Recommended Tools for Comparing College Costs
pic from flickr user 401(K)2012 As your college-bound family considers a college, there are many considerations. Job placement rate, quality of program, and graduation rate should always be considered. However, for most families, finances play an important role in college choice. Recent research confirms this, showing that families are coping with rising college costs by more frequently having students choose to live at home, take online classes or graduate early. Comparing the cost of schools before acceptance can be tricky. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that scholarships and grants may not be known until after the acceptance process is complete. However, for those who wish to ballpark possible pre-grant and pre-scholarship costs, there are quite a few ways to go about it. Here are a few that College Parents of America like:
College Parents Weekend Reading Room (6/27/14)
Duke's Trinity College Library Reading Room, image by flickr user Duke Year Looks Looking for an early jump on your Sunday paper? College Parents of America recommends that you try these recent stories about higher education.
MAKING TIME FOR STUDY CAN BE A CHALLENGE
The school year is now at least a few weeks old for the vast majority of colleges across the country, though some on the quarter system may just be getting started this week or next.If your child is still in secondary school, you've probably remarked to each other how difficult it is, with today's busy lifestyles, for him or her to actually find time to study.But study time is critical, and it gets even more important when the young adults in your household go off to college.
PURSUING A PASSION BEATS CHECKING ANOTHER BOX
Parents often ask me about the importance of extracurricular activities when it comes to supporting a college, graduate school or job application for their son or daughter.Here's how I answer that question. First, I make clear that four other components of the application are more important because schools and employers have found them to be greater indicators of initial success. These components are:
