While my oldest loves music, he also dreams of working with animals. To do that he would need several years of education. Now that he’s taken a little time, my son is starting to realize that he wishes he’d handled his first year differently. He’s also faced with the realization that going back to college will cost money. So, for our family, like many others, it’s time to sit down and evaluate finances.
Just like warmer weather, longer days and blooming flowers, college award letters will be arriving soon. Often scholarships and federal aid aren’t enough to cover the cost of college tuition. Then what happens? I appreciated the opportunity to have College Ave Student Loans sponsor this post, because it gave me the opportunity to refresh my knowledge on the subject of financing a college education, as well as a reminder that it’s always good business to know what is on your credit report. Let me explain.
When financial aid isn’t enough, some families choose to consider a private student loan. Many students, such as my oldest for example, don’t have an income or credit history sufficient enough to enable getting a loan. Some of those students turn to their parents to see if they are able to borrow the money needed or co-sign a loan. As you probably know, applying for a loan means that as the parent your credit score and history will be a big factor used to determine whether or not to approve the loan application and what interest rate the repayments will be made at. If this is a route that you think you as a parent may be taking, be sure to be familiar with your credit.
Parents can help ready themselves for the loan application process by undergoing a credit health check. College Ave Student Loans is a leading online student loan marketplace lender. College Ave Student Loans has collaborated with Experian to put together a helpful program that enables parents considering borrowing or cosigning for their child to take a look at important credit history details before they apply for a loan.
This program is a helpful resource for parents because it gives insight into how their credit could impact options to pay for college. It makes sense for parents to start getting finances in order now. Before you start applying for anything, get a copy of your credit report and review your FICO scores for accuracy. If you find errors, it can take 30 to 90 days to report and resolve issues with the credit-reporting agency. If you’re considering borrowing or cosigning for your child’s tuition, don’t wait for the financial aid award letter to arrive. By the time that arrives you may have lost valuable time.
If you feel that a credit health check is in order, please visit the Credit Educator page for full details about how to schedule their session.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of College Ave Student Loans.
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This is great advice for parents who have children going to college in the next few years. Most people I know have had to borrow money for college. Parents can get their credit scores up if they know what they are and what they can do to fix any issues they might have.
Thanks for sharing. I’m not sure what we plan to do for our boys. We know right now we can’t afford for them to go to college. But we hope that will change by the time they are ready for this next milestone in life.
Thanks so much for sharing this information. We are a long way off from College loans, but this will help prepare me.
Great information on student loans! I wish I had done more research on student loans and finances before going off to college.
Thank you for sharing this great info. I wish I had known about this or similar programs when I got my student loans!
Thanks for the reminder about staying financially healthy with student loans. Thankfully I got those paid off a while ago.
Thanks for all the great info about student loans…it’s quite confusing and it’s nice to hear from someone who has been through the process before.
Great information! My oldest will be heading off to college soon, I will have to check this out.
Staying on top of your credit and finances is oh so important. Student loans can make or break you if you don’t find a great payment schedule that you can really commit to.
Thanks for sharing this. My kids are finished with college, married and have kids of their own. My grand kids will be going to college next. I’ll share this information with their parents.
Education of many kinds is an important choice.
Such great information. My husband and I have talked about starting a fund of just $15 a week into an account to save for college for our three kids.
Credit is very important! My daughter is only 3 so I have many years before I have to worry about college for her, but it is never too soon to start saving!
We are headed in this direction as my daughter’s senior year is next year. Thankfully we have my husband’s military service to pay for most of her school. She had amazing grades and class rank, so I’m hoping we will be able to find some great scholarships.
It’s important to keep your credit rating up for important things down the line. I recently checked my own report to see where everything stands because you never know when you will need it. Great advice here.
Preparing for college is really a difficult so we need all the help that we can get. Thankfully there’s a lot of programs like this than help parents like us.