By Jennifer Lazzo
Planning for college involves many factors: high school course preparation, assessment of interests and correlating professions, college tours, college entrance exams, application deadlines and cost.
Parents and students who start this conversation before senior year, such as in ninth grade, will be able to plan the necessary coursework and extracurricular activities that will allow the student to become a great prospect to his or her preferred schools. School counselors help facilitate this process.
Since many parents cannot afford to pay all costs associated with higher education, parents should fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) in the fall of the student’s senior year and every year thereafter. Financial assistance is not based solely on income; other factors like family size or year in school influence the financial aid package. By filling out the FAFSA, the student will also be considered for funds from the state and possibly the school.
Parents are encouraged to set aside money for college when their children are young to take advantage of time. Funds can be placed into a traditional savings account or invested in a 529 plan, also known as a qualified tuition plan, which is a tax-advantaged way to save for future college costs.
Start College Saving Sooner than Later
“Parents’ biggest mistake when thinking about college or saving for college is [they]put it off,” said Bennett Whitlock, chief executive officer of Whitlock Wealth Management. “If they have a newborn, they should consider setting up a [529] plan as soon as possible, even if it’s $100 a month to start. It’ll help defray the cost.”
There are two types of 529 plans: a pre-paid tuition plan or an investment plan. Whitlock explained that the tax advantages are the same–use the money to pay for higher education tax-free–but with the pre-paid plan, tuition is purchased based on today’s costs for an in-state public university, and with the investment plan, funds may be used at any college in any state and pay for college-related costs such as computers, books and room and board.
“One of the reasons a 529 is one of the more popular options is because the parent owns the account for the benefit of the child,” he said. “If you have multiple 529 plans for multiple children, you can change the name on the plan to use it for another.”
Gainesville educator Kelly Brown is familiar with “multiples.” As the mother of three-year-old twins can attest, planning to have two children pursuing higher education at the same time is difficult. And expensive.
Brown and her husband have been working with a financial advisor to prioritize their spending on student loans, home ownership and retirement. Their next goal is deciding on which 529 plan is most
appropriate for their son and daughter.
“I don’t want to assume they will go to college,” she said. “We want them to be able to go out of Virginia for school or be able to use it for a trade school or other education program.”
“Being in education, I see how many professions require a master’s degree to be marketable,” Brown continued. “I’d rather they go into debt for the graduate degree, where they can get a bigger return on investment. We want to be responsible and support the kids, but we have to be realistic.”
The Affordable Pathway to Baccalaureate
When asked about options for twins or two children close in age, financial advisor Whitlock suggested that parents look at the Pathway to the Baccalaureate program at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) as an affordable way to send multiple children to college.
NOVA’s website describes the Pathway program as a group of 10 educational institutions in Northern Virginia that “have joined forces to provide a seamless web of support to selected students as they pursue a four-year college degree, beginning with the transition from high school, through NOVA, to George Mason or another university.”
“Our goal is to help students navigate and persist in higher education,” said Susan Nieves-Campos, associate director for transition services at NOVA. “The Pathway program provides students with strong support, structure and guidance starting in high school through completion of their goal. It is a
wonderful opportunity for students who can benefit from supplemental support.”
During the 2016-2017 school year, Pathway served about 3,500 high school seniors across nine school systems, while more than 6,800 college-matriculated Pathway students attended all six NOVA campuses and George Mason University.
“Students from target high schools selected for the Pathway program begin the college transition their senior year of high school with a Pathway counselor embedded in the high school,” Nieves-Campos explained. “Upon transfer to NOVA, students have a dedicated advisor, who assists them throughout their time at NOVA.”
For parent Karmon Primas-Hailey, coordinating with the counselor at Forest Park High School was key. “She was the reason my oldest chose the Pathway program at NOVA,” she said. “They start [discussing college with students]in their freshman year. Hearing it from someone who was not mom was a good thing.”
Primas-Hailey said her son was against the community college idea at first. “He didn’t believe it was financially beneficial and fought us against it until the last minute. We told him, ‘If you go to NOVA, we’ll pay for everything—books, tuition and room.’”
“As parents, we plan in our heads what we want our children to do,” she continued. “Sometimes the path isn’t always clear. We really started the planning process his freshman year of high school, and college visits started in his sophomore year. Before we knew what happened, high school was over.”
Her son graduated with an associate’s degree in business administration in May and will head to Virginia Tech this fall to obtain his bachelor’s.
What is her advice to other parents? “Let them enjoy high school,” said Primas-Hailey. “You can’t get those days back. It will all just fall into place.”
Information on 529 plans: collegesavings.org
Pathway to the Baccalaureate: nvcc.edu/pathway
Detailed college preparation checklist provided by the U.S. Department of Education:
studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/college-prep-checklist.pdf
Jennifer Lazzo (jlazzo@princewilliamliving.com) is a freelance writer and editor, who earned a B.A. in technical journalism and political science from Colorado State University. She lives with her husband
and twin girls in Montclair.
