Tips for Making College More Affordable

As you've no doubt heard, college is expensive. (In case you're afraid to look for yourself: Tuition and fees plus room and board at a public, in-state university cost nearly $20,000 in the 2015-16 school year, according to the College Board. And the cost of a private school was nearly double that.) With costs this steep and rising at a rate much higher than inflation, many parents are eager to hear the advice of those who have put themselves or their kids through school and lived to tell about it.

To help harness the views of the Morningstar.com readers who have been there, done that, we recently asked "What's your best piece of advice for parents and their kids who aim to pay for college amid dramatically increasing tuition costs?" Many parents recommended starting a college savings plan early and being disciplined about contributing to it. But others shared ideas such as taking advantage of community college or completing AP classes for college credit while still in high school, applying for any and all applicable scholarships, or asking kids to shoulder at least part of the burden for their college costs.

To read the complete thread or weigh in, click here.

'Start early!' –-RookieJoe Many readers agreed that saving early is key, because you can harness the power of compounding. Further, saving early and often helps you develop the savings discipline needed in order to reach this pricey goal.

"Two of my children are through college, one is about to start. We had 529s, which really only worked well for the youngest, the others only broke even due to the stock market crash of 2008. I think the 529 is a still good idea, but only if one can start it when they are babies, which we didn't do (because we had seriously underestimated the cost of college, and by the time we realized what we were up against they were about 8 or 10)," said danielle.

"We set up a dedicated taxable account and added $5,000 every year … . In that account, we bought dividend-generating equities and DRIPed for 16 years. Ah, the magic of compounding! In 2010, our investment advisors pointed out that her equities may be volatile in bad markets, so we sold things near all-time highs and built a CD ladder with maturities that occur before tuition due dates," said RookieJoe.

"Set a goal as early as possible," said Bowersjm. "Upon getting married I set a goal of writing a check each year to cover a public school education … . Use the 529 plans. Don't stress over which state, just start one! "

Toeman said: "I put two kids through college, one at Duke the other at a liberal arts college. I paid full fare for both because financial aid was not an option. When they were born 529 plans weren't an option. So when they were 2 months old I just put aside money in a regular account for each of them. The money was invested by me prudently, and when they turned 18 they each had over $170,000 waiting for them. No it wasn't easy, but like all things in life, we are faced with choices."

'Make sure the kids have skin in the game.' --DonnieM Some said that it was important to make sure the student felt invested in his or her own education, and one of the best ways to do that, in their opinion, is for students to work and pay a portion of the bill.

"My daughter studied engineering and she worked only once she became a junior, and that job was as the Apple computer campus rep. This job helped her get two primo internships at Microsoft that really helped her career," said dragonpat.

Juris2 said: "Both kids worked during summers, my son at a debate camp, my daughter at a woodworking shop. And their earnings were in their name. The dollars didn't add up to much, though my son also did some writing on blogs that paid him a bit more. But it was the 'attitude' that we wished to cultivate--that they partly contribute to their financial well-being."

"Every August, our kids handed over $2,000 that went for their tuition," said DonnieM. "We've saved that $2,000/year for them and they know a small nest egg is now available for their graduate school."

'I like community colleges.' -- sagebrush Some readers suggested that students consider less expensive alternatives to more expensive schools. Some of these suggestions included community colleges, programs in other countries, or cooperative education.

"Here is what worked for me. Go to community college for two years. Live at home. Work and save your money. Go to your state's best state university the last two years," said DrBobb.

"In most European countries you can get degrees for a tiny fraction of what you pay in the U.S. and those programs are completely in English, so there is no need to speak a second language," said trichebacher.

Sagebrush said: "I attended my local junior college, the state university, and an Ivy League school ... . My kids went to the community college and then transferred to other four-year schools. Overall, I would say they would recommend attending a junior college."

Muniadvocate said: "I would suggest cooperative education as a possible solution to this issue. Many of my colleagues who were in engineering or other technical fields went to school [for] a year followed by a co-op assignment for a year. Other programs have students study a semester then work a semester. It will take longer to complete a degree but the work experience is especially important for technical students."

"Consider schools in Canada," said johnson. "I just gave my daughter a list of six world-class schools which are less expensive, even at international student rates, than our own state university. And at the current exchange rate, there's another nearly 30% discount."

'Scholarships make it a lot easier.' -- AFKnoAFW Careful planning and preparation can result in money saved. Many readers advocate taking Advanced Placement classes while still in high school to earn college credit. Others recommend looking into every scholarship that students may be eligible for. Finally, some respondents advised students to understand the all-in costs of their school's tuition plus room and board, and also cautioned prospective borrowers understand the terms of their student loans.

"Make sure the kids can take AP classes. They are by far the most efficient way to lower overall college costs. Combining that with summer school classes and minimizing 'general ed' courses, you can shave up to a year off a 4-year degree," said w004dal. This recommendation was echoed by mlott1, tpochedly, and eagle1.

"Educate yourself on how loans work before you buy in," said trvanette. "Calculate the actual cost with interest, and will that be paid off in time to save for the important things in life? There are some programs that will help partially forgive loans if you work with underprivileged communities after school, such as healthcare professionals and teachers."

"There is … an unbelievable number of scholarships available, limited only by the time needed applying for them. They vary from $1,000 from our local utility to a 'full ride' from a scholarship program that awards the top 40 students in the SAT in the state. Our son has been taking the SAT since seventh grade so he can work his way toward that holy grail," said BillRadio.

"Apply for every single type of scholarship your kid may qualify for ... at the local, university, regional, state, and national levels--those based on your profession or vocation; those based on military service; those based on ethnicity, nationality, gender, etc.," eagle1 said. "We used books/guides by Kaplan and many others to help do this. Put out carefully prepared, high quality, carefully packaged scholarship applications well ahead of all the multiple and competing deadlines."