Sometimes even the best-laid plans can go awry. For example, you have probably been hearing for years about how much money you will need to set aside for your children’s college. The tuition numbers can be staggering. Yet those make up only part of the picture. Even the best Naperville education planning can leave you unprepared when your oldest heads off to school.
First of all, tuition is only the starting point of the costs. Fees get tacked onto that number, as in “tuition and fees.” If you’ve carefully set aside money for tuition, an additional two or three thousand more in fees can come as a shock. Next up is room and board. Those rates go up at least as fast as the cost of living, and no matter how often your new collegian used to raid the refrigerator at home, your grocery savings will not cover the rates on campus.
The final surprise, once you’ve structured the various bills and loans and gotten your college student moved in, comes at textbook purchasing time. A typical full-time student, with a course load of 15 or more hours, might spend $1200 to $1600 on books each year. Even careful Naperville asset management can have trouble keeping up when the cost of texts rises at double the rate of inflation.
Some students opt not to buy the books. This is truly a backwards way to approach the education that is costing so dearly. A better option is to attend each class once or twice before make book purchases, and make sure the instructor plans to use the text. (For some courses with multiple sections, different teachers will utilize different material). In the past, many students saved money by purchasing used books. This is still a great idea, but publishers today come out with new editions so frequently that it has become much harder to find a used version of the text you need. Fortunately, online resellers like Amazon.com can help you broaden your search.
In the end, it turns out that careful Naperville asset management doesn’t end when Junior heads off to campus. Hopefully your example of prudent Naperville education planning will prompt him or her to continue the pattern once making decisions like textbook purchasing. If your college student has already learned to be cautious and make comparisons when spending money, then he or she already has a head start on practical, applicable life skills. Who needs college courses when they’ve got you setting such a good example?
First of all, tuition is only the starting point of the costs. Fees get tacked onto that number, as in “tuition and fees.” If you’ve carefully set aside money for tuition, an additional two or three thousand more in fees can come as a shock. Next up is room and board. Those rates go up at least as fast as the cost of living, and no matter how often your new collegian used to raid the refrigerator at home, your grocery savings will not cover the rates on campus.
The final surprise, once you’ve structured the various bills and loans and gotten your college student moved in, comes at textbook purchasing time. A typical full-time student, with a course load of 15 or more hours, might spend $1200 to $1600 on books each year. Even careful Naperville asset management can have trouble keeping up when the cost of texts rises at double the rate of inflation.
Some students opt not to buy the books. This is truly a backwards way to approach the education that is costing so dearly. A better option is to attend each class once or twice before make book purchases, and make sure the instructor plans to use the text. (For some courses with multiple sections, different teachers will utilize different material). In the past, many students saved money by purchasing used books. This is still a great idea, but publishers today come out with new editions so frequently that it has become much harder to find a used version of the text you need. Fortunately, online resellers like Amazon.com can help you broaden your search.
In the end, it turns out that careful Naperville asset management doesn’t end when Junior heads off to campus. Hopefully your example of prudent Naperville education planning will prompt him or her to continue the pattern once making decisions like textbook purchasing. If your college student has already learned to be cautious and make comparisons when spending money, then he or she already has a head start on practical, applicable life skills. Who needs college courses when they’ve got you setting such a good example?
While education is mandatory to succeed in today's world, it is a shame it is for many not affordable, and that so many will graduate with a high debt.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that the cost of College has become out of reach for many students these days.
ReplyDelete