Rick Darvis, CPA
Solutions for College, Inc.

If you haven’t saved enough for your child or grandchild’s college education, cheer up. The official tuition amounts colleges post on their Web sites mean even less than the sticker prices pasted on windows of new cars. If you understand how the financial aid game is played, you can find some generous unadvertised deals at colleges and universities throughout the country.

Here are the strategies that the top college-planning specialists share with their clients…
Don’t hesitate to apply for financial aid. Fill out financial aid forms even if you think you won’t qualify for needs-based aid. A couple making $130,000 a year, for instance, may still snag a needs-based aid package if their child ends up at a pricey institution, and the income ceiling for aid can rise significantly with more than one child attending college. Besides, the same paperwork often is necessary to qualify for tuition discounts and merit scholarships. Obtain a copy of the standard form, called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), on-line at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov or from your school’s guidance department.
Ask for tuition discounts. Whether or not your family qualifies for financial aid, it pays to look for tuition discounts. The nation’s private colleges and universities are currently giving incoming freshmen an average tuition discount of 41%, according to CollegeBoard.com. These price breaks may be awarded regardless of the parents’ income.
To boost your chances, identify schools where your child’s scores on standardized tests and grades put him/her in the top quarter of the applicant pool. You can compare your child’s academic standing with that of students enrolled at a school by looking at student profiles posted on http://www.collegeboard.com and http://www.princetonreview.com (click on “College”).
Play on rivalries. Even if your child is not athletic, consider applying to schools that face off with one another on the football field or volleyball court. You’ll be exploiting their long-standing rivalry, not only in sports but in academics and other extracurricular pursuits. Schools don’t like losing good athletes or good students to other schools in their athletic conferences. Competing schools will learn where your child is applying because you list these colleges and universities on your financial aid form. To find out which universities are in the same athletic conference, go to ncaa.org.
Look beyond your own backyard. The school that most wants your child could be two or three time zones away. Colleges always are looking for students from faraway states to boost the geographic diversity of their campuses. California kids, for example, are in hot demand everywhere in the US except the West.
Play the cheap card. Even if your child would prefer to attend a pricey private school, make sure he applies to at least one in-state public university. When a private university believes it is competing with a cheaper alternative, it’s more likely to kick in money to seal the deal.
Select a college with empty seats. Some perfectly fine colleges and universities are rejected by students more than others. You can tell how often a school is spurned by asking about its enrollment yield. For instance, if a school accepts 1,000 students per year, but only 200 accept offers of admission, that’s a low 20% yield. Popular schools have yields in the 50% to 60% range. Schools with more seats to fill are motivated to entice a child to attend and often are willing to negotiate tuition based on other offers that the student has received. Your son or daughter also can apply to a school with a lower yield in hope of receiving a fat award package, which he can then use as leverage with schools that he really wants to attend.
Try negotiating. If you’re disappointed in the aid package your child receives from a college, don’t give up. It is possible to negotiate a better awards package, but don’t use the word “negotiate” with financial aid officers — they dislike the term. Instead say, “I would like to appeal the financial aid offer for my child.” When making an appeal, send copies of award letters from other colleges to the school your child really wants to attend.

Bottom Line/Personal interviewed Rick Darvis, CPA, certified college planning specialist and one of the nation’s leading experts on college funding. He is founder of Solutions for College, Inc., in Plentywood, Montana. He also is cofounder of the National Institute of Certified College Planners, which trains advisers on how to prepare their clients’ children financially for college (www.niccp.com), and author of College Solution: A Roadmap to Selecting Your Best Strategy to Fund College and Retirement… Without Going Broke (Stone People).

That’s my state and I am proud of real white men who refuse to accept a nigger in the white house. What are the liberals saying. People like the fools that write in on this blog and cry because we refuse to accept this nigger as our president. They say we are racists. Well fuck them.

Charlie

I love this man. He is a gentle, loving father and husband. Our 15 year old son is just embarrassed to go any where with him because his father is always putting down other races. Both our children look totally white so they have never felt the sting of being treated as an OTW. My husband seems oblivious to the stings and barbs that are tossed his way my hateful whites.

Robert, my answer to you is I don’t know. We never visit his relatives so I don’t know what the other side’s opinion of us is. I have asked him what he thinks about the RNC picking a racist to head the party. His answer was that it was a better choice than picking the N word who was running against him.

Melinda

If we keep trying to force the rest of the world to worship all things white, it might just happen. Frankly I am tired of the news fixating on whatever is the latest pathos of white america. The rest of America and the other 90% of the world’s inhabitants are here too.

Stanley

This just like when it wasn’t okay for a tampon commercial but it is okay for white men to run Viagra ads anytime of the day. It is always about the needs of the white man in America. I’m a 19 year old white man and I’m tired of it.

Roger