or deferred payment plans. These spread the cost of tuition over a longer period of time. Some colleges also offer tuition prepayment plans, to offset the rising costs of college tuition.

10. To maximize financial aid eligibility, reduce assets by paying down consumer debt and purchasing any necessary expenditures (for example, a personal computer) before you submit the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid.)

These strategies will have the largest impact on need-based aid eligibility. 

1. Save money in the parent’s name, not the child’s name. Or use a savings vehicle that is treated like a parent asset, such as a 529 college savings plan, prepaid tuition plan or Coverdell Education Savings Account. 
2. Pay off consumer debt, such as credit card and auto loan balances. 
3. Parents should go back to school to further their own education at the same time as their children, or have multiple children in college at the same time. The more family members in college simultaneously, the more aid will be available to each. (Note: This strategy is not as effective as it once was, as whether the parents count is now an item subject to professional judgment review. The school will want to see documentation that the parent is genuinely pursuing a degree, since this is prone to fraud. Many schools will merely reduce income by the amount the family spends for the parent’s education, instead of increasing the number in college figure.) 
4. Spend down the student’s assets and income first. 
5. Accelerate necessary expenses, to reduce available cash. For example, if you need a new car or computer, buy it before you file the FAFSA. 
6. If you feel that your family’s financial circumstances are unusual, make an appointment with the financial aid administrator at your school to review your case. Sometimes the school will be able to adjust your financial aid package to compensate using a process known as Professional Judgment. 
7. Minimize capital gains. 
8. Maximize contributions to your retirement fund. 
9. Do not withdraw money from your retirement fund to pay for school, as distributions count as taxable income, reducing next year’s financial aid eligibility. If you must use money from your retirement funds, borrow the money from the retirement fund instead of getting a distribution. 
10. Minimize educational debt. 
11. Ask grandparents to wait until the grandchild graduates before giving them money to help with their education. 
12. Trust funds are generally ineffective at sheltering money from the need analysis process and can backfire on you. 
13. Prepay your mortgage. 
14. A section 529 college savings plan owned by a parent has minimal impact on financial aid, and one owned by a grandparent has no impact on financial aid. 
15. Choose the date to submit the FAFSA carefully, as assets and student marital status are specified as of the application date.

By the time high school seniors start filling out their college applications, much of what admissions officers will use to give a thumbs up or down is set. No wonder there’s such angst over the college admissions essay.

So much so that assisting students with their essays has become a big business, the subject of books and counseling and editing services.

How much does the essay really matter?

“Applicants and their families have somewhat of a belief in the redemptive value of the essay,” said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. “It’s an urban myth that a student who has goofed off his whole academic career can get in with a come-from-behind epic struggle in which the essay serves as the primary tool.”

“It’s not a substitute for a rigorous curriculum, good grades and evidence that you’re going to do well,” he said.

Still, the essay can make a difference.

At the University of Virginia, Parke Muth, the associate dean of admissions, talks about the “10 percent rule.”

“If you have 18- or 20,000 applicants, for some of those students, the essay makes a huge difference, both positively and negatively,” he said.

Admissions counselors at the University of Virginia read every essay looking for the student’s voice.

The first challenge for the writer: picking a topic.

Any topic can work — or fail, Muth said.

“It shouldn’t be an essay about community service. It should be about a moment of time,” he said. “Start writing an essay about John who you met at a homeless shelter who talked to you about his life. Like any piece of good writing, then you’re going to make that come alive.

The biggest problem for students, he said, is starting with too wide a focus. “By the time they get to the details, they run out of space,” he said. “I’m all for cutting to the chase.”

Many schools ask open-ended questions.

Last year’s common application, used by scores of colleges and universities around the country, asked students to discuss an issue of personal concern, a person, fictional character or historic figure who influenced them, a life experience or a topic of their choice.

Hilary Brandenburg, who will attend New York University in the fall, wrote about her summer internship at fashion house Liz Claiborne in New York. “I used my experience as a way to frame myself and what I was interested in studying at the schools that I applied to,” said Brandenburg, 18, of Washington, D.C.

“I had a lot of different topics I started,” she said. “At school we were told to come up with a list of anything we thought would be interesting about ourselves. We went through a lot of workshops and they gave us prompts and then we had to think about ourselves.”

She said her internship “was the easiest thing for me to write.”

Brandenburg said her biggest frustration was keeping within the word limit. “In the end, it helped me refine what I wanted to say and it became more to the point,” she said.

Muth advises students to read their completed essays to their best friend. If it sounds like them, they’ve probably done a good job, he said. “If it sounds like a Ph.D. thesis, it’s probably not their voice, the voice we’re looking for.”

It’s OK to seek feedback from a couple of people, he said, but don’t overdo it.

“I think increasingly we’re seeing essays by committee,” he said. “They’ve written a draft for their high school English class. Then their high school counselor looks it over, Mom looks it over and Dad looks it over and a friend. By the time it goes through that many people, the life is out of it.”

Then there are those who seek assistance from professional counselors or the essay companies that have cropped up.

Nassirian said college admissions officers have become good at “detecting paid embellishments” to essays.

College-Admission-Essay.com is one Internet site that offers students help with their essays.

“Imagine standing out amongst a pool of thousands of essays and applications — the odds of beating mediocrity to become a sure pick for the colleges thus becomes a high-pressure challenge,” customer representative Kathy Joon said in a written response to a question about why services such as her company’s are needed.

She said company counselors know what admissions officers are seeking and how to “elaborate the achievements and strengthen the grammar, context and content of the essays, so that they stand out apart from the numbers and details of their application.”

College-Admission-Essay.com charges students $199 to have a professional writer edit a 500-word essay. For services from a counselor, the company charges $150 per hour, with discounts for multiple hours. The counselors also provide general college counseling.

The best way to complete the FAFSA is early, and online. January 1st is the soonest you can apply; remember that there are sometimes early deadlines for awards and that awards often consist of limited funding. Complete your taxes early because you’ll need that information, otherwise you can estimate the amounts from previous years and correct the amounts on the form later by going to the corrections page on the FAFSA website.

If you apply online, your application will be processed faster and will likely be more accurate because your application will be processed on the FAFSA website to catch errors. The online application also provides worksheets that will calculate amounts and enter them into the field for you. You can save and continue the FAFSA at any time online and then sign your application electronically using a personal identification number (PIN) which you can get from the Federal Student Aid PIN website.

Making mistakes on your FAFSA could delay your application and possibly make you lose out on some financial aid. The most common errors people make are listed below. As you complete the FAFSA try to avoid these errors.

• Leaving blank fields–enter a ’0′ or ‘not applicable’ instead of leaving a blank. Too many blanks may cause miscalculations and an application rejection.
• Using commas or decimal points in numeric fields–always round to the nearest dollar.
• Listing incorrect Social Security Number or Driver’s license number–check these entries and have someone else check them too. Triple check to be sure.
• Entering the wrong federal income tax paid amount–obtain your federal income paid amount from your income tax return forms, not your W-2 form(s).
• Listing Adjusted Gross Income as equal to total income–these are not the same figure. In most cases, the AGI is larger than the total income. This mistake is particularly common.
• Listing marital status incorrectly–only write yes if you’re currently married. They want to know what you’re marital status is on the day you sign the FAFSA, or Renewal FAFSA.
• Listing parent marital status incorrectly–the custodial parent’s marital status is needed; if they’ve remarried, you’ll need the stepparent’s information too.
• Leaving the question about drug-related offenses blank–If you’re unsure about something, find out before you submit your FAFSA instead of leaving it blank. A conviction doesn’t necessarily disqualify you from getting aid.
• Forgetting to list the college–obtain the Federal School Code for the college you plan on attending and list it–along with any other schools to which you’ve applied.
• Forgetting to sign and date–if you’re filling out the paper FAFSA, be sure to sign it. If you’re filing electronically, be sure to obtain your PIN from www.pin.ed.gov. Your PIN is your electronic signature and will always be assigned to you only.
• Entering the wrong address–your permanent address is not your campus or summer address.
• Sending in a copy of your income tax returns–you will be contacted if your information needs verification; you don’t need to send a copy of your tax returns in with your application.

Additional Tips

Much of the financial information you need to provide is on your tax forms. Completing your taxes early can make the application process easier because you’ll have the financial information you need in one place. You can estimate your financial information using previous tax years and correct the amounts on the form later by going to the corrections page on the FAFSA website. If you are not required to file taxes you still have to fill out a FAFSA to get financial aid.

Here is a list of materials that will help you complete the FAFSA:

• Your Social Security Number (can be found on Social Security card)
• Your driver’s license (if any)
• Your W-2 Forms for the previous year and other records of money earned
• Your (and your spouse’s, if you are married) most recent Federal Income Tax Return – IRS Form 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ, 1040Telefile, foreign tax return, or tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia
• Your parent’s Federal Income Tax Return for the previous year (if you are a dependent student as defined by federal criteria)
• Your current bank statements
• Your current business and investment mortgage information, business and farm records, stock, bond, and other investment records
• Documentation that you are a U.S. permanent resident or other eligible noncitizen.

Filling out the Pre-Application Worksheet will help you collect and proofread the information for your application before you submit it. There are resources available if you decide you need assistance filling out the FAFSA, check the FAQ section on the FAFSA Web site, or call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED AID (1-800-433-3243).

By Duane Van Bergen
NASFAA Communications Assistant

At the College of the Ozarks, all students’ tuition costs are offset by a mandatory work-study program. “If I was going to go to school, I was going to try to do it with the least amount of debt possible,” said Stroud, a sophomore from Hume, N.Y., who wants to pursue a career in agriculture.

The cost of college is a red hot issue today, with students and parents fretting about how they will be able to foot the skyrocketing tuition bills at many private and public colleges. The College Board reported on Oct. 22 that tuition at public and private colleges for the 2007-08 academic year continued to outpace inflation (BusinessWeek.com, 10/22/07). Tuition prices at private colleges and universities average almost $24,000 this year, and that’s not including room and board.

Focusing on Specialized Education

Stroud is one of several thousand students in the U.S. taking advantage of colleges that come with no sticker shock. Tuition-free colleges—also known as full-scholarship colleges—remain one of higher education’s best-kept secrets. True to their name, they are institutions that guarantee to cover the entire student-body’s tuition. There are only a handful of such schools in the U.S., which is one reason they are often overlooked by students, parents, and high school guidance counselors during the college search, says Sandy Baum, a senior policy analyst at the College Board. “It’s not a trend of the future. It’s just a certain niche market. These schools have unique situations that allow them to go tuition-free,” she said.

They range from an urban college like the Cooper Union in New York’s East Village to Deep Springs College, a remote, all-male school deep in the California desert. Many are specialized institutions, often focusing on engineering, such as the F.W. Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Mass.; or on music, like the Curtis Institute in Pennsylvania. A handful—the College of the Ozarks or Berea College in Kentucky—have mandatory work-study programs. Perhaps the most well-known of them is the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., which offers free college tuition in exchange for five years of service after graduation.

Students who attend these schools walk away from college with little to no loans, debt, and financial worries after they graduate. In most cases, the only fee students need to pay is room and board, a cost separate from college tuition. It’s a financial situation with almost irresistible appeal for college students with limited means, said Rick Darvis, co-founder of the National Institute of Certified College Planners, an organization founded in 2002 to help families navigate the college loan and financial aid market. “For kids coming out of college today, debt-free is pretty rare,” Darvis said. “As far as a kid having a summer job to help pay off college, that’s not going to happen anymore.”

Salvation for Parents Who Didn’t Plan

Though finding tuition-free schools can take some legwork, parents and students say the payoff is worth it in the long run.

Pamela Clemens, the mother of Erin Clemens, a college senior, said she still remembers how relieved she was when her daughter received an acceptance letter from the College of the Ozarks. Clemens and her husband, a self-employed handyman in Lebanon, Miss., had failed to save properly for their daughter’s college education and were frantic about how they were going to foot her tuition bills, she said. “We were free from the burden of figuring out where we were going to get the money or take out loans for my daughter’s college education,” Clemens said. “Just knowing we won’t have to deal with that for all these years is just such a feeling of freedom.”

Aside from saving parents and students from financial burden, attending a tuition-free school has other benefits. These schools create an environment where all students can feel comfortable with each other regardless of their personal finances, said Andrew McCreary, a second-year student from Salt Lake City at Deep Springs College. “Everyone came here as an equal, and everyone has the same free opportunity, so money never has to come up,” said McCreary. “We are all on the same footing.”

Endowments Help

Covering the tuition cost of an entire student body is not an easy task in today’s higher-education market where the cost of faculty salaries, fringe benefits, and supplies and materials continues to rise. The inflation gauge used by higher education officials to track the costs of running a university, the Higher Education Price Index, increased by 3.4% in the 2007 fiscal year.

Fortunately, most tuition-free colleges are cushioned from the shock of these spiraling costs by large endowments given to the schools by benefactors. For example, the Cooper Union, a four-year college specializing in engineering, art, and architecture, has an endowment worth more than $600 million, the bulk of which is New York City real estate and securitized investments, said George Campbell, the school’s president. The school spends $35 million annually to fund the tuition costs of its 950 students, in addition to $15 million for other operating expenses.

The endowment allows the school to maintain the mission of industrialist and inventor Peter Cooper, who founded the school in 1859 with the vision that “education should be as free as water or air,” Campbell said, adding “It’s a mandate that we hold close to us even today. We think we make a very unique and important contribution in the constellation of higher-education institutions that virtually no one else makes.”

Olin a Recent Arrival

At the College of the Ozarks, the $375 million endowment is the “backbone” of the school’s financial operation, along with donations from alumni, said Jerry Davis, the college’s president. The school supplements its operating budget through mandatory work-study program, where students can work a job at one of 80 work stations, ranging from overseeing the school’s hog farm to cooking in the fruitcake and jelly kitchen.

Students are appreciative of their free education, not complaining about their work loads or the college’s strict chapel requirements and dress code, Davis said. “We think it’s a bad idea to settle young people with modest means with heavy debt, so the students who come here are very fortunate and I think most people know that,” he added.

While most of the country’s tuition-free schools have been around for 100 years, some newer ones have been established in the past decade, such as the Olin College of Engineering. The engineering school officially launched in academic year 2002-2003 with the help off a $460 million endowment gift from the F.W. Olin Foundation.

Running a tuition-free school in today’s financial market proved to be harder than the founders initially thought, said Stephen Hannabury, Olin’s vice-president for administration and finance. There were some initial challenges as the school struggled to get off the ground. For example, the endowment did not grow as quickly as the school had anticipated and it had to scale back on the number of students it planned to admit. Since then, the endowment has climbed to $491 million and the school has graduated two classes of students.

“It is a little bit more complicated to set up this type of school today, but I think it is certainly worth other institutions’ considering it if they have the financial resources to do it,” Hannabury said. “The cost of higher education is getting to the point where different solutions, if you will, need to be looked at.”

Click here to see a roundup of tuition-free colleges.

Another often heard excuse is “my student’s grades are too low”. Unless your child is failing, aid has nothing to do with grades. The intricate government formula simply does not include grades. If your child is failing, would college be a wise pursuit anyway?

Sixty-five percent of American families own their own home. One of the myths is that this eliminates families from aid consideration. Again, this is baloney. On the federal aid form (FAFSA) you will not find a space to insert information about your home.

“Aid is only for special groups” is another popular argument. Again, the formula for qualifying does not ask about where you are in relation to society – the criteria are strictly based on certain financial numbers the Department of Education requires.

Probably the biggest misconception we hear is that guidance counselors and financial aid officers (or your accountant) can do all of this for you because it is an easy process. First of all, it is not an easy process. Secondly, if you think doing your taxes every year is complex and time consuming let me introduce you to another phase of government you will love to hate. The colleges pray that you will go through this entire process unarmed and will take advantage of your ignorance. Going to them for help is analogous to going to the IRS to complete your taxes. Yes, they will do them – but in whose interest are they working?

Those who know and understand the process win the financial aid game. To master this game you’ll have to maneuver the complex formulas, rules, and regulations the Department of Education has devised. This information is not readily accessible and provides no guidance as to the best way to ultimately pay for what is referred to as the “expected family contribution”.

Professional college planners offer parents the opportunity to tap into their expertise at a nominal cost. You’ll benefit by sending your student to college for a reasonable amount of money while fully complying with all forms and procedures. And, you can accomplish this without going broke. By employing professionals, you’ll achieve peace of mind knowing that everything that could possibly be done for your child is covered.

Robert D. Proctor, CFP, CLU, ChFC

Premier College Funding Solutions

Truth: There are no income limitations on aid. Although not every student will qualify for need-based grants or scholarships (gift aid), every student is at least eligible for participation in the Federal student loan program (self-help aid). Furthermore, income is only one aspect of the criteria on which financial aid is based. Other factors include: number of family members in college, home mortgage costs, household size, age of older parent, etc. Just remember that while students from needy families may receive more aid than students from more well-off families, every student should apply for aid by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) even in order to be eligible for non-need based student loans and non-federal aid awarded by states and schools.
Myth: My family can’t afford a private school’s tuition.

Truth: Don’t rule out the college of your dreams just because of its sticker price. If a college has higher tuition, students can often get more financial aid to help cover the extra cost. If a private school meets your academic and extracurricular needs, go ahead and apply to it. Then you can make your decision when financial aid award letters arrive.
 

Myth: You can get more scholarships by paying someone to search for you.

Truth: Be sure to watch out for scholarship scams. You should never have to pay any amount of money for a scholarship. Perform a free scholarship search provided by eCampusTours.
Myth: I’m expecting to receive a lot of scholarships, so I don’t need to apply for aid.

Truth: You never know when there might be more grant or loan money that could cover incidental qualifying expenses, such as room and board, textbooks, computers, etc. You can always turn the money down if you find that you don’t need it. Also, in the unlikely event that you need to switch schools unexpectedly, you’ve at least already secured some aid towards your potential new school.
Myth: My parents saved money for my college education, so we won’t qualify for aid.

Truth: It is true that the more money you save for college, the less you will probably receive in financial aid. However, the expected family contribution is determined more so by income than by savings, meaning that you could still qualify for aid even if you have college savings. Keep in mind that it is smarter to save money and earn a return than to borrow money and pay interest. 
Myth: The process of applying for financial aid is too complicated.

Truth: For many schools, the only step involved in applying for financial aid is to fill out the FAFSA. (Note: Some schools require you to submit the CSS/Profile or institutional financial aid forms in addition to the FAFSA. Check with your school to see what forms are required.) Filling out the FAFSA is actually very easy, especially if you fill it out online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. There are detailed instructions for every question, as well as online help from customer service representatives if you need it. If you fill out the paper version and need assistance, you can call 1-800-4-FED-AID. 
There are several myths about getting money for college, so don’t believe everything you hear. If you have any questions about financial aid, be sure to contact the Financial Aid Office at the college you plan to attend.

From Paying for College Without Going Broke by Kalman A. Chany with Geoff Martz
(Random House / Princeton Review)
• Assume you’re eligible. Don’t rule yourself out because of income or academics. And don’t rule out a college because you think it’s too expensive. The higher the cost, the more aid you may receive.
• Don’t wait to be accepted to a college to apply for aid. The coffers may be empty by spring.
• Get application forms as soon as possible. You’ll need the 2007-08 FAFSA form. (Paper versions are available in Dec. at high schools, colleges, and libraries. The online version is available starting January 1, 2007.) You may also need to complete the CSS/PROFILE form, state aid forms, and forms provided by the colleges.
• Check the deadlines and be sure to meet each one. Many colleges have different deadlines for different forms. Some may be due in late Dec., though most are due in Jan./Mar.
• Figure out your “expected family contribution.” Use worksheets in financial aid guidebooks to calculate –before you apply—what the colleges will estimate you can afford to pay. Be sure to getup-to-date information, as formulas can change year to year.
• Before Dec. 31, maximize your aid eligibility. Freshman year aid awards are based in part on income for the year ending Dec. 31 of the student’s senior year in high school. Consider making appropriate adjustments to your assets, debts, and retirement provisions before you apply.
• Do your income tax forms early. To meet early aid application deadlines, you may need to do a draft version of your 2006 income tax return with estimated numbers. Many schools will require a copy of your actual return in the spring to verify your information.
• Follow instructions carefully on the application forms. Common mistakes which can disqualify your applications are: forgetting to sign them, leaving lines blank, or using the wrong academic year’s version of forms.