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In light of all of the current changes we are facing as a country, virtual learning is taking main stage. Your children are getting more acclimated to learning online and using web-based tools to help get their education up to speed. Schools are getting more and more classes and information online to make learning available to everyone, and we are seeing that technology helps keep families growing their knowledge in non-traditional ways. You might even see it happening at work, being allowed to work from home and do virtual webinars and meetings. Progress still has to happen considering challenges.
We know that your student is learning online and that the education system is adapting to this way of teaching. It allows for students to be more efficient and forces the system to get organized in a different way.
What has not changed is the desire to do something after high school- college is still the next step for most students and an admirable goal for most families. How are mom and dad gathering the data and putting the plan in place to make sure that they can afford the next step. One thing has not changed, the cost of education has not dropped with the online environment. You might be able to do more from home, but the cost of the education will still be the largest obstacle for most families.
We have been seeing more and more parents want to have home study classes and resources that meet their needs for seeing how to pay for this next step. The worry is not transferred to web-based platform, it stays with you. The impact on your retirement and future is not transferred away or changing either. We need to make sure that as we are shifting our style in this country that we do not set ourselves up for additional unintended consequences. When they invented the 529, we thought we could save our way to pay for college, but that has led to a $1.6 trillion parent and student loan epidemic. There are more people receiving social security still paying on student loans today than ever before. That wasn’t even a thought in the 80-90’s when the advisors were promoting these college solutions.
As we make this transition to more web based and online learning, let’s not leave mom and dad behind. Here are some great resources to help make sure that as your child is getting ready for college, your budget and personal economy are up to speed as well.
I hope that you find some great resources and help other parents reduce their cost of college and take control in this trying times.