Quoted In: A Financial Check-Up Long Before Tuition Bills Begin (The Wall Street Journal)

Abstract: As high-school seniors’ college search kicks into high gear, many parents are fretting about how to pay. While an ideal college savings plan would have started years ago, it’s not too late to catch up. Here are some moves families can make during the next few months to boost savings in the right accounts and ease the financial-aid process. Financial aid insiders recommend that parents do the math with their children, to keep everyone’s expectations in check. "It’s important for parents to have realistic discussions about what they can afford," says Justin Draeger of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. This way, kids won’t fixate on out-of-reach and out-of-budget schools.

Aid officials should be willing to tell applicants the average amount students and families pay after federal, state and school aid. That figure "will really give [families] a more realistic depiction of how much they’ll be expected to pay out of pocket," Mr. Draeger says.

The full article was originally published on 10/30/09.