I invited newsletter subscribers to share any additional “hacks” they’ve used.
One of my good friends and fellow pastor at our church, John Bradshaw, responded back with some other great “hacks” that his family used to put their kids through college.
He shared 3 additional “hacks” and I’m going to quote him here:
- Stay at home - Don’t go to UT Austin (in the case of someone whose family lives in Lubbock). Stay in Lubbock, go to Tech, and live at home (one of my kids did this). And your community college point from the last newsletter makes this even better. Go to South Plains Community College (again using Lubbock as the example) for two years and then go to Tech.
- Apply for every scholarship available (there are a ton) - When one of my daughters said she wanted to go to Hardin Simmons (a private school) we said, “That’s great but we can’t pay for it and we don’t want you getting loans.” She applied for a ton of scholarships and ended up getting EVERYTHING paid for. She even applied for one big one that they said was only for an upperclassman in the department and she met with them and got it!
- Ask grandparents to start a 529 when kids are young - These can be used not just for college but for many other educational expenses. AND, if it is not all used, the unspent part can be rolled into a Roth for the beneficiary! (Up to $35k)
These are more great college hacks!
If you have others, keep them coming!
Saving on college frees up even more resources for your ministry.
