The Importance of a College Education and how to save for it

Many parents today are worried about how they will be able to afford college for their children now that the economy is getting worse. There are was that you the parent could make sure you can prepare for the expense of sending your children to college that can cause parents to become overwhelmed. The good news is there are ways to go about preparing for college no matter the economy. While you are making your budget add in the expense of college so that you have that already in the works of preparing. You may not be able to set away as much as you want within the budget but remembering that any amount is better than no amount of money. With our first child we started saving right away, but then baby number two arrived and I am sad to say have not even started a fund for her yet. Just keep in mind to save some money aside because you have to start somewhere.

The larger expenses in preparing for college are the tuition. The tuition is the largest expense to pay. Continue to check tuition of the college to keep up with any rate increase each year. Depending on classes taken and fees are due to include the price of laboratories, technological equipment and or other fees for classes. Housing costs will depend on the living arrangement such as if they stay at home and dorm room. Helping your child to understand and see the budget will also help the student that is going to college understands the income and the outward expenses.

The savings goals before you begin to invest will help you to define the savings. Deciding how much needed to save by the time your child is old enough to go to college. You can choose two costs. Such as a specific dollar amount, projected cost or you can choose to have a fixed percentage of your income to put forth to the child or children’s college costs. Whichever you decide the goal defined so you can reach the goal and watch the goal progress. Many states also offer prepaid college programs as long as your child attends an in-state school many of those programs require you to pay a large amount upfront which is difficult for many families.

Following the one-third rule is important to help you understand and work towards the goals you have defined. The one-third rule means that you should save one third of the expected college costs. For instance, pay one third from your current income with the financial aid during the college years. Then borrow one-third using loans from you the parent and then the student loans. The one third will be coming from loans allowing you the parent to spread out the payments and the length of time extended for the payments.

As President Obama signed the Educational Reconciliation Act, which will actually help the government largely compared to the little help to students. Inside of the Educational Reconciliation Act are provisions to change the way students can pay for college. As quoted by President Obama “This is the most significant investments in higher education since the G.I. Bill. However, many may be surprised to see the little affect to the average college students. With the new changes, students are due to get money for college with provisions that are making it less tangible in the near future for students trying so hard to go into higher education.

The biggest change in this new Act the President signed now depends on who administers student loans. As an example, the banks guaranteed student loans by government changed to the government now are the originator of giving student loans.

Going to college is something every person should have the right to go. Students no matter the age should grant help to further themselves in education, which ultimately allows students a chance of employment for high paying jobs. The importance of college should be recognized. In order for the United States to remain competitive and thrive in the global economy we are going to need college graduates. We all recognize that the economy is in trouble, but we must try to figure out a way to save as much as our budget allows so we can help our children in the future. What are some ways you are helping to save for college?