It makes no difference how low tuition is if the student has no source of funds to pay that tuition. ~James E. Rogers

Love is the best school, but the tuition is high and the homework can be painful. ~Diane Ackerman

When a child is born, the parents are overly excited for the new addition to the family. Raising a child/ren is one of the most expensive investments parents can make in life and ideally, you expect that investment to yield its return when in your old age. The cost of taking care of a child gradually increases as the child gets older. At first the onesies are cute and you willingly spend money to make you child look adorable. By the time the child gets to their teenage years, it gets a little scary. Most teenagers eat a lot to nourish their growing bodies, hence the cost of taking care of the child at this point increases drastically (food, clothing, gadgets, and vacations). Albeit, even though raising teenagers can be quite expensive, the most expensive part of raising a teenager is when he/she is college bound.

As you are well aware, the price of tuition has been on a steady increase for some decades. As a parent, you want the best for your child. Starting a college fund for your child not only guarantees you peace of mind when college tours begin, it also places your child a step above students who have to take student loans for their college education. Imagine this scenario, two students A and B graduate with their bachelor’s degree from a public college (both in-state residents). A graduates with $0 in student loan debt, while B graduates with let’s just say two years of student loan debts at $48,000.00. Already, the playing field is uneven for these two fresh graduates. A is ready to dive into a world free of student loan repayment options while B has to worry about student loan repayment options and or sometimes harassing and stress filled phone calls from the loan providers.

I was talking to a friend of mine who recently gave birth to her third child. The children are quite close together in age. While congratulating her on her third child, I jokingly said her college fund payments must be very high. She did not hesitate to tell me the children do not have college funds as she and her husband decided the children can take loans when it’s time for college. I then gave her the scenario I painted above and buttressed my point by asking  her if she took out a loan to pay for her college tuition (I already knew the answer to this question as I have known her for decades), she stated her dad paid her way through college. Then I asked the obvious question “why would you want to shortchange your children by not making provision for them when you had that opportunity given to you?” She thought about it for a while and said she would talk to her husband as I made a valid point.

You see, there’s this saying that little drops of water makes an ocean. It’s behooves every parent to start a college fund for each child. The best time to start is when you welcome your child into the world, at this time you probably have sixteen or seventeen years to make that contribution (little drops every month). Okay, so you slacked a little and your child is a little older. No problem. Just START!!! Don’t you think it’s better to have a little saved up for your child’s tuition than nothing at all? Every little bit helps as tuition costs are steadily raising.

So what if you had to pay your way through school and didn’t get the benefit of having a college fund set aside for you? Would you have appreciated a college fund and being debt free after graduation? Do you want your child/ren to go through the hassle of worrying about how to make student loan repayments? Realistically, nobody wants to have student loan debts. So, why fail to plan for the education of your child/ren? The best time to start a college fund is before your child is born or immediately after birth. By dropping a few dollars every month, you gradually diminish the cost of tuition when the child is college bound. In the long run, it’s never too late to start a college fund before your child is ready for college. So start today. Take that college tuition bull by the horn and get ready to rumble.