The following is an excerpt from the original article:
By PAULA SIROIS
Dr. Pamela T. Rambo, of Rambo Research and Consulting, is a retired college financial aid and scholarship director. As someone who has more than 30 years of experience helping families pay for higher education, she understands the issues. “In this economy, where parent investments and home equity have declined, paying for college is tougher than ever. Even those with 529’s and other college savings plans are having a tough time.”
If your kids are going to attend college, but you haven’t save enough money, they may need to take an alternative route to get there.
Look into a year of public service. Colleen Flynn, manager of LiftCommunities.org, a nonprofit agency in Washington, D.C., notes that “AmeriCorps offers education awards of approximately $5,000 for each year of service (up to two years), and several schools offer matching awards. With a year of work-service experience, public service alums are often considered more desirable by colleges because they add a level of diversity and increased world experience that the typical high school grad doesn’t possess.” This increases their chances of receiving additional funding or scholarships from the school, she says, “and often they are more prepared to attend college because of their service experience.”