How To Pay for a Private College Education With Your Parents Help

How do you pay for a college tuition? The cost of attending a private college or university has soared through the roof. Most average $50,000 per year for each of the four years. Unless you are a Trust Fund Baby, you are in the same boat as the rest of us; trying to find a better way to overcome this obstacle. If you are a high school student, there is something your parents can do to help. It requires a considerable amount of commitment on their part (at the minimum, six years of their lives) and a planned course of action on your part.

The Good News
How does it work? Most private colleges have a tuition benefit for their full time employees, spouse, and dependent children. Most benefits require the employee (your parent) to be employed for at least two consecutive years at the college. You, as the applying student, will need to meet the school’s admission requirements. If both conditions are satisfied, then you get to attend the institution for free, while your parent remains an employee. Legally, your parent is liable for tax liabilities in excess of any tuition support over $5,250-. But essentially it works out to be a few thousand dollars in taxes, payable to the U.S. government. You would still have to pay for your room and board, textbooks and fees yourself. In addition, the college will require that you complete a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) at www.fafsa.com online, but that is just paperwork. You reap the benefits of simply having a parent work at your school. The additional benefit is there is no limit to the number of dependents that can quality for this benefit; so long as the dependent appears on the parents’ tax return.


The Great News
Get this! You are not limited to the four year institution your parent works at. There is a group called The Tuition Exchange www.tuitionexchange.org. The Tuition Exchange is a 501 C3 nonprofit association with more than 600 private and public not for profit colleges and universities with an award process that operates similar to a tuition waiver. How does it work? Your parent’s employer will review your eligibility based on requirements set by the “home” institution. The school may set requirements for employment status, years of service, or set limits on the number of students eligible per family. If you qualify, you may have the first two years of your undergraduate tuition waived. The Tuition Exchange will only qualify you for two years of tuition, instead of the full four years. With over 600 colleges to choose from, your options are virtually limitless. Here are some of the more prestigious colleges on the list

• Boston University
• Fordham University
• George Washington University
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• Smith College

This is, by far, the best way to pay for private college tuition, bar none!