College

Have them go to community college first. It is much less expensive then the university. Make sure they apply for financial aide. The aide will come in the form of a grant or a student worker situation or a student loan. Either way it's a help. And see if they can find part time jobs at companies that do tuition reimbursement. UPS doese tuition reembursing, in Houston, the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center and a lot of hospitals do also. If they want to teach they can work as a teacher aide while they go to school and the state pays for some of the tuition. Good luck.

I work for a school district and they do a scholarship program. I think most of them are for community colleges. Talk to the guidance counselors at the school, they will know where to look even if they don't have perfect grades.

Definitely talk to their guidance counselor about scholarships they may be eligible for. Also depending on your finances they might be eligible for financial aid in the form of grant money or loans.

A junior college is a good idea, they are less expensive and many of their classes/credits are transferable to a state college later on.

Talk to someone in the financial aid office of the college they are interested in; they can help you with scholarship info and filling out a financial aid application.

I go to north Harris (now lone star) and I get financial aid through fafsa but you need to fill out the forms now, you can do it on www.fafsa.ed.gov don't go to a site that makes you pay and you can set it up to send the information to many different schools until you decide but you really need to do it soon otherwise you will have to come up with the tuition payment yourself and be reimbursed later, but there are payment plans and book vouchers to help out, I personally love north Harris and even in the Montgomery district they have been the most helpful. I was the first in my family to go to any type of college so I didn't have a clue what to do and they walked me through everything. You really have to stay on top of all the federal aid stuff but it is well worth it and the college sometimes will request additional information it is best to call them every so often and make sure things are going well.

Just another note they have recently passed a new law that once you drop 4 or 6 classes (cant rem) you are kicked out of Texas colleges, your kids should be aware not to take more than they think that they can handle especially if they work

indeed! community colleges are the way to go. almost all, if not all, will let you transfer to a big university whenever you'd like. almost everyone i went to high school with were going to Austin Community College for their basics and then transferring for their major. seems more fun that way if you ask me! GOOD LUCK!!

L.
www.just4mylittlegirl.com

Tell them to go to the financial aid department on campus get FASFA-FORMS(Government Assistance) and fill out these first. After this information has been submitted, everything else will began to fall in place.

Seriously consider a community college for their first two years. They are much more affordable, and offer just as good an education as a four year school.
There are tons of scholarships and grants around; just check on the internet to see what is available. Also have them apply for every financial aide package available at the college. Lastly, there is always a college loan.

Check out www.chegg.com. If you use code CC104388, you can save an additional 5% off the cost of rentals. I just gradulated from college and in just under 2 years, I saved just over $1,600 in renting the books instead of buying them. For my first class, I needed 3 books, my cost was $72.00 and everyone else in the class had paid well over $300.00 for their books. Once I told them about chegg, they all started renting instead of buying.

Chegg also buys books back, so if your kids happen to buy books, and then give Chegg a try, they can use the same code when selling books back, and they will give an additional $5.00 per book back too.

Chegg is the number one on-line book rental company and to help off set the cost, they will pay for shipping the books back. All in all, it took about 4 days to get the books once I ordered them.

There are lots of on-line rental companies and I always went to other sites to double check that I was indeed getting the best deal. They price their rentals based on how long the student needs the book for. So, always check to see when the class is over with and then pick how long you need to rent the book for.

They also have a 30 day no questions asked return policy, so if your child drops out of a class, they can return the book and get their money back without a problem.

The code never expires and can be used over and over again.

Good luck and congrats!

~C.

If you have 2 kids going to college, and your income is less than $50,000/yr, then they will qualify for PELL grants and student loans. They can go to college cheaper in Texas than they can ANYWHERE else. Don't know where you are, but ACCD (SAC, St. Philips) and Austin Community are good places to go until they are ready to declare a major and get serious about their last 2 years in college. They can take 12 hrs, work, and be considered full time students with full-time student aid. Just a thought...

I recently returned to college myself after waiting to raise my kids, 17 & 7. There are grants, and scholarships out there. If the were there for a 38 year old mother of two, there are some for your children! Good Luck & God Bless!

I agree with community college first...get as many credits there as you can towards whatever degree they are looking to complete. It is so much cheaper.

They should both make appointments with their high school guidance counselor, and you should attend as well, he/she will have many options available and will know if any of the fees can be waived due to financial considerations.

They are going to need to work to help out and finding an employer who encourages college attendance is a good idea...Chick-fil-a will pay up to $2000 towards college a year for employees...I think HEB also has a college program (they may want you to continue working for them after graduation)...those are two I am aware of.

Also the Fannie Mae (May) foundation has a complete list of scholarship opportunities available, you go to their location and fill out a computerized questionnaire and they print you a list of scholarships you qualify for and it is free.

Be careful of those student loans...they can really add up and start you off in the world under a huge strain of debt. I know first hand about that.

Hope this helps...{{{{hugs}}}}