Reasons Why You Might Pay More Than You Need To For College

Why You Might Over Pay For College

Colleges have mastered the pricing model and students are at their mercy as invoices arrive in the mail. However, long prior to receiving their invoices, students and their parents make many mistakes that cost them tens of thousands.

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The less you know, the more you pay. The less you challenge the system, the more you pay. The less you involve yourself, the more you pay. The later you connect with colleges, the more you pay. The less certain you are about their study plan, the more you pay. In addition, the more you leave your college choice to random selection, the more you pay.

Here is the good news. You have much greater power over this than you think. All you have to do is be willing to exercise it and take appropriate action.

Exercising your power begins with becoming knowledgeable in your understanding of what colleges want from you and how they are going to get it. Believe me, they have you figured out.

Let us begin with exploring a few thoughts.

• What do colleges want from you?
• How willing are you to ask for what you need?
• In what ways do they work to increase your award package?
• In what ways do you work to maximize your scholarship potential?
• Is the college’s initial award package their best and final offer?
• In what other industry do you apply to be their customer, wait anxiously in hopes of being approved, and then be all too willing to pay their asking price?

Colleges are masters at molding their interests into behaviors of society. Now let us turn it around and assert your interests upon them.

Top 8 Reasons You Are Overpaying For College:

• You submitted the FAFSA too late. There is a "priority funding deadline” that many people miss by either procrastinating or thinking they need more financial information than they already have access too. Both are big mistakes. Typically, the financial aid budget for institutional, state, and federal funds is awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis until the funds run out. In 2016 you are able to submit the FAFSA as early as Oct 1st using tax data from earlier in the year. Waiting will cost you.
• You do not understand the college authority, protocol, or policy for awarding scholarships and financial aid. To avoid overpaying, you need to be aware of the college’s policy and procedures for offering scholarships and distributing financial aid. The Admission Office oversees scholarships, which are often used as an incentive tool to entice an enrollment. The Financial Aid Office oversees financial aid and often converts aid into loans. You have to be perceptive and know the policy of each office to maximize your package.
• You do not have a plan for applying early, missing the first round of acceptances and scholarships. "The early bird gets the worm!” Submit your top priority applications by Oct 1 to receive preferred treatment for admission acceptances and scholarships.
• You do not have a strategy for submitting applications and leveraging scholarships. Most people randomly submit a handful of applications and wait to see what happens. Rather, a strategic plan is to apply to 8-12 "target” schools with a few "reach” and "safety” schools mixed in. This leaves room for quality options and leveraging opportunity.
• You do not try to negotiate costs. Most people readily accept the college bill and figure out later how to pay or borrow for it. You are a buyer of education. The college is a provider of educational services. What you pay is negotiable as long you pursue the negotiation, and do so in a timely manner. You have to be able to ask for what you want and do not buy otherwise.
• You remain unknown to the college before you submit your application, known as a "Stealth Applicant.” Becoming well known to colleges is necessary if you want to maximize your financial award, which is a decision, made by humans. You cannot just randomly hit the submit button and think they will offer you a max scholarship. It does not work that way. You have to demonstrate greater value than what an electronic application will show. Make it personal.
• You do not have a defined plan for achieving an on time, meaningful degree.  The best way to avoid a costly 5th or 6th year of college is to begin with a plan for an on-time 4-year degree. This means to identify career goals and interests, choose a course of studies to support your career goals, and pick a college with the right study program. If they say you do not need to know, then they have an extra year or two planned for you. In addition, that comes at a big cost.
• You picked the wrong college. Most often, this is due to indecision and inaction leaving it all to chance. It is due to being reactive to the urgent, rather than being proactive to what is important. You would not buy a house this way. You would not buy a car this way. In addition, frankly, you would not even buy a color television this way. However, people do buy a college education this way…go figure.

Making a big mistake buying a college education might cost your retirement.