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Average Joe says, "Parents of future college students, WAKE UP!Jun 29 '00 Write an essay on this topic.Future parents of college students, "lend me your ears". Maybe I should qualify who I am talking to...future middle class parents of college students pay attention! Why am I addressing this group of parents? If you are a member of the upper-income bracket in America, you probably have resources available to you to assist your child(ren) attend college. Conversely, if you fall in the lower-income bracket there are "tons" of aid ready to help your child. The key for these pots of funds is to "help you child understand good grades in high school are important keys to the bucks". Having said this, what about the rest of us. Yes, I am talking about the majority of the parents of college students in many U.S. Colleges and Universities. Reality states the options are limited. Most government grant programs are based on income and since parent income is included, middle income families are slammed. What is left? Scholarships that are not based on need or federal loan programs. Parents need to start identifying potential scholarships during their child's sophomore year in high school. Why? Some scholarships have conditions or "bonus points" for particular activities or achievements (such as student council, band, etc.) in addition to high school grade point average. Rather than relying on limited scholarship opportunities or placing your child's future in debt through the student loan programs, I would recommend you begin a savings program or enter into a college prepaid program while your child is young. I know how difficult it can be to come up with the funds for such an adventure, but somehow Mrs. Joe Average and I scraped together enough money to prepay our son's first two years at a community college. Although my son will face the financial responsibilities of his final two years (probably using federal loans), his first two years should be somewhat debt free. It is sad, but true, for middle class family members a college education is a luxury. There are some "rays of hope". Some states have begun using lottery proceeds to fund "all high school students" that graduate from high school with designated GPA's (grade point averages). Although not funded at 100% the cost of attending college, it does have a major impact. Additionally, there have been some recent tax laws passed to assist parents with college planning. However, with the exceptions of these areas, it is clear that for middle class parents, we have to work harder, plan better, and motivate our children more for the American goal of obtaining a college education.  |
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