| If you have not discovered it yet, you will soon | | | | only a couple hundred bucks where others will cover |
| discover that the costs of sending your son or | | | | the costs of the whole enchilada. There is not any kind |
| daughter to college have skyrocketed in recent years. | | | | of quota or limit on the number of scholarships that |
| The charges being assessed for housing would lead | | | | your son or daughter can apply for and be awarded. It |
| you to believe that the dorm includes servants and | | | | is important to note that while you can almost certainly |
| room service, and the cost of textbooks would make | | | | qualify for a student loan for your child, a student loan |
| you think that they are getting original autographed | | | | needs to be paid back after graduation, whereas a |
| copies. Yes, the cost of college is probably greater | | | | college scholarship or college grant does NOT need to |
| than the gross national product of some third world | | | | be paid back. This is a tremendous difference. |
| countries, and no matter how carefully you analyze the | | | | As you research the availability of college scholarships |
| costs so that you can budget for it, it is virtually | | | | and college grants, be fully aware that like most things, |
| guaranteed that your estimates are going to fall far | | | | there are scams out there. You should never be |
| short. | | | | required to pay a fee simply to find out if you qualify |
| Hopefully you have not encouraged your son or | | | | for a particular scholarship. While it happens, this |
| daughter to not consider college. A college education is | | | | requirement is rare and should be avoided, or at least |
| a necessity in today's cruel hard world, and not having | | | | looked at very carefully. And despite popular beliefs |
| a college education almost guarantees a struggle | | | | and myths, college scholarships and college grants are |
| through life. Life is hard enough as it is, why complicate | | | | not only awarded to the top football player, the star |
| matters? For economic reasons, you may have | | | | soccer player, the musical genius, etc. Nor is award |
| encouraged your son or daughter to seriously consider | | | | determination based solely on financial need as it was |
| a local community college instead of the brand-name | | | | in years past. A majority of scholarships simply require |
| state university. But I would urge you to reconsider that | | | | the student to apply for them! |
| suggestion, since you of course want to be able to | | | | There are tons of college scholarships and college |
| give your son or daughter every possible advantage | | | | grants available, all of them totaling well into the |
| that they could have, and the education that they get | | | | hundreds of thousands of dollars. One of the almost |
| at the four-year state university or brand name college | | | | ludicrous facts about this is that a large number of |
| is almost certainly going to better than the local | | | | these scholarships and grants do not get awarded |
| community college. You are saying fine, but how can I | | | | each year simply because nobody applied for them! |
| afford it? | | | | These scholarships and grants are given by |
| The overall total cost of sending your son or daughter | | | | corporations who take it as a tax write-off, and if the |
| to the college that provides the BEST education for | | | | scholarship does not get awarded, then they do not |
| them should not be the deciding factor. The reason I | | | | get the tax write-off. The best thing you can do to |
| say this is because there is a truckload of college | | | | manage the costs of college is to apply for as many |
| scholarships and grants available that your son or | | | | scholarships as you can find, and then do some more! |
| daughter CAN qualify for. Maybe some of these are | | | | |