I have a freshman in college. We managed to save enough to send her to a private school without loans, but that isn't in the cards for you. But I have watched others go through this - everyone's kids are about the same age.
1. Be realistic about your own kids scholarship chances. Its great to hear that someone got a full ride, but those sorts of grades and test scores are not in all kid's futures no matter how much prep they do.
2. Do look at private schools who will often offer scholarships and such - but look at the GPA requirements for maintaining them. The first semester of your Freshman year is tough, and a lot of kids loose their scholarship out of the gate, while learning how to do college. They are more likely to get money at a school that is a safety school for them - where their GPA and test scores are above average - than get money at a school that will be a challenge for them to get into.
3. Consider the transfer rates for community colleges - the dirty secret is that their 2 year graduation rates are usually pretty bad, and their transfer rates into 4 year schools aren't great. If you go that route, be aware that while it has great financial benefits, it may take some focus to get to a four year school when you are around a bunch of kids that are functionally still high schoolers delaying adulthood.
4. Do NOT let your kid get their heart set on something you and they can't afford. If they are going to be taking out loans, have the loan talk with them and make sure they understand what they are getting into.
For people whose kids are younger:
1. Anyone taking regular Disney trips is probably not going to be eligible for much federal aid or need based school aid. Don't count on it.
1a. Those schools you hear that meet 100% of needs - your kid probably won't get into those schools - they have admission rates of less than 10% generally - and that isn't 10% of all students - that's 10% of the highly qualified students that apply. Hey if they get in, that's great - use your savings to spend Winter at Disney in your retirement. But be realistic about your chances. Your kid is still awesome, lots of awesome kids don't get admitted to those schools.
2. Your very smart and athletic seven year old could end up with Bs and Cs in high school and decide not to play varsity - not because they aren't smart, but because high school is a swamp - social anxiety, depression, hormonal relationships, poor decisions....don't count on that merit scholarship or athletic scholarship either. Its a long shot a long way away. Good luck (and congrats to all parents whose kids cleared all those hurdles effortlessly).
3. College will cost a lot of money. You can decide that you won't pay for it...that's your choice. They are unlikely to make it through if you can't at least help pay for it, and they will likely end up with big loans that will hold them back from buying a house, starting a family, etc. The more you can help, the easier their young adulthood is likely to be (and the less amount of time they can't afford their own place and are sleeping in their own bedroom while you say "we were going to downsize").
4. Take advantage of any cheap or free credits available while they are in high school. Our state offers dual enrollment - qualifying students go to college for free - including books - and some of my daughter's peers went to college as Juniors. The school also offered AP courses and offered CIS (College in the Schools) courses - which were University of Minnesota approved coursework. My daughter went in with enough credits to be a Sophomore (although her school only accepts one semester, so basically she went in with a buffer).
5. The upshot of all this advice is save for it. A 529 is a good idea. Heck, under your mattress is better than nothing. If you can at least save for two years of community college you are ahead of the game. If you want your kid to have a small liberal arts school experience (that was important to me), you are going to have to be pretty frugal. Start early and stick it aside regularly. Time passes quickly.
1. Be realistic about your own kids scholarship chances. Its great to hear that someone got a full ride, but those sorts of grades and test scores are not in all kid's futures no matter how much prep they do.
2. Do look at private schools who will often offer scholarships and such - but look at the GPA requirements for maintaining them. The first semester of your Freshman year is tough, and a lot of kids loose their scholarship out of the gate, while learning how to do college. They are more likely to get money at a school that is a safety school for them - where their GPA and test scores are above average - than get money at a school that will be a challenge for them to get into.
3. Consider the transfer rates for community colleges - the dirty secret is that their 2 year graduation rates are usually pretty bad, and their transfer rates into 4 year schools aren't great. If you go that route, be aware that while it has great financial benefits, it may take some focus to get to a four year school when you are around a bunch of kids that are functionally still high schoolers delaying adulthood.
4. Do NOT let your kid get their heart set on something you and they can't afford. If they are going to be taking out loans, have the loan talk with them and make sure they understand what they are getting into.
For people whose kids are younger:
1. Anyone taking regular Disney trips is probably not going to be eligible for much federal aid or need based school aid. Don't count on it.
1a. Those schools you hear that meet 100% of needs - your kid probably won't get into those schools - they have admission rates of less than 10% generally - and that isn't 10% of all students - that's 10% of the highly qualified students that apply. Hey if they get in, that's great - use your savings to spend Winter at Disney in your retirement. But be realistic about your chances. Your kid is still awesome, lots of awesome kids don't get admitted to those schools.
2. Your very smart and athletic seven year old could end up with Bs and Cs in high school and decide not to play varsity - not because they aren't smart, but because high school is a swamp - social anxiety, depression, hormonal relationships, poor decisions....don't count on that merit scholarship or athletic scholarship either. Its a long shot a long way away. Good luck (and congrats to all parents whose kids cleared all those hurdles effortlessly).
3. College will cost a lot of money. You can decide that you won't pay for it...that's your choice. They are unlikely to make it through if you can't at least help pay for it, and they will likely end up with big loans that will hold them back from buying a house, starting a family, etc. The more you can help, the easier their young adulthood is likely to be (and the less amount of time they can't afford their own place and are sleeping in their own bedroom while you say "we were going to downsize").
4. Take advantage of any cheap or free credits available while they are in high school. Our state offers dual enrollment - qualifying students go to college for free - including books - and some of my daughter's peers went to college as Juniors. The school also offered AP courses and offered CIS (College in the Schools) courses - which were University of Minnesota approved coursework. My daughter went in with enough credits to be a Sophomore (although her school only accepts one semester, so basically she went in with a buffer).
5. The upshot of all this advice is save for it. A 529 is a good idea. Heck, under your mattress is better than nothing. If you can at least save for two years of community college you are ahead of the game. If you want your kid to have a small liberal arts school experience (that was important to me), you are going to have to be pretty frugal. Start early and stick it aside regularly. Time passes quickly.