• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Ask Liz Weston

Get smart with your money

  • About
  • Liz’s Books
  • Speaking
  • Disclosure
  • Contact

Teach your teen about college costs starting now

July 9, 2019 By Liz Weston

Many families struggle to pay college expenses for one or two kids. Certified financial planner Sarah Carlson, mother of two sets of twins, will soon have all four of her children in college at the same time.

The older twins are already there, to be joined soon by the younger two. But years ago, Carlson started teaching her children how to get an affordable education. One of the first steps was making clear what she would contribute.

“I let them know early on what I was comfortable spending and what I wasn’t,” says Carlson, who’s based in Spokane, Washington.

In my latest for the Associated Press, why you need to teach your teen about college costs long before the first application essay is written.

Related Posts

  • Will declining enrollment lower college costs?

    The number of high school graduates peaked in 2011 at 3.4 million and will drop…

  • Lowering college costs: What you need to know

    My latest Reuters columns focus on financial aid and new opportunities for borrowers with private…

  • Is Debt-Free College Really Possible?

    A reader in her 70s once asked me why kids today don’t do what she…

  • College scholarships aren't free money

    It is National Scholarship Month, which means high school seniors are being exhorted to scoop…

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: college costs, college tuition, teens and money

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. ellis says

    July 12, 2019 at 3:41 pm

    She’s fortunate to have sets of twins. The amount of student loan aid, and perhaps scholarship aid from the college, is affected by how many kids the parent has in college at the same time. The expected family contribution is divided among all the kids.

    • Liz Weston says

      September 10, 2019 at 10:30 am

      Yes! One of the college consultants I interviewed was able to tell a client who made in excess of $300,000 that the family would qualify for financial aid once the third kid was in college.

Primary Sidebar

Search

Copyright © 2025 · Ask Liz Weston 2.0 On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in