[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-199527-en":3,"doc-seo-199527-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":89},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},199527,962084931830,"Jacob","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd",10,"Lifestyle","Ask a Specialist - Tips for Financing Your Child's Education","Guidance for families planning college costs through a structured set of self-check questions and practical actions. It breaks tuition as only one component of total expenses and offers budgeting strategies such as reducing discretionary spending, automating savings, and evaluating competitive interest-rate options like 529 plans, Roth IRAs, mutual funds, and money market accounts. It explains federal aid criteria and application timing, recommends education tax credits, and outlines how students can build savings, grades, scholarships, concurrent enrollment, and safer borrowing.","Ask a Specialist: Tips for Financing Your Child's Education  \nRegardless of where you find yourself in preparing for your child’s college expenses, there are some basic questions you should ask yourself: What can I contribute? What resources are available? What can my child do to prepare for college expenses?  \nWhat can I contribute?  \nSome parents feel they don’t have the financial ability to pay for college expenses for their children. This may be especially true if there are multiple children in the family or for those who live on a limited income.  \nKeep in mind that tuition is only a portion of college expenses. Other expenses include textbooks, housing, food and transportation. Perhaps you can’t provide tuition assistance but could provide housing, buy textbooks or continue to pay for car insurance.  \nIf you are interested in saving money for your child’s education but are unsure of how to fit it into your budget, you can save money by analyzing and cutting discretionary spending. Examples include:  \n• Cut back on how many times you eat out or stop atthe convenience store for a snack.  \n• Shop only for things you need. Don’t making shopping a recreational activity.  \n• Cancel unnecessary services.  \nPlace the money you would have spent on these items into a savings account. Automate your savings by having money directly deposited into a designated account. This will maintain consistency in your savings and takes away the temptation to spend it.  \nThese small changes will add up over time. Saving $75 a month will add up to $900 per year and $11,700 after 13 years. With a good interest rate and time on your side, your contributions can develop into a substantial nest egg, not to mention a fabulous graduation gift!  \nAccounts that offer a competitive interest rate include Educational Savings Plan (529 or Coverdell), Roth IRAs, Mutual Funds and Money Market accounts. As you are  \nmaking your choice, remember to compare fees, rate of return and tax incentives for saving.  \nWhat resources are available?  \nFederal Financial Aid is available to college students in the form of Pell Grants, Federal Student Loans and Work Study. These are awarded according to the financial need of the student. Factors considered in the calculation include the cost of attendance, income, assets and household size. Some assets are considered exempt; these include home equity, life insurance policies, income from a small business with less than 100 employees and family farm income.  \n[Visit www.fafsa.org](Visit www.fafsa.org) to file your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) . This can be done as soon as January 1st but not before you have filed your most recent tax return. Applicants are encouraged to apply early.  \nOnce your child is in college, take advantage of federal tax credits for education including Lifetime Learning Credit and American Opportunity Tax Credit.  \nHow can my child prepare for college expenses?  \nEncourage your child to prepare for future college expenses by saving a portion of the money earned through working a part-time job. He or she should also maintain good grades and apply for scholarships from universities, private companies and club organizations.  \nHigh school students can take advantage of concurrent enrollment and AP courses that may satisfy general education requirements at universities for a reduced rate.  \nIn addition, Utah Applied Technology Colleges offer tuition waivers to high school students. Courses at these colleges teach students marketable skills that can be used to gain employment or transfer credits for further education. For more information visit: [http://www.ucat.edu/](http://www.ucat.edu/) .  \nWords of Caution:  \nApplying for financial aid is a free service, so beware of anyone who tries to charge you for this service. Visit [https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/](https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/ for additional)[ for additional](https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/ for additional) information about federal","cbCaierlwWInT12X","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaierlwWInT12X","pdf",27141,1,2,"English","en",105,"# Ask a Specialist\n## What can I contribute?\n## What resources are available?\n## How can my child prepare for college expenses?\n## Words of Caution\n## Sources","[{\"question\":\"How can parents reduce their spending to help finance a child’s education?\",\"answer\":\"Parents can cut discretionary costs by limiting eating out and convenience-store snacks, shopping only for necessities, and canceling unnecessary services. Redirect the saved amounts into a dedicated savings account and automate deposits to reduce temptation to spend.\"},{\"question\":\"What federal financial aid options are available and how are they determined?\",\"answer\":\"Federal aid includes Pell Grants, Federal Student Loans, and Work Study, awarded based on the student’s financial need. Factors include cost of attendance, income, assets, and household size, with certain assets treated as exempt.\"},{\"question\":\"What steps can students take to prepare for college expenses?\",\"answer\":\"Students can save part of their earnings from part-time work, maintain strong grades, and apply for scholarships from universities, private companies, and club organizations. High school students may also use concurrent enrollment and AP courses to satisfy requirements at a reduced rate.\"}]","Ask a Specialist - Tips for Financing Your Child's Education | PDF",1788506229,3,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":84,"head_meta":86,"extra_data":88,"updated_unix":28},"ask-a-specialist-tips-for-financing-your-childs-education","",{"@graph":36,"@context":83},[37,52,66],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,49],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":29},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/lifestyle/",{"item":50,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":51},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/ask-a-specialist-tips-for-financing-your-childs-education/199527/",4,{"url":50,"name":13,"@type":53,"author":54,"headline":13,"publisher":56,"fileFormat":59,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":60,"datePublished":60,"encodingFormat":59,"isAccessibleForFree":61,"interactionStatistic":62},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":55},"Person",{"url":41,"name":57,"@type":58},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-04",true,{"@type":63,"interactionType":64,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":65},"ViewAction",{"@type":67,"mainEntity":68},"FAQPage",[69,75,79],{"name":70,"@type":71,"acceptedAnswer":72},"How can parents reduce their spending to help finance a child’s education?","Question",{"text":73,"@type":74},"Parents can cut discretionary costs by limiting eating out and convenience-store snacks, shopping only for necessities, and canceling unnecessary services. Redirect the saved amounts into a dedicated savings account and automate deposits to reduce temptation to spend.","Answer",{"name":76,"@type":71,"acceptedAnswer":77},"What federal financial aid options are available and how are they determined?",{"text":78,"@type":74},"Federal aid includes Pell Grants, Federal Student Loans, and Work Study, awarded based on the student’s financial need. Factors include cost of attendance, income, assets, and household size, with certain assets treated as exempt.",{"name":80,"@type":71,"acceptedAnswer":81},"What steps can students take to prepare for college expenses?",{"text":82,"@type":74},"Students can save part of their earnings from part-time work, maintain strong grades, and apply for scholarships from universities, private companies, and club organizations. High school students may also use concurrent enrollment and AP courses to satisfy requirements at a reduced rate.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":50,"og:type":85,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":57,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":87,"canonical":50},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":90},[91,95,99,103,108,113,118,123,128,131,133],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":51,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":104,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":132},"lifestyle",{"id":134,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":135,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":136},19,"General","general"]