Because education is an investment that realizes a return over a long period of time, it also makes sense to spread the cost over time and most families are unable to save the full amount needed for educational expenses. Other families, who use current income to pay for some of all of their education expenses, find that a monthly tuition payment plan is easier and more convenient than making two large payments twice a year. With the right combination of current, past, and future income, you can spread your costs over time while keeping total costs as low as possible. If you borrow, keep in mind that a Boston University education is a multi-year commitment, and you may wish to spread your borrowing evenly over the time the student is in school. And when you borrow, limit your borrowing to the amount you cannot cover from current income or savings.
Education loans are available for both students and parents.
Student loans usually offer better terms, but the amount a student can borrow is limited. Before deciding whether the student should borrow up to his or her limit, you may want to consider the student's career aspirations and future income potential. You may choose to replace a part of the amount available to the student with a parent loan. You should also consider which is more important to you - lowering the total cost of borrowing or lowering the size of monthly payments. Some parents want to make a larger monthly payment so they pay less in interest over the life of the loan, lowering the total cost of education.