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The fundamental business model for higher education is a melting ice cube as fewer and fewer families are able to afford the increasingly expensive product this country’s colleges and universities continue to pitch. And while the schools are slowly waking to this unpleasant reality and beginning to make the necessary changes for their own survival, the evolution to a better state continues to be slow and fitful.
Parents and students often ask me about ways to maximize financial aid or how to borrow money more cost-effectively, when they should instead be asking about comprehensive strategies to cut their overall college costs.
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My son was equally ambitious about testing or comping out of his own core-course requirements when he was pursing his two grad degrees while working a full time job.
My daughter’s approach will be a variation on the theme. She’s currently applying to graduate schools and, as it turns out, there’s only one university locally that offers the program she needs. Unfortunately, it requires a two-year full-time commitment and the cost is $90,000—for a degree that will likely translate into a job that pays $35,000 per year. (Don’t laugh, it’s social work.) So she decided to explore her online alternatives and discovered several equally fine programs offered by nationally recognized public and private institutions. Moreover, because these are online programs, she’ll be able to do her coursework without sacrificing the career she’s worked hard to develop these past few years. As important, the cost will end up at just under $25,000.
[Related Article: Student Loan Rate Deal: Spared, Then Stung]
The point is, parents and students have several options that are worth serious consideration when it comes to managing the cost of higher education. Some may require more effort and flexibility than others, but the following 6 strategies have the potential to save a year or more of the cost of a college education today:
As parents and students become better at finding, pricing and negotiating more cost-effective higher education alternatives, the schools will have no choice but to reconstitute their failing business models if they hope to compete for a piece of that other melting ice cube—the shrinking pool of tuition dollars that consumers are willing to pay.
[Student Loans: Research and compare options for student loans at Credit.com]
This story is an Op/Ed contribution to Credit.com and does not represent the views of the company or its affiliates.
Image: Beraldo Leal, via Flickr
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