College Text Books

Disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links to my Amazon Account.  Your purchases through this link will support this blog - and will be added to the "Remodel the Hallway Bathroom" fund.  Thank YOU!!

Last month, I signed up for Amazon Prime.  There are some wonderful benefits to a Prime membership, including streaming of shows and music, but there's one plus that has just blown me away... free two day shipping.

Middle child and youngest child are getting their book lists now.  Son and I stopped by the book store with middle child the other day on our way home and checked out the prices on his textbooks.  It was a  phenomenally expensive list that came up to over $1,000 even with textbook rentals.  One book alone cost $450.  We then came home and checked out the list on Amazon.  Not only were the books cheaper, he got free 2 day shipping.  The books are heavy, so free shipping is a big deal!  We ordered the books on Tuesday, and they were delivered to the house during the day on Weds. and Thurs.  Very, very nice.

This isn't a "save tons of money" hint, but it is a way to cut down on expenses.  If we weren't members of Amazon Prime, we could have chosen "Free Super Saver Shipping", which delivers items to your door within a week.  Either way, by searching Amazon for textbooks, we saved $600 on the price of textbooks.  I don't know about you, but I consider $600 to be BIG savings!

Affording College, again

No debt.  That's our goal.  To have our kids graduate with no overhanging student loan debt.  We've done our best. The first one is out, with no debt, and will be starting graduate school on a fellowship next month.

The middle one will be a Junior this fall, and the youngest one will be entering school in September.

Here's what we've done to minimize college expenses:

1) Taken AP classes.  The oldest two children graduated from high school with enough AP credits that they were Sophomores by credit upon entering college.

2) Concurrent Enrollment- daughter has taken AP classes as well as concurrent enrollment.  She has 12 credits of college credit from the community college, and 12 credits of AP credit.  That's 24 hours of college credit that she'll be starting with.

3) The Maryland Pre-Paid College Trust.  This savings vehicle locks in your tuition prices down the line at today's price.  We invested in this when the kids were young.  This pays the tuition and fees for the flagship university for the state of Maryland.  This has worked well for the boys who both went in-state.  It left us with only a small amount of money to pay out of pocket.  For daughter who will be going out of state, they will pay the amount of the mandatory tuition and fees for the flagship university for the state of Maryland.  We'll still have a difference to pay, more than what we paid for the boys, but not the full amount.

4) Work.  All 3 of our kids work part time jobs.  Not only do they pay for their own "fun" expenses, they also pay for their own books.  Oldest child was able to pull together enough money to pay for the difference between his scholarships and the total amount due for the last two years of college.

5) Scholarships.  Apply for them.  All of them.  Many colleges offer some fantastic scholarships.  Make sure your child applies to more than one college.  You will be pleasantly surprised.  We have young friends who began at the Community College, were accepted into the Honors Program at the Community College, and received some extremely generous scholarships from the Community College, and some nice transfer scholarships from their 4 year schools.

If we had to do it differently?

1) We only invested in 2 years of the pre-paid trust.  I had stupidly thought that I'd be able to get the grandparents to invest in at least one more year for us.  I should not have counted on that.  I should have gone ahead and invested in 4 years.  I also should have invested soon after each of them was born.  Unfortunately, that was in one of the first few years of the plan's existence, and I was waiting for a legislative guarantee before we invested.


2) I would have socked some money away into the Maryland College Investment Plan, or another 529 investment plan.  This account can be used for college expenses.  We could have used this to pay for that difference between the pre-paid college trust and the final balances, textbooks, and the computer.

Food for thought.

My Accomplishments

It's been a couple of weeks!  We still had month left at the end of the money, so we were extremely creative.

We were able to put gas in both cars to get husband to work every day.  If I didn't have a sub job, I stayed home and worked on stuff around the house.

We've had some interesting dinners in the meantime:
Fajitas in Rice Wrappers
Baked Beans
Refried baked beans made into flour tortillas.  (I made the tortillas from scratch)
Veggie Soup
Pasta Fagioli
Arroz con Pollo
Veggie Stir Fry
Baked Potatoes with Broccoli and Cheddar Cheese
Roasted Potatoes
Waffles
Scrambled Eggs

Hubby got paid on Friday, the first things we did was go out and buy groceries.  We focused on the staples: sugar and flour, olive oil, lots and lots of root veggies: carrots, turnips, sweet potatoes, etc.  We also bought some meat, and it is safely tucked in the freezer, waiting to be used.

Last weekend, another one of my girls pulled off her Gold Award Project.  I spent the day with her, yet again amazed at the initiative, innovation, and enthusiasm of this young lady.  He project ran most of the day.  It was awesome.

I subbed for three days, and took oatmeal for lunch each day.  A very inexpensive meal, it has "staying" power, and keeps you filled up for hours.

Yesterday, I stopped by the grocery store and checked out the "seconds" of fruits and veggies.  I found six pounds of brown bananas for $1.  We are putting the brown ones into smoothies first.  The bananas are pretty heavily spotted, so we'll use the most heavily spotted ones first.  If they start to turn brown really fast, then I'll peel whatever is left, slice them and freeze them for smoothies.

We had a load of firewood delivered yesterday.  We got most of the wood stacked up under shelter, which is a good thing, considering that it is snowing again today.  We've got a warm and toasty fire going in the woodstove.  Hopefully, this will help keep the electric bills for heating down.

On Friday, I took the checkbook down to the college.  I bought textbooks for the oldest child.  Four hundred dollars, 3 textbooks.  Two of the three were used textbooks.  Two of them will be used next semester, so he won't have to pay for them next semester.  (But, there will still be more textbooks next semester.)  Still an outrageous sum, but I'm glad we paid cash.  We don't have to worry about paying for it when the credit card bills come in. 

We had a date at the dump on Saturday.  Since everything today is shut down because of the snow, we're going to spend the afternoon cleaning out some more of the basement.

Right now, daughter and I are watching Sherlock on PBS.  We're having a hard time getting moving this morning!

Have a wonderful week!

My Accomplishments This Week

With three birthdays this past week, I can't say that I saved a lot of money!

I made three cakes from scratch.

For their birthday dinners, I made their favorite meals from scratch.  For daughter, we made Pad Thai.  For middle child, we made pizza, and for oldest child, we made meatloaf.

I bought the textbooks for middle child this week.  Ugh.  Even though we rented one textbook, and bought several used, the bill still came up to $410.  The accounting textbook was the killer.  It's about a ream of paper, 3 hole punched, and wrapped in shrink wrap.  No used or rental copies of this "book" was available.  It cost us $200. 

I traded in an old, used 3 ring binder at Staples for recycling credit and bought a new 3 ring binder to hold the "book".

Even though he still has a week before school begins, he has already begun studying.  He has decided that the Differential Equations textbook looks next to impossible.

For their presents, I am still working on a special surprise for daughter that I will post later.

For the boys, I bought them gift cards to their favorite restaurants near campus. 

The most impressive thing I did this week?

I went to the doctor for a check up.  I'm now up to date on all of my shots.  My blood work has been run, and I am waiting for the phone call to let me know the results.  My blood pressure, heart rate, etc. are all fine.  For me, this was all about baseline data.  My doctors now have the baseline data and know what my numbers should be.  In the future, if anything changes, we will be able to catch it early.  If the doctor doesn't have a baseline number to compare anything with, a diagnosis can take longer.  It's an investment in my future health.  (Just like exercise.)

What did you do this past week?

My Frugal Accomplishments

I'm not sure how much I've actually saved this past week... or how I'll do this week.

All three of our children were born during this week.  One birthday was yesterday, one is tomorrow, and one is Saturday.  All born within 4 years.  Yep, go ahead, think whatever thought it is you are thinking.  I've heard it all before!


As far as Frugal Accomplishments for this week:

We had invested in the Maryland Pre-Paid College Trust when the kids were little.  College tuition is due this month.  Between the scholarships and the pre-paid college trust, we paid out $2,000 for this semester - for both children, combined.  I have to admit, making those payments was horrendous when the kids were younger, but so glad NOW that we did it!

I stopped by the grocery store and found that they had also added a "seconds" shelf in the produce section.  This is where they have veggies that they feel have passed their prime.  I picked up bags of 3 yellow squash, 6 green peppers, and a cabbage for $4.  Tonight, we're having tacos with spicy cole slaw.

We cooked one of the turkeys that we picked up on sale around the holidays.  I have lots and lots of leftovers in my fridge.  Today, I am making a batch of broth from the bones.  (Read my recipe and directions for making broth cubes here: http://mini-van-mom.blogspot.com/2013/06/blog-post.html.)
The broth cubes will be put into the freezer to use later.

We made baked potato soup from scratch.  We bought a 50 pound bag of potatoes at the beginning of the year, and they are starting to sprout!  We are cooking up those potatoes just as fast as we can!  I really don't want to see those potatoes go to waste.  This past week, we've had a baked potato night, and baked potato soup.  We made a huge batch of home fries for breakfast with scrambled eggs Sunday morning. 

We went to the used book store, traded in some old books and picked up some new ones to read.  Daughter found an awesome volume of Sherlock Holmes and one of Edgar Allen Poe.  Husband found a great book about the National Parks.

Have a wonderful week!

Affording College

I've written several blog posts on affording college recently.  Since I have two kids in college, it is something I'm becoming familiar with.  My argument is that no one should take out a loan to afford college.  Working, work study, internships, co-op education, scholarships, AP classes, do whatever it takes to pay cash as much as possible.  Even if it means taking 5 years to get a degree, getting that degree debt free should be the goal.

I picked up a few new hints that I did not know about when I was at freshman orientation with middle child that I thought I'd pass on to you.

1) Payment Plans
Most colleges now offer a payment plan, where the cost of tuition is broken up over several months.  So, say tuition and fees for the fall semester is $6000, if you use the payment plan, you can break that payment down into 6 payments of $1,000 each. 

The only caveat here is that most schools require that your student be a full time student in order to take advantage of this payment plan.

2) Scholarships
There are still scholarships out there that are available for students.   They are small, but every little amount helps cut money out of your bottom line.  There aren't many scholarships available for the fall, but there are several still out there for the spring semester.  Even if it's only for $250, that's $250 YOU don't have to fork over.

Colleges have these scholarships listed on their financial aid web site.

3) IMPORTANT NOTE
Almost all colleges use the Free Federal Financial Aid (FAFSA) to determine the amount of financial aid your child will receive.

The important thing to note here is that it is FREE.  If any web site or financial aid site is asking for money in order to qualify for aid, walk away.  (Words from the Financial Aid counselors at my son's school.)

If your circumstances suddenly change dramatically during the year, you lose income, or some other catastrophic event takes place, immediately contact the financial aid officer at your school.  The counselors there will do their best to help you achieve your dreams. 

Affording College, Part 3

529 Savings Plans
If you have more than 5 years before your child enters college, now is the time to look into a 529 savings plan.  529 Savings Plans are a wonder when your child goes to college.  There are several kinds of 529 plans available.  A Pre-Paid College Trust allows you to lock in tuition at today's rate.  You will pay the college tuition, and it will cover the cost of tuition when your child goes to school, even if tuition rates rise.  But be careful here.  Many 529 plans are tied to the stock market.  The state of Maryland offers a pre-paid college trust that is backed by a legislative guarantee.  Now keep in mind, the Maryland plan only covers tuition for the flagship university for the state. (The University of Maryland).  YOU are responsible for any fees above and beyond that point.  Other 529 plans allow you to set aside money, and then you use it at your discretion when your child enters college.  All 529 plans are investments, so take your time evaluating what is right for your family, and what works best for your financial situation.  This really is a great time to sit down and talk with a financial planner.

Community College
These amazing two year institutions are at the cutting edge of saving money.  If your child isn't sure what to major in, is short of money, or that they are ready for the rigor of college level course work then your local community college is the answer for you.  C.C.'s offer college level course work with smaller class sizes, teachers who have real world experience in their fields, extra help and tutoring, and significantly lower tuition costs.  Most CC's offer a 2 year ready for college track, that offers the basic, core required courses that are required by 4 year schools.  (Usually in-state schools will allow a one time transfer from a CC into their program with all credits counting.  Make sure you research this reciprocity BEFORE you accept an admission offer from a 4 year school.

Another plus to time in the CC is that your child will be living at home.  (Okay, maybe that is a minus, and not a plus!)  They will not be paying room and board, and most likely, they will be able to find a part-time job to help them cover their expenses and books.

One last note here, many CC's offer scholarships to top students.  These scholar programs will cover a portion of the expenses.  If you are seriously looking at the CC, look into the programs early.  Admission is competitive and the deadlines are also early.

In-State Schools
Everyone has heard of those wonderful, big name private schools.  Harvard, Yale, MIT.  But, have you looked at the bottom line on the annual tuition at those schools?  $40,000+ a year for tuition and fees.  With both of our boys, we looked at public and private schools.  We took a close look at class size and the overall size of the student body.

I honestly couldn't see where a degree from Princeton would offer any significant advantage over a degree from Maryland or Virginia Tech.  But, when you begin looking at out of state tuition rates, in state schools begin to look better and better!  At the un-named public school that our sons attend, tuition and fees are less than $20,000/year.  The school has a world class reputation, and offers a strong internship program that gets the kids real world experience before they graduate from college.

Scholarships
I remember sitting next to a soccer field when the kids were in first grade, listening to a mother plan out how her sons were going to get soccer scholarships when they went to college.  Twelve years later,  with thousands of dollars spent on travel soccer, soccer teams, uniforms, and camps, her boys entered college in the fall with partial scholarships - $5,000/ year off of a $40,000/year tuition. 

Most schools offer some form of scholarships.  Merit Based Scholarships and Athletic Scholarships are offered at a liberal rate at many schools.  Private schools offer big scholarships, Public schools offer big scholarships.  BUT, all are tied into your student's grade point average.  3.75 is a frequent required GPA, and some are out there for a 3.5 GPA.  If you have an athletic scholarship, not only is your money tied into your GPA, the money is tied into your child making the sports team, and remaining on that team. 

Our boys were both offered scholarships.  When the offers were made, we sat down and figured out what tuition we could afford if they were to lose the scholarships because of a bad grade.  We want to think our kids will keep their scholarships, but we need to be prepared for the fact that they might not... so we looked closely at the tuition and fees for all of the schools and had conversations with the boys about which school would best meet their needs, and which one we thought we could afford if they were to lose their scholarships.

(One lesson we've learned is that the scholarship is for a set amount of money.  If tuition rises while your kids are in school,  YOU will be responsible for the difference between the scholarship and the new tuition rates.)

Co-Op Work or Internships
Wonder of wonder, and miracle of miracles, many employers pay - and pay well - for students who are willing to co-op or intern during college.  Not all internships are paid, but all Co-Op experiences are.  Co-Op experiences require 5 years for a student to graduate.  The student will spend their first year on campus, and then will alternate a semester of classes with a semester of full time work in their field. 

Not only are students paid, but many of them will be offered jobs by the companies they worked for upon graduation. 

My husband went through the Co-Op Program while he was in college.  We can't speak highly enough of the program.

Government Financial Aid
Then, there are those horrid FAFSA forms.  Fill them out.  It is possible that your child is eligible for some extra money.  The school will offer you a package once they review your FAFSA.  Many of these offers consist of Student Loans.  I would stay away from the loans, if it were me.  However, many of these packages offer grants and work-study aid.  Work study is wonderful- work on campus and earn money.  NO LOANS are involved in work study or grants.  It is worth looking into.  You are not obligated to take out student loans, but it is worth seeing what else is available.

Final Thoughts
I've mentioned before that I didn't take out loans through college.  I was studying to be a teacher, so no co-op positions were available for teachers, and student teaching pays nothing.  I was fortunate enough to have a work-study position on campus, where I worked the maximum amount of hours I was allowed to work during the school year.  During the summers, I worked in food service.  My parents didn't help me with college expenses.  My parents were divorced, my Mom was struggling to make her own ends meet, and Dad refused to pay for my expenses because he thought I should join the military, and let the military pay for my degree. 

It's not easy, but it shouldn't be. College isn't for everyone.  I know some amazing people who don't have a college degree and are thriving with their own businesses. I know a couple of self-made millionaires who never went to college.  I personally know teachers, doctors, and university professors who began their college experience at the community college because they wanted to keep their expenses as low as possible. I firmly believe that if you have to earn some (or all) of the money that goes into that college degree, then you will work hard and value that degree all the more.  The key is your willingness to work, and work hard.

Many people will enter the work force straight out of high school and earn the money to pay for their degree before they go to school.  Others will join the military.

College is a learning experience.  Not only learning from coursework, but also learning responsibility in paying for your own expenses, helping to cover your own tuition, and accepting responsibility for your actions.  If you can manage to get through a 4 year degree without accumulating thousands of dollars in debt, I believe you have learned a valuable lesson about life. 

When you look at the current rate of consumer debt in this country today, I believe that the lessons learned about financial responsibility, paying your own way as you go, and not over-extending yourself to get to your goal is a life lesson that will hold our kids through the rest of their lives.

Affording College, Part 2

Start With a Plan

What should I major in?  While some majors sound like a lot of fun... you seriously need to ask "What are the job opportunities in this field?  How am I going to make a living in this field?"  I firmly believe that if you are passionate about something, you will find a way to make a living in that field.  But, before you invest thousands of dollars in an education, you will need to sit down and come up with a plan.

Those who major in healthcare, computer science, education, and the STEM fields: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math will have a fairly easy time finding jobs upon graduation.

But what about those who major in the humanities?  Ah... this is where it begins to get tricky.  This is where high school and college internships become crucial.  The networking involved in these fields will be the determining factor in finding a full time job.

I'd like to give an example:  My sister majored in English.  Everyone told her she would never manage to find a job in her field.  She received her BS in English, and went to work for a temp agency in Washington, D.C.  She would temp within her field as much as possible.  She would go anywhere within the metropolitan Washington D.C. area.  Within six months of graduation, she had a job.  She decided to leave her job when her children were born, and then she went back to school for her Master's degree, also in English.  When she returned to the job market, she had a plan.  She went to work as a Technical Writer, and began pursuing ACE certification for exercise.  She was still doing her technical writing, but on the side, she was a personal trainer.  She began writing freelance articles about exercise, health, and nutrition.  Today, less than 10 years after she finished her Master's Degree, she owns her own freelance business.  She writes extensively about health, nutrition and fitness, teaches English classes at the Community College, and is as happy as can be.  I remember her mapping out her plan for how she was going to start her own business back when the kids were little.  She also made a list of how she would make ends meet if times got financially tight while pursuing her dream.  (Hence the time spent as a technical writer.)

You need a plan.  Ask your child what they want to do with their degree, and how they plan to get there.  Chances are, they have an idea of what they want to do at the end, but will need support in planning out how to get there.

We have helped our own kids map out their educational plans.  Not only has this included "where are you going to school, and what are you majoring in", it began with... "What do you want to do?  What do you love doing?"

We then found a list of schools that offered excellent programs in their fields AND offered the best internship programs.  Believe it or not, one of the schools we visited said "We don't offer that many internships because we are so far away from everything.  BUT, we are only half an hour from the beach!"  What parent doesn't want to hear that on a college tour?

We sat down with them and planned out where they were going to find their first jobs.  You can't expect much money from a first job, but the work experience is crucial.  We looked into jobs that would offer work experience, but wouldn't interfere with school work.

Oldest son will be searching for Grad. Schools this fall.  He is already searching for which schools will offer him the best opportunities for paid research within his field.  He found an internship as a research assistant on campus this past year, and they have hired him on to work with them as a result of the internship.  He's hoping he can use this job to find his next one.

Middle son is a lifeguard.  He is planning on working as a lifeguard on campus this next school year, and has already put in his application.  He is planning on returning to his current job next summer, but he will begin looking for internships his Sophomore year. 

Daughter is planning on going into art.  We are looking at how she will be able to support herself in a field that is highly competitive.  She will be a Junior in high school this year, and is already looking into the internship program for her Senior year.  She is hoping that an internship will give her a "foot in the door" for her to springboard off of through college.  She has been exploring fields within art, and has begun narrowing down her options to what intrigues her the most.

Work on the plan.  Look at their passions.  Keep the end goal in mind while you are looking at schools, and make certain that those schools can help your child achieve those goals.  Make certain they offer internships or co-op programs. Will they accept AP credits?  How many AP credits will they accept?  Will they accept credit from a Concurrent Enrollment Program at the Community College?  You would be surprised at what some schools will and won't accept.  Don't assume anything.  ASK!!  And, as my mother would say: "Get the answer in writing."

Look carefully at their teacher/student ratio.  Look carefully at their teaching staff.  Does the teaching staff have real world experience in the fields they are teaching?  ASK colleges about their retention rate, and their 4 year graduation rate.  Make certain they are accredited.  If your child is planning on going into Graduate School, ask about the rate of undergraduates who apply and are accepted into graduate programs, and ask which schools they are accepted to for graduate work.

We looked at one school, with a $40,000/year price tag that got angry when a parent asked "How many of your entering Freshman graduate?"  with a quick follow up of "What percentage of the entering Freshman finish AND graduate in 4 years?"  I remember my son looking at me as the admissions officer was yelling "I don't see how this is relevant in choosing a quality education!".  He whispered into my ear "Mark this one off the list.  If they can't see how this is relevant, they aren't the ones for me!"

Affording College, pt. 1

College expenses are astronomical.  When I look at the student debt that kids are racking up, it breaks my heart.  Kids are graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree and anywhere from $80,000 to $100,000 in debt at the tender age of 22.  With their fancy degrees in minority studies, gender studies, and that ilk, they are having a difficult time finding a job.

We want our children to go to college.  We want them to succeed and do well in life.  But, the high cost of college education has many people questioning the merits of a college education. 

We have one child in college, and a second going in the fall.  I have some lessons learned that I'd like to share with you that we've learned, or our friends have recently learned along the way.

While we're talking about this, I'd like to say that I graduated from college without debt, and I paid my own way through.  No help from Mom and Dad for me.  Keep in mind, I graduated from college 25 years ago.  Granted, college was "cheaper" then, but not when you compare the percentage of your income to the amount of money made.  I did learn lessons from my own experience, which has helped our children tremendously.

The Journey Begins in High School.

1) Take advantage of AP Classes.  These wonderful classes are offered by most high schools across the nation.  Your child is taking a college level class, in high school.  At the end of the year, students take the AP exam for that subject.  A score of "3" is considered passing.  "4" is great, and "5" is the best score.  Colleges will look at these scores and many (but not ALL of them) will grant anywhere from 1 - 3 college credits, depending upon the score.  Depending upon the college, these credits will either count as elective credits, or they will count for the class in that subject area. 

2) Concurrent Enrollment.  This is a program that is usually only offered in the Senior year of high school.  Students are allowed to take classes at the community college - i.e.- COLLEGE CREDIT -  at little or no expense to you.  Be wary here.  I have heard that if your child fails the class at the community college, YOU will be charged for the tuition for this class.  There are many advantages to this program:  The community college offers classes that the high schools don't.  Again- depending upon the college- the college will accept that credit from the college when your child enters their school.  Unlike the AP exam, they will take that full credit.  So, where the AP U.S.  History Exam with the score of a 5 might get your child a 3 credit elective, or maybe a 3 credit history elective, a 3 credit U.S. History class at the community college WILL give your child 3 college credits in U.S. History upon graduation. 
My son's friends have taken advantage of this program by taking classes we can't find in our schools: programming, web design, CALC 3, etc.   For these kids, the credits will be transferring directly.

3) Internships.  Many high schools now offer internships.  These programs offer kids the opportunity to work in their chosen career fields while still in high school.  While these programs are not paid, your child finding out that their chosen career field is actually what they want to do BEFORE a fortune is invested in classwork is priceless.  Many kids I know have interned for a year, been offered summer jobs from the internship, and then gone to work full-time for this company upon graduation from college.   Look into it.  I also know kids who discovered part-way into an internship that this field was definitely NOT for them!

4) Project Lead the Way.  Do you have a child who wants to be an engineer?  Project Lead the Way is offered in many school systems.  In our school system, it is a highly competitive program that is offered through the Vo. Tech school.  The kids are given a hands-on, project based education in engineering for their last two years of high school.  Most colleges and universities will accept these two years of classes as the equivalent of the Engineering Fundamentals classes, and will grant acceptance and credit for students who successfully complete PLTW while in high school.  I've heard from kids who did PLTW and those who did not and majored in engineering at the big name engineering schools on the east coast.  They all struggled in college with classes (engineering classes are hard), but hands down, the PLTW kids were more prepared and were doing better in classes than their non-PLTW peers. 

5) Extra Curricular Activities.  National Art Honor Society.  Drama Club.  Band.  Orchestra.  Robotics Teams.  Each one of these activities has something to say for it.  You don't need to be involved in all of them.  Pick your passion and stick with it.  Enjoy the activity, and be a part of it.  Involvement and leadership in the activity that you are passionate about will make a difference when you are applying for scholarships.  This includes involvement with scouting, youth groups, and 4-H.

One last thing.  I know a lot of people complain about the rigor of AP classes.  They say they'd rather get an "A" in an honors class than a "B" in an AP class so that they can keep a straight A average.  Here's the weird thing:  colleges are looking for rigor.  They like to see that your child challenged themselves in high school by taking harder classes. 

Just some food for thought...

An Investment in Your Future

We've been touring college campuses up and down the East Coast since Saturday. While the campuses have begun to blur together in my mind, there is one thing that stood out: every college touted how important it was to make an investment in your child's education, and went to great lengths to tell us just how easy it is to get student loans. They brushed off annual tuitions of $40,000 (at state run, public universities) as trivial in comparison to the gains they would have through life, beginning as soon as they graduate. I'm not sure what most kids earn starting fresh out of college, but I'm pretty sure it's not enough to pay that debt off in a timely manner and start their lives out on the right foot.

I paid my own way through college. No debt when I graduated. Yes, I had to work while I took classes, but I have forever been able to say that I paid for my own education. I went in state, and I went to a nationally recognized school. My husband also worked his way through college in the co-op program - a decision that earned him a higher starting salary upon graduation.

So, we've been looking at schools with an eye on tuition and expenses. We want our kids to have an excellent education, but we don't want them saddled with debt, either. Graduating with $160,000 or more in debt is out of the question.

We've found absolute gems. Hidden within the maze of public universities, we are finding amazing campuses with fantastic programs at reasonable prices. (We found one today for $15,000 annually.). We've found great scholarship programs at some of these schools, and we've found amazing business partnerships. It's been an eye opening experience.

The true investment for our kids is going to be the investment in time, the time to make certain that they find an excellent, affordable education so that they can begin their journey into adulthood debt free.