College Resources & News from CFNC

CFNC's high school timeline and checklist can help you stay on track all four years and prepare for college!

With rising tuition costs, North Carolina families are seeking convenient and affordable options to pay for college. College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC), a free college assistance service of the State of North Carolina, is committed to raising awareness about college savings plans in the workplace that can help secure a student’s future.

When it comes to saving money to pay for college, many parents are doing it the old-fashioned way: that is to say, they’re hoping for a miracle! A survey conducted in January of this year found that 57 percent of the parents polled had saved less than $10,000. But the survey found that parents do have high savings hopes.

When Kate opened an NC 529 Account for the first of her four children, she was still paying off her own school loans from undergraduate and law school. She had been the first in her family to go to college and she scrimped, saved, and worked all the way through school and still came out with a sizable 10-year loan that she eventually refinanced into a 20-year loan.

There are optimists and there are pessimists. There are leaders and there are followers. And in the world of economics, there are savers and there are spenders.

Picture this. Your child strides confidently across the stage at their high school graduation, shakes the principal’s hand, and receives their much-anticipated diploma. Now, imagine being able to celebrate your graduate’s success by handing them money to put towards higher education expenses.

How do you picture your little one’s future? Bustling around a hospital saving lives? Reporting on the nightly news? Being a professional athlete?

Not sure what to give as a gift this holiday season? Make a contribution to a college savings account. Friends and family can contribute as little as $25 to a student’s NC 529 Account. The contribution is a meaningful gift that keeps on giving.

From baby’s first teetering steps until your child strides across the high school graduation stage, you’re focused on the future. You read stories and do homework to support their education.

The first years of your child’s life are filled with countless milestones: crawling, walking, talking, making friends, learning to count and read. There were first teeth and new words spoken.