The short answer to this question is, right now. That
assumes, however, that you have children, and they are five to twenty-five
years old. There might be college scholarships for children still in diapers,
but I haven’t seen any so far. If you have, please let me know. Most people
think they should wait until their kids are juniors in high school. Waiting
increases anxiety and stress. Neither of these will lead to quality
applications or interviews.
Beginning the college application process when children
are in elementary school means there’s plenty of time to accumulate free money
for college. Doing so has the added benefit of allowing parents to save for
retirement. This is a win-win situation. If families put themselves on a
schedule, there should be enough scholarship money collected to cover college
without needing to take out student loans. Parents will need to find, and fill
out the scholarship applications for their elementary school aged children, of
course. Using the lined pages following each chapter in my book, Free College, to record data will make the process easier.
As children grow, and collect letters of
recommendations from teachers, coaches, and others, be sure to file them away
safely. You’ll need to reference them to fill out applications. Later you may
need to send copies. When children are in middle school, have them sit with you
when you search and apply for scholarships for them. They will benefit from the
experience, and will understand school is important to the entire family. At
this age, you will want to apply for more scholarships than before. Up your schedule to
twice a month, and apply for two scholarships during each session.
When children enter high school, they should be ready
to take on the task themselves. You might want to set up their system, and sit
with them the first few times. High school students will have easy access to
scholarship information. Their school counselor, college advisor or career
advisor will be able to suggest scholarships. Freshmen and sophomores should
apply for at least two scholarships each week.
Juniors and seniors should apply
for at least three scholarships each week. Don’t forget to look into grants.
About $2.9 billion in federal grants for college went unclaimed in 2017. This
is tragic. Most people don’t think they will qualify, so they don’t apply. This
is a mistake.
Some high school seniors stop looking for financial aid
once they've been accepted to college. This is another error in judgment.
There’s still free money to be found. Look for it, and apply. The worst that
could happen is you don’t get it. So what? You might win the scholarship. It
would be a pity to pass up free money.
Once in college, even if you have earned
a full-ride, keep looking. There are fees, books, plus room and board to be paid. If
you keep looking, you might not need a job or any loans at all. This is also
true for grad school. If you’re interested in an advanced degree, find some of
the billions of dollars of free money to help pay for your higher education.
Don’t join the tens of thousands of Americans with crippling college loan debt.
Be among the wise who graduate from college debt free.
You are reading from the blog, RoadtoFreeCollege.com, where we empower families with knowledge to navigate the path to higher education without the burden of excessive loans.
For more information, you’ll want my book, Free College, CLICK HERE. It teaches families how to help their kids become more successful in school, college, and life.
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