| As many colleges are struggling due to the pandemic, there may be an opportunity for students and parents to negotiate for more financial assistance. To that point, CNBC reporter Michelle Fox spoke to some experts who detailed ways to negotiate to get more money toward tuition.
The story actually reminded me of my own negotiation when my daughter was looking at colleges. She had received merit-based scholarship offers from a few schools, including Goucher College in Baltimore. The Goucher offer was the best: a merit-based scholarship of $10,000 a year for the full four years. She was thrilled.
A few days later I was meeting a friend, who was actually a college recruiter, for dinner. I told him the good news and he responded by telling me to try to get more money. He said there was no harm in trying and suggested my daughter write a letter to the Goucher admissions counselor explaining that she got some competing offers but was really leaning toward Goucher.
She did just that, and within 10 days Goucher upped its offer to $20,000 a year for the full four years. That letter was worth $40,000 to us, so the bottle of very good Champagne I sent my friend was so worth the money.
So believe it or not, college financial aid packages and merit-based scholarships are subject to negotiation. Private colleges are willing to offer a tuition discount, and you might be surprised at how well you can do by negotiating at public colleges.
I have told my story to many parents over the years, and quite often people tell me they didn't even realize that negotiating with colleges was a possibility.
As parents, you do not want to lose out on this great opportunity.
For more key stuff like this, please follow me on Twitter @jimpavia and check out CNBC's Financial Advisor Hub and CNBC + Acorns Invest in You: Ready. Set. Grow. |
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