Would you go to the Mercedes dealership, pick out a brand new cherry red convertible and then tell the sales man you’ll take it? all without ever shopping around or checking to see what everyone else is paying for the same car? Would you even take the time to compare prices on the new convertible Jaguar or the BMW 650? Or are you so dead set on that one car and the one at that single dealership that you’re willing to pay a highly overinflated price for it?
This type of decision could lead you into unnecessary debt and interest. But we’re talking about a vehicle that you maybe could have saved a few thousands bucks on down the road. When we talk about paying retail for college and comparing prices we are talking about saving tens of thousands of dollars over the span of your college career and beyond.
Ever heard of those pesky student loan payments? Well they do accrue interest and the bigger the balance…well…the bigger the payback on interest.
What if i told you that you DON’T have to pay retail for college? You see no one ever told me that. I thought the price of tuition was what everyone paid. Any scholarships or financial aid was to be applied to the so called sticker price and that the institutions never lower that price unless they give you a scholarship of some sort. Partial scholarships would go to pay toward the total retail price right?
If you didn’t get a scholarship then applying for grants and other sources of financial aid is pretty much your only option for paying that high price of education…correct?
You couldn’t be further misled from the truth. The real truth in the matter is colleges and universities WILL lower their tuition or their sticker price to attract good students. You see post secondary education is a business. None of us like to think of it that way or see it that way but it is indeed a business. Make no mistake that these institutions are in the business to make money!
Colleges and Universities will lower their sticker price to attract the brightest and most ambitious students. They do this based on three aspects of the potential student’s credentials.
- Social
- Education
- Financial
Schools want a student that is involved in community services and in civiv and social activities. They want to know that you’re the type of person that gives back to your community. Why do they care might one ask? Because they know if they invest in someone who gives back to their community then they are likely to get donations and contributions back to the educational institutions from that same type of person in the future.
Stay tuned for an update on the ladder of the two requirements for reducing the retail of college tuition.