At some point, it is going to be about the money.

 

There are only two kinds of colleges any more: Expensive and Really Expensive. If cost is a factor in your college decision, then knowing what is available to you regardless of your grades and SAT scores is of paramount importance.

 

Cost should never be a consideration when applying to college, but it will always be a consideration when you and your parents make a final decision about where you will attend. You owe it to yourself and your parents to have financial options.

 

At Eller's College Connection, I walk families through the various methods of making college more affordable. 

 

I often tell anxious parents who fear the high cost of college that this is a great time to be poor but a very bad time to be middle class or wealthy. Unfortunately, there's enough truth in that joke to make it not very funny at all. With some private colleges now topping $80,000 for one year, it doesn't take a calculator to figure out just what that is going to mean over four years.

 

But there is some good news. Because colleges still need students, the definition of "need-based" aid continues to change. More scholarships are also available now than at any time in our history. "One size fits all" does not exist when it comes to college finances.

 

My Financial Aid & Scholarship service starts with your basic knowledge of how college costs operate. I work to bring my clients up-to-speed on the three most important factors when it comes to money for college:

• need-based aid
• merit scholarships
• colleges that just cost less to begin with.

Learn to navigate the mine field that is the high cost of attending college in the 21st century.

No other aspect of the college admission process is filled with more misinformation than cost, and that's why you need the help of a professional to guide you through financing college.