Parents of high school students about to head to college may feel the cost of higher education can be overwhelming, but high school and college counselors have advice to navigate the process and take advantage of every opportunity to save money.
According to the College Board, the average yearly cost of tuition at a public, two-year college is a little over $3,000. Students at a public, four-year college pay an average of about $6,000. Private schools can cost more than $30,000 per year.
And that’s just tuition. But Steve Soud, The Bolles School’s director of college counseling, said don't go by the sticker price for a college education. In most cases, between scholarships, grants and financial aid, most students may only pay 30 percent of that tuition.
"One of the terms parents should learn is tuition discounting,” Soud said. "One of the great misconceptions out there is that you sometimes hear ‘billions of dollars go unused.’ The truth of the matter is, most of the scholarship programs that are not related to institutions are relatively smaller scholarship quantities and typically for only one year, whereas colleges will tend to guarantee a package for four years."
The key to getting into college is to start early and keep your options open. Most scholarship dollars come from the schools themselves.
"It's always worth picking up the phone and calling the college financial aid officer to talk about specific circumstances in a family,” Soud said. “Colleges can sometimes find more room."
"The biggest issue that we see is families that aren't financially prepared for what college is going to cost,” Jacksonville University’s director of financial aid, Karen Laverdiere, said.
According to College Board, more than $185 billion in financial aid is out there.
To access nearly all needs-based college aid, parents and students must submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which can now be filed earlier than ever.
“This will enable families to apply for need-based financial aid much earlier in the process, so this year's juniors will be able to start applying for need-based financial aid and get a sense of where they stand,” Soud said.
For Florida with good grades and test scores, the Bright Futures program will help pay for college.
"I encourage people to look into that early in their high school years because there's a community service component to that, along with GPA and test scores,” Laverdiere said. “That can cover quite a bit of your education."
Leverdiere said even with scholarships and other financial aid, most families will have to borrow money.
"Unfortunately, student loans are just a reality now as students go to college,” Laverdiere said.
Laverdiere urges people to look into government loans rather than private loans. Education loans have incentives like holding repayment until the student graduates.
Experts urge students and parents not to ignore smaller scholarship opportunities. There are scholarships for just about anything.
"My favorite in the sort of off-beat scholarship is run by the duct tape company. If you go to prom in a tuxedo or dress made of duct tape, you take a picture, you send it to the company, you can be eligible for a $5,000 scholarship,” Soud said.
Soud also has advice for writing an essay for scholarships to increase your chances of getting cash.
"Rather than saying, 'I did this. I did that,' provide a concrete anecdote. Give a little story that makes a situation or that student come alive for the reader," Soud said. "Readers for scholarship programs and for colleges are reading thousands of essays each year, and the ones that tell stories tend to stand out."
High school and college counselors urge people to take advantage of every opportunity.
"I think it's common knowledge that college costs have risen rather dramatically, but I'd rather think if parents are thoughtful about the process and are realistic about their financial status and circumstances, they can find good and reasonably priced options for their children,” Soud said.
Tuesday is National College Signing Day and the Reach Higher and Better Make Room campaigns are urging high school seniors to post selfies of themselves with their acceptance letter on social media using #CollegeSigningDay. You can also tag it with #WJXT4.