The buying power of the education award
Your education award can help pay for college, but its buying power varies, depending on how you use it.
School choice
The table below shows how many days a $4,725 education award will buy in two different education environments. Mt. Hood Community College is a two-year state-funded school in Gresham, Oregon. Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in Bronxville, NY. These schools are used just as examples.
| $4,725 Education Award | 2007 tuition for one year: | |
| Sarah Lawrence College: $36,088 (two semesters) | Mt. Hood Community College: $4,004 (four quarters) | |
| How much education can $4,725 buy at these schools? | ||
| 26 calendar days of school | One year plus $721 for books and supplies | |
The price of delay
Also consider the effect of inflation on college costs. While inflation varies from year to year and state to state, it typically hovers around 7 percent a year. In other words, if you wait seven years to use your ed award (7 years multiplied by 7 percent), it will have roughly half the buying power it does today.
This is not to suggest that you rush into college just to maximize the benefit of your ed award, but look at multiple factors when making choices on how and when to use it.
