If you already have a son or daughter in college, then you already know that an arm and a leg would be cheap compared to the REAL costs of college. In other words, it is expensive, and you have found that it is more expensive that the most conservative and detailed budget planning you could have done. If you have a son or daughter that will be going to college soon, it is never too late to start your budgeting and planning process, and then tack on at least about another 30% for expenses that you did not plan for.

It is almost guaranteed that the number you arrive at for budgeting purposes is going to be low by about 25-30%. One of the problems that this fosters is that you may have decided to send your son or daughter to a local two year college in order to keep the overall costs down. If your thought process in this decision was financially related, you may wish to revisit that decision. In the real world today, the environment is very tough and competitive, and you of course want to provide your son or daughter with every possible advantage they can take, including the best college education possible, where a two year college may not provide as good an education or degree.

The overall total cost of sending your son or daughter to the college that provides the BEST education for them should not be the deciding factor. The reason I say this is because there is a truckload of college scholarships and grants available that your son or daughter CAN qualify for. Maybe some of these are only a couple hundred bucks where others will cover the costs of the whole enchilada. There is not any kind of quota or limit on the number of scholarships that your son or daughter can apply for and be awarded. It is important to note that while you can almost certainly qualify for a student loan for your child, a student loan needs to be paid back after graduation, whereas a college scholarship or college grant does NOT need to be paid back. This is a tremendous difference.

As you research the availability of college scholarships and college grants, be fully aware that like most things, there are scams out there. You should never be required to pay a fee simply to find out if you qualify for a particular scholarship. While it happens, this requirement is rare and should be avoided, or at least looked at very carefully. And despite popular beliefs and myths, college scholarships and college grants are not only awarded to the top football player, the star soccer player, the musical genius, etc. Nor is award determination based solely on financial need as it was in years past. A majority of scholarships simply require the student to apply for them!

The truth is that there are millions of dollars worth of scholarships that are not awarded each year simply because nobody applied for them! No, you do not need to be the top football jock or the outstanding musician of the year in order to get a scholarship. In the majority of cases, you simply need to apply. Remember, these scholarships are tax deductions for corporations, and if the scholarship is not awarded, then the corporation does not get to take that tax deduction. Therefore, the requirements for being eligible for that scholarship are less and less, including a financial need basis, but the single requirement that exists for all of them is that you need to fill out the application!