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Pay Wholesale for a College Education

Pay Wholesale for a College Education Allow me to be brutally honest with the parents of college-bound students.   Unless you pay wholesale for a college education, you’re paying too much. If you’re like most parents, you’ll be duped into paying retail but you should think smarter to pay wholesale for a college education.

If you will start thinking like a consumer of higher education, rather than like the sucker colleges hope you to be, you’re going to save yourself a boatload of money.  Many parents have no clue and get no help and like a pack of lemmings will end up jumping into a pile of debt.  But the fortunate ones reading this know that they can get college at wholesale and save ON the cost of college.

If you think I’m being harsh or unfair, then I urge you to learn the methods that college and university enrollment managers use! Trust me — you are no match for them unless you have access to legitimate expertise.

If you don’t, you’ll join the parade of parents who complain that their student was cheated out of money or a seat by being deferred, gap- year’d, wait-listed or outright rejected. Do what everyone else does and you will get what everyone else gets. The money gets thin when passed out to a crowd.

Here is what most people do:

  • Count on the guidance counselor for help.
  • Attend a financial aid night looking for answers to make a difference in the amount of money you will pay.
  • Visit web sites without knowing what to look for.
  • Listen to the college carnival (fairs) barkers.
  • Go on a college tour during summer and waste time at the info sessions.
  • Read the college’s junk mail.
  • Wait until the last minute to do everything.
  • Send in your apps without learning first if you should let the college know you’re interested.
  • Mess up your financial aid forms. This can be very, very costly. (Nearly 20% of financial aid forms have errors that end up costing parents and their students a lot in aid and debt costs).
  • Don’t be like other parents unless you want the same results!

Here are some things you could do – not anywhere near an exhaustive list:

  • Start a business to hire your child to lower your taxable income
  • Shift low-basis assets to children in lower income tax brackets to save on capital gains taxes
  • Coordinate with relatives to fund college savings accounts in a way that doesn’t hurt financial aid chances
  • Select the right school at the right price with the right kind of aid that will lower your dependence on loans
  • Find the right mix of federal and private student loans that can be refinanced or consolidated in the future.

Here’s your opportunity to achieve a much better outcome than most and it starts by being PROACTIVE and reaching out to a qualified (and certified) financial planning professional who knows the ins and outs of the college funding game.

Call 978-388-0020 to schedule a meeting to discuss how we can help you with our specialized college planning expertise, resources and third-party affiliations.

As it relates to planning and paying for college, the goal is simple – helping you save ON, not just for, the cost of college and ensuring that your child goes to the right college for them, for the right reasons.

It’s never too late … or too early to plan.  And the more you plan, the less you pay for college.