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According to a 2012 College Board report, the average cost per year for a 4-year degree at a state-sponsored school currently runs $22,261 for in-state students and $35,321 for out-of-state students. While college can be one of the best experiences in your life, it can also be one of the most expensive.

Applying for scholarships is one way to help you reduce your out-of-pocket expenses and ease the financial burden of earning your degree. The more money you can get in scholarships, the less you’ll need to borrow. These resources are popular among students, with 88 percent of freshmen at private universities getting scholarships or grants in 2011.

Scholarships are awarded from universities, nonprofit organizations, corporations, and private individuals. When it comes to scholarships, you should start searching early and be persistent. Here are some helpful ways to find scholarships:

Do your research
There are various tools for locating available scholarships. Online, you can do a simple keyword search or use free scholarship search services such as Fastweb, a service where you can create a personalized profile. You can also check out scholarship reference books in a library or bookstore. Make sure you locate the most current edition. And remember, there are many different kinds of scholarships. Some are merit-based, while others focus on what a student’s interests are. Take the time to research and apply.

Visit your high school counselor
Counselors can give you directions for what types of scholarships you should apply for. By learning about your talents and interests they can identify scholarships that are well-matched for you.

Visit your college resource center
If you know where you’re going to college, be sure to talk with the financial aid office and see if they can help you with your search. The admission’s office may be able to help you determine if there are any school-specific scholarships.

Be community-minded
Check with your local newspaper, community organizations, and your parents’/guardians’ employer. Religious organizations, banks, or other civic organizations often offer scholarship programs. For example, the Wells Fargo’s CollegeSTEPS^SM sweepstakes offers high school and college students the chance to win one of 40 $1,000 cash prizes to pay for college or other expenses, when they enroll in the CollegeSTEPS® program to receive education related resources.

Beware of scholarship scams
Scholarships are "free money," so you should never have to pay money to get them. Watch out for scholarship scams or companies that require a credit card number just to perform a search. Save the money and do it yourself.

Once you line up some scholarships or grants to apply for, take careful note of the due dates, and work on them accordingly. Give yourself plenty of time to devote to the scholarship hunt and application process. It may seem like a lot of work when you don’t have a lot of time to spare, but in the end, it’s worth it to secure college money that doesn’t need to be repaid.

To learn more about paying for college, visit https://www.wellsfargo.com/student/planning/scholarships/ and for more about financial aid, visit https://www.wellsfargo.com/student/five-steps-financial-aid.

The average cost of college tuition and fees in 2012 ranged from $8,655 a year for in-state students attending a public, four-year college, to $29,056 a year for students attending a private, nonprofit four-year institution. Yet, a September 2012 survey showed that a school’s cost was the student’s fifth most important consideration when deciding where to attend college. Students also indicated a need for support from a variety of funding sources; more than half of students surveyed borrow from the federal government or a private lender to cover their costs.

These statistics show that a school’s price tag is actually a very important factor when choosing a college. When comparing college costs, one of a student’s first steps should be filling out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Financial Aid). Then, in late March and early April, students and their families begin receiving back financial aid award letters from the colleges they’ve applied to. These letters provide the details related to the estimated cost to attend the school, the expected family contribution, and your financial aid award package. This package includes grants, scholarships, work-study, need-based and non-need-based loans.

If you’ve been through this process before, you’ll notice your financial aid letter may look different this year. In 2013, colleges have the option of using the U.S. Department of Education’s new Financial Aid Shopping sheet. Many of the elements contained in this new form are the same as a school’s own financial aid award letter, though the standardized format should make it easier for students and their families to compare their options and review elements such as grant and scholarship amounts, net costs, graduation rates, loan default rates, median borrowing and estimated monthly loan payments after graduation. And, as of March 2013, the Department of Education says close to 700 schools are voluntarily using the new form for the 2013-2014 award year.

After you receive either the Financial Aid Shopping Sheet or your financial aid award letter here are some additional steps to help you make informed decisions about how to pay for college:

Determine additional expenses

• Consider all funding options to cover costs of college after reviewing award letter including grants, scholarships, institutional awards, Federal Work Study, Federal Perkins Loans and/or Federal Direct Stafford Loans.
• Be realistic about your budgeting needs. You only want to borrow what you need – not too much and not too little. Creating a budget starts with monitoring and documenting your spending relative to your income to determine how these patterns will translate to college life.

Explore your additional financing options

• Tuition payment plan
  Instead of paying your tuition bill in one lump sum each semester, if offered by your school, you can enroll in this plan to make smaller, manageable installment payments. This plan can be used on its own, or combined with financial aid including student loans.
• Federal Direct PLUS loan for parents
  This loan is available for parents of dependent undergraduate students. This loan can cover up to 100 percent of remaining eligible education-related expenses. A credit check is required, but the parent’s debt and current income is not considered.
• Federal Direct PLUS loan for graduate and professional students
  This loan is available to graduate and professional students and can cover up to 100 percent of remaining eligible education-related expenses. A credit check is required, but the student debt and current income is not considered.
• Private (or alternative) student loans
  These loans are made available to students through banks and other private lenders. These loans can typically cover 100 percent of the remaining costs of eligible education-related expenses. Full credit underwriting is required as well as a debt and current income. Most students will need a qualified cosigner to meet credit eligibility requirements.

Know your deadlines and compare your options

• Pay special attention to the college application deadlines to make sure that you can take full advantage of these opportunities.

For additional information on financial aid resources, visit https://www.wellsfargocommunity.com or https://www.wellsfargo.com/student/

The shift from high school to college is a monumental one, enough so that roughly 1 in 4 freshmen do not go back for their second year. But there are ways to navigate this time, and make it work for you.

First, if you’re still in high school, make sure that you are preparing for college academically and beyond. By your junior year of high school, you should manage your own study schedule—no doing homework only when your mom reminds you—and you should know to prepare for tests and big projects well ahead of time. But also start throwing in things that let you gain experience that you can use, like doing your own laundry, managing your own money from summer or part-time work, and cooking for your family. Your parents will appreciate it, and it will be one less thing to figure out after you arrive on campus.

Once you do arrive on campus, you may be overwhelmed. There are living arrangements to figure out, a new campus to explore, student groups of all kinds, and hundreds or thousands of new faces. It’s easy and normal to miss the familiar comforts of home; make sure to keep in touch with the people you’ve grown up with, both friends and family. Your friends from high school are probably having the same feelings about starting college, and your family can provide some love and much-needed perspective. Look around campus and find the living situation and student groups that best fit you, and know that there you can explore more as you go. Seek out upper-class students that have a similar background to your own, and find what they do to make them successful.

At the end of your first semester, evaluate where you are. Did you find a good balance between study time and social time? Did you stay on budget, or did you find expenses that you hadn’t accounted for in planning? How were your courses; did you find something you liked that surprised you? Do you feel more or less committed to the major you had in mind? These are all things you can adjust and keep fine-tuning, but they are important to address early and often.

And last but not least, make sure to use the resources that your school offers. There are whole teams of advisors in the financial aid office, in the dean’s office, in the career center. Talk to your professors and teacher’s assistants. All of these people are there to help you succeed in school. You were admitted to the school because they think you can succeed, and you pay for their time as part of your tuition. Reach out to them. Ask questions until you can’t think of any more to ask.

College is a big change, but not insurmountable. After all, nearly 3 in 4 students return for a second year, and go on to graduate.

Are you considering or planning on enrolling in college this fall? Do you have questions on how to pay for college? Do you have questions on how to apply for financial aid? Do you need help completing the financial aid applications? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, have I got a deal for you. In February, organizations across the country will be participating in an event called College Goal Sunday.

College Goal Sunday is a free program that helps families and students complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as the FAFSA. If you are seeking admissions into a college or technical school for the 2013 academic year, then this program is for you. The FAFSA is required by most universities, colleges and technical schools to be considered for federal or state financial aid which would include grants, scholarships, work-study programs and loans.

The priority deadline to apply for financial aid is usually in the March timeframe for most colleges and universities, but check with your school’s financial aid office to verify the date. College Goal Sunday will be offered at different times and locations across the country in February so you can either check the National Website or search the internet for College Goal Sunday 2013 and the state you are in for local information. Be sure to make note of the location and the hours of operation, as well as what you need to bring with you to complete the FAFSA. If you are unable to attend one of the in-person workshops, be on the lookout for future FAFSA completion workshops in your area.

If you have any further questions, the Wells Fargo Community is a great place to get them answered.

If you’re a high school student or parent who’s just starting to look into college financing you probably have questions about your options for financing, and how much you may need to borrow.

You can get answers to these questions and more by taking a look at these five tips which give a good overview on your choices for covering college costs.

When it comes to college financing, getting the “big picture” is crucial, before you jump in and start applying for loans. This video will help you learn how parents can help, what types of low-cost financing are available, the various student loans you can pursue, and how to keep borrowing in check.

If you’re just starting to explore college financing, what are you most interested in learning more about?

It’s not just for Dr. Evil; almost everyone would gladly have a million dollars—just ask the person next to you. According to a recent study at Georgetown University, though, it’s also about how much a college degree is worth over the course of your life, with bachelor’s degree holders making about 85% more than those who have only graduated high school. That’s almost double! What’s more, a college degree also made a huge difference for workers during this last recession as the one section of the workforce to gain jobs during the recession and the recovery.

From our YouTube series on education topics, Emma Gutierrez gives a great overview of Education and earning power in this video.

Of course, there are differences by what kind of post-high school degree you hold, and what major you choose. Even with these considerations, the overarching message is still largely that a college education does more than pay for itself.

See our Community discussion on Is student loan debt good debt?

What do you think your degree will be worth? What are your reasons for attending college?

An interesting discussion about Advanced Placement courses has evolved in my local newspaper over the past month. It seems there’s some disagreement as to whether AP courses are the best way to earn college credit during high school. As more and more parents and students look to save money on college costs, this becomes an increasingly important discussion.

Schools in Des Moines have tripled the number of students taking AP courses over the last two years. They’ve worked to dispel the notion that these courses are only for academically gifted students, and that there’s room there for any hardworking, motivated student.

On the other side of the coin, a Des Moines Register editorial came out suggesting that concurrent enrollment classes are a better way for student to earn college credit than by taking AP courses. Concurrent enrollment allows students to earn both high school and college credit for a class without paying to take the final examination.

And more editorials followed, one defending AP classes on several fronts, including that AP tests serve as a more reliable measure of both students and teachers than concurrent enrollment classes.

As high school students and parents, what do you think about AP classes and/or concurrent enrollment? Which do you consider the better choice for saving money on college tuition? And which is the better choice for learning?

One of the hardest things to do is to write about yourself in glowing terms (“I’m awesome and here’s why!”). The second hardest may be to ask someone else to write about you in glowing terms (“Can you tell them I’m awesome and why?”). But both are required when applying to college and graduate school in the form of application essays and letters of recommendation.

Here are some tips on how to make both tasks a little easier:

• Make a list of all your accomplishments. Include everything, no matter how small you might think it is. What might be insignificant to you is actually one additional detail that will differentiate you from your cohorts. If you have work experience, dig up your previous performance reviews. You’ll be surprised at how much you’ve forgotten that you’ve accomplished.
• Don’t be repetitive. Applicants often make the mistake of restating in their essays information that has already been captured in other parts of the application. Remember instead that every aspect of the application is an opportunity for you to tell another chapter of your story – and no admissions officer wants to read the same chapter twice.

For example, MBA programs require a resume and work history in addition to asking essay questions related to your professional experience. Your resume might include a bullet about how you increased sales by 20% as a result of a new process you implemented. Rather than repeat that in an essay detailing your professional successes, you could talk about how your ability to build relationships across a complex organization and influence senior management enabled you to institute a new process with little resistance.

• Quality matters more than seniority when it comes to recommendations. Ask for a letter of recommendation from someone who knows you and your work, preferably a direct manager, even if you don’t believe that person is “senior” enough. A quality recommendation from a mid-level manager will go a lot farther than an obviously generic recommendation from a senior executive.
• Prep your recommender. Meet with your recommender and gently remind them all that you’ve accomplished under their supervision. Talk to them about what they might write about and provide guidance as needed. If they resist or if you are uncomfortable doing this, perhaps they are not the right person to write your recommendation letter.

Applying to school can be a long and arduous process, but a completely worthwhile endeavor. Not only will you be accepted into a top-notch university, but you will learn a lot about yourself (and feel good about all that you’ve accomplished) in the process. Good luck!

When it comes to college planning, we all have questions. How do I apply for scholarships? What clubs can I join in high school to get a head start on college? Should I live at home with my parents or move out? Now, the Wells Fargo Community has answers.

If you haven’t had a chance to visit, the Wells Fargo Community is a free online community that brings students, parents, guidance counselors, and financial aid advisors together to give you a variety of perspectives about college planning. You can ask your own questions in the Community or help others by answering theirs.

If you would like more information, please watch our new video:

The purpose of the Community is to ask questions and share knowledge about education planning and financial topics. Join today to be a part of the conversation!

Are you going on a college tour soon? Check out our reviews on different colleges or see what this dad and daughter thought of their college tour road trip. If you have already chosen a school, we have a few posts about looking for scholarships for both private and public universities. Don’t see your question posted in the Community? No worries, you can create a new post and the community will help you find an answer!

October signals the official start of the college application season. High school students are gathering information, narrowing down choices and making decisions on where to apply. College nights/fairs will start popping up in your area. These are organized events where admissions officials from colleges all over the country attend to recruit students for attendance. I know what most of you are thinking, "I'd rather watch Family Guy..." I understand why this does not sound exciting, but here are some reasons everyone should go!

1. Cost. Traveling across the country can be very expensive and time consuming for you and your family. To save a few dollars and maximize your time, College nights/fairs allow students to visit with several schools under one roof. Unlike a website or brochure, talking to an official from the school will give you better insight on if it is the right fit. Who knows, you may even discover a school that wasn't on your radar. This can help you narrow down your visits to the ones you are most interested in.
2. Set yourself apart. This is an opportunity to stand out against the other applicants. Admissions counselors keep track of everyone who they talk to and being memorable can help. If you are interested in the school, make sure they know it! Share with the counselor that it is your "dream" to be accepted and get them to share what they love about the school. Come prepared to demonstrate your interest in the College. Questions that show you have done your research and have learned some facts that appeal to you will make you stand out. Get the counselor's contact information and follow up with a thank you card, every little bit can help you get accepted! Here is a list of some good questions that can set you apart.
3. Take notes. Here is your chance to get all the pertinent information you need from the school. Make sure you understand the benefits of making the priority deadlines for admissions, financial aid and housing. Making these deadlines usually gives you the most options. Many schools charge application fees; if you are not able to afford these, ask if they offer fee-waiver plans. Last, be sure you understand what is necessary to hold your seat if admitted. Many schools require a deposit to be sent by a specified date to show your commitment. Ask for clarification on refund policies and options if you are not able to afford the cost. Here is another good list of question to help you prepare for the night/fair.
4. Help to convince the parent. Sending kids off to school can be a scary time for parents. Worries over cost, safety, quality and proximity are swirling around in their heads. College nights/fairs offer the opportunity for Mom and Dad to ask question of their own to school officials that can help ease their minds. If you have a favorite school but your parents are skeptical, a discussion with an admissions counselor can convince them that you are making the right choice. Reassurance from a trusted official from the school may be just the push you need to get them over the edge.
5. Attend a session. Many of the College nights/fairs offer seminars on various topics that include; how to pay for college, how to write a good essay, and even how to choose a roommate. These are free and can offer you the opportunity to learn tips from the professionals. The college application process can be very confusing, so there is no such thing as a stupid question. Here is a chance to ask and get real-time answers from those who know. Listening to questions from other families can be very educational too.
6. Make a friend. Chances are you are not the only person in attendance who wants to attend your school of choice. If you hear a student show the same level of interest, introduce yourself. Knowing someone who is as excited about the same school as you could be a great asset. The ability to ask questions about where to live and what to bring is a great help. Try to attend orientation together. Knowing someone ahead of time can help alleviate the anxiety about leaving home for the first time.

Taking a few hours out of your week to attend a College fair/night is a great investment of your time. The more prepared you are, the better of an experience it will be. You can always watch a rerun of Family Guy, but the opportunities to improve your chances of being accepted do not come along often. Talk to your guidance counselors and watch for advertisements on College nights/fair in your area. It is a great way to manage the process of researching and selecting a College. If you have other questions along the way, The Community is a great resource to get them answered. Best of luck!