Those who have a family member who is paying for college know just how taxing these payments can be. If they are made during the course of the year, the person may have to put off doing things with friends in order to have enough money. The student may need to live in an apartment that is not very nice because they have to spend everything that they have on tuition. Some people consider this to be merely part of the overall college experience, but family members can help to make it a bit better.
Parents
Many parents will just help their children by paying for college out of their monthly paychecks. This works best when the student has some academic scholarships already, so they do not need that much more. Some parents have even been known to tell the children that they will match every dollar that they get in academic scholarships so that the child has some incentive to keep his or her grades as high as possible. Other parents just pay the balance regardless because they know how crippling post-college debt can be and they want to keep their children away from that end result.
Savings
It is also a good idea for a parent to have a college savings plan that can be set up as soon as the child is born. When a small amount of money is invested in this every year, it will have at least 18 years to grow in value. The account could contain enough to pay for all of the classes by the time that the student is ready to start taking them. This can be a nice option for parents, because they can set away a little money at the beginning, saving them from having to provide more when the college classes begin. They also do not have to factor this in to their monthly budget, so they will never get behind on car payments or mortgage payments because the child is in college.
The child can also be encouraged to put money into the college savings plan every time that he or she has some to spare. Even ten dollars a month can be very helpful. This also shows the student the value of saving and the value of being dedicated to things that are going to happen in the future. These lessons can carry over into the classroom, causing the student to get better grades. This can, in turn, lead to more scholarships and more money that can be used to pay for the price of the degree.
Parents
Many parents will just help their children by paying for college out of their monthly paychecks. This works best when the student has some academic scholarships already, so they do not need that much more. Some parents have even been known to tell the children that they will match every dollar that they get in academic scholarships so that the child has some incentive to keep his or her grades as high as possible. Other parents just pay the balance regardless because they know how crippling post-college debt can be and they want to keep their children away from that end result.
Savings
It is also a good idea for a parent to have a college savings plan that can be set up as soon as the child is born. When a small amount of money is invested in this every year, it will have at least 18 years to grow in value. The account could contain enough to pay for all of the classes by the time that the student is ready to start taking them. This can be a nice option for parents, because they can set away a little money at the beginning, saving them from having to provide more when the college classes begin. They also do not have to factor this in to their monthly budget, so they will never get behind on car payments or mortgage payments because the child is in college.
The child can also be encouraged to put money into the college savings plan every time that he or she has some to spare. Even ten dollars a month can be very helpful. This also shows the student the value of saving and the value of being dedicated to things that are going to happen in the future. These lessons can carry over into the classroom, causing the student to get better grades. This can, in turn, lead to more scholarships and more money that can be used to pay for the price of the degree.