PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — With college campus move-in day just weeks away, parents and students have an extra load that was created by inflation.
They’ve been spending money on gas, they’ve been spending money on food all costing more than they’re used to families that may have saved up and planned and saved money for college. Maybe they’ve had to dip into those funds or families that have had investments.
But experts say parents and students can work together to minimize expenses. Did we mention work?
Students can make sure they are working during the summer. If they are working part-time now, they can try to increase their hours, they can do a side hustle, they can do a ride-sharing app driver or they can deliver food,” said Jennifer Finetti who is the Director of Student Advocacy at Scholarship Owl. She recommends students delay buying textbooks until after the first day of classes.
” So in many cases, professors actually make the books optional rather than required. a lot of colleges have sort of changed their textbook policy because they know the cost of books is so high.
if they are optional that means the test questions will not be coming from the textbooks,” said Finetti
Even if students have applied for scholarships and were denied, Finetti says because summer applicants face fewer competing students, they should apply again.
“We’ve got about 800- thousand dollars in scholarships right now that are available. So for anyone who is thinking- I should not bother; I applied a few months ago and I didn’t get anything- apply now and don’t miss out on this opportunity,” said Finetti.
