The 10 Deadliest Mistakes Most Parents Make When Applying For College Funding-And How To Avoid Them…part 1″

We’re going to start by talking about the 10 deadliest mistakes almost every parent makes when trying to find money for their child’s college education.

If you make any one of these mistakes, it could end up costing you thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars by way of lost funding that you might have been eligible for.

This article will teach you how to avoid these mistakes so that you can get the most amount of funding from each school your college-bound student applies to. Ready? Let’s get started!

Mistake #1: Most middle and upper-middle class parents assume they won’t be eligible for financial aid because they own a home and make too much money.

Reality: Most families with incomes ranging from $40,000 – $120,000 per year who own homes are eligible for some form of financial aid. There is more than 30 billion dollars available each year from the Federal Government, the states, colleges and universities, and private foundations and organizations.

You just have to know how to get your “fair share”.

You need to at least try and apply because many times you’ll get SOMETHING….too many parents make a half-hearted attempt and thengive up

Mistake #2: Focusing your time and energy on a private scholarship search instead of spending your time trying to qualify for “need-based” financial aid.

But the fact is that 99% of all the available funds come from the school your child applies to or the Federal Government….and only 1% from Private Scholarshps! Focus on where you can get the most.

Mistake #3 is thinking that your child will not get aid because they are not an athlete, gifted academically or a minority

Reality: Nothing could be further from the truth!

“Need-based” financial aid is solely awarded based on “financial need” which is calculated by taking the cost of attendance at a school and subtracting the family contribution (which is the minimum amount the government determines you can afford to pay based on your income and assets and your child’s income and assets).

Whatever is left over after you subtract these two numbers is your “financial need” or eligibility for financial aid at a particular school. If you haven’t noticed, this has nothing to do with a student’s ethnic background, athletic ability, or grades. It’s based purely on this simple formula:

Finacial Need =Expected Family Contribution from Cost of Attendance

Mistake #4: Picking colleges and universities without paying attention to where your student lies in relation to the rest of the student body.

Really you need to know that your child will be in the top 10% of the freshman group to increase your chances of getting the highest financial aid packages. This is meaning the GPA and SAT/ACT scores. Although you have to pass the “financial need” formula, schools will still rank the best packages like this

The reason they do this is to attract the better students to their school. Use this to your advantage and apply only to those schools where your child would fit into the top 10% category.

Mistake #5: Assuming all schools are created equal and will be able to give you the same amounts of money.

Remember that all schools are not the same and have different financial aid packages. Some schools have large alumni associations and are well-endowed. These are the ones that are more willing to give you money

State universities don’t get any private money and they have to get their help from the Federal Government to help their students

You can find out a school’s past experience in giving away financial packages to determine i you will be short-changed or not. This one thing alone could make your choice of school much more expensive than it should

Dedicated to Making Your Child’s College Dreams Come True

To find out exactly how I can help you with college financial aid, visit my website about Illinois college tips and get a FREE Report: “How to Pay For College Without Going Broke”