3 On Your Side: Thinking About Finances Before Attending College
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Families with college students are already navigating the costs of tuition and textbooks for the fall semester and it's not always easy. But parents of high school students can be taking steps to ease that burden even before choosing school to attend. 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan explains.
Families of students already on campus aren't the only ones who should be thinking about and talking about college financial aid. "Have a conversation. be open. be truthful and honest about what's realistic, what you want to do and what your heart is set on, but do it early and make decisions as a family," says Mary Morris of the College Savings Foundation.
Morris believes it's never to early to have those types of honest conversations. Even though parents may feel like they want to protect their children from family finances, the conversation doesn't necessarily have to include a household's hard numbers, but can touch on some broader ideas. Morris says "Think about what you might want to do when you come out of college and how much money you're likely to make and let that be your guide on how much debt you're willing to take on."
High school juniors and seniors should read into the specifics of federal and private loans, especially the terms of repayment. Morris says, "A lot of students really don't understand what they're getting themselves in for and it is a long term commitment so be careful."
That research can be crossed off the checklist before a student makes a final commitment, so families can move past the question of where to get funding, and turn the focus to planning how they'll pay it back.
