My husband and I started investing with CollegeAdvantage in 1990, when our son was just one year old. My own experience of working full-time and going to college part-time influenced my desire to ensure that our son could have the funds to attend college without financial worries.
Ultimately, our son chose to attend Mount Union College. Between a scholarship, our CollegeAdvantage investments, and some tax breaks, he was able to attend the college of his choice. Financing his dream was made possible by some of the financial choices we made when he was young.
Our son’s last year in college could have been very challenging financially if it were not for our investments in CollegeAdvantage. My husband retired from his job in 2010. Shortly after that, I found myself a victim of downsizing. It was at the height of the recession and high unemployment. If we had not prepared financially for his education, our son may not have been able to finish college on time.
We think that he always appreciated what we did for him, but it really hit home for him in his third year of school. He saw his friends get closed out of classes because of school fees being paid late. He also saw that his friends worried that they might not be able to finish college because of financial worries. After graduation in 2011, many of them (all honors students) had to take jobs out of their chosen field (many at just above minimum wage salaries) because their student loans were coming due. They all got a lesson in the economics of a recession. Needless to say, our son thanked us repeatedly for putting him through college without any debt!
We are happy to report that our son is now in the graduate program at Bryn Mawr College of Pennsylvania with a full scholarship. He received his Master’s degree last year and continues in his pursuit towards a PhD in Physics. His goal is to teach physics at the college level.
Would he be where he is today without our investments in CollegeAdvantage? Probably not.
Thanks for helping us give our son the gift of a higher education.
Pat and Vince Sr. Gregoric
Mayfield Heights, Ohio
