10 College Funding Mistakes to Avoid

Top 10 College Funding Mistakes Made By Parents of College-Bound Teens

By Andrew Lockwood, J.D., CollegePlanningAdvice.com

If you have a child applying to college, this is an exciting and stressful time for both of you. One of the most worrisome issues facing parents today is how to pay for a four year college or university. Fortunately, there is more than $137 Billion available from the Federal Government, the states, colleges and universities, private foundations and other organizations. Your challenge is to figure out how to access these funds.

Many families fail to take advantage of the numerous financial aid and other college cost cutting opportunities available. For the uninformed, ill-prepared family, the unfortunate results can range from being forced to take out high fee, high rate college loans, tapping equity built up in their homes or dipping into retirement savings. But with diligent research, you can significantly minimize or flat-out eliminate these undesirable outcomes.

To help navigate the overly complicated regulations of the Department of Education, I offer
“College Pete and Andy’s 10 College Funding Mistakes to Avoid.”

Mistake #1: Most middle and upper-middle class parents assume they won't be eligible for financial aid because they own a home and make more than $100,000, $150,000 or more per year.

Mistake #2: Focusing time and energy on a private scholarship search instead of spending time trying to qualify for “need-based” financial aid.

Mistake #3 - Assuming only minority students, athletes, and academically gifted students receive financial aid.

Mistake #4 – Applying to a college without regard to how their child’s high school record compares to the statistics of the existing student body of that college.

Mistake #5 – Blindly assuming that all colleges and universities have similar amounts of resources and will award the same scholarships, grants and other aid across the board.

Mistake #6 - Not understanding the difference between "included assets" and "exempt assets" for purposes of filling out financial aid forms.

Mistake #7 - Believing that it doesn't matter where they keep their money; it's all counted in the same way.

Mistake #8 – Believing their CPA or tax preparer is qualified to fill out financial aid forms.

Mistake #9 - Waiting until January, or worse, after January, of their child's senior year of high school to start working on your college financial aid planning.

Mistake #10 – Relying on their child’s college advisor, guidance counselor or BRACE Advisor for help with the financial aid process instead of consulting a specialist.

Andrew Lockwood is the co-founder of Weston-based College Planning Specialists of Florida. He and his partner, Peter “College Pete” Ratzan, co-authored the recently-released college funding book, Never Pay Retail for College. Lockwood and Ratzan conduct free college funding workshops, ”How to Pay for College Without Going Broke or Raiding Your Retirement Portfolio” throughout South Florida. For dates, times, locations and seating availability, visit www.CollegePlanningAdvice.com or call 954.659.1234 ext. 299.