University education is an investment. It is an investment that can be quite overwhelming financially. Proper planning, communication, and excellent academics can help make the investment a bit better to manage.

1. Proper planning: Set a budget and communicate it clearly with the student and university counselor. As part of the application process and/or visa process, you need to be able to show in a personal bank account the money available to pay for the school expenses. This means waiting until end of the student's senior year to find the money could be too late and cause the student to possibly need to take a gap year.

2. Communication: When universities can cost as much as $80,000, saying "Just apply and we find the money later" is not helpful and very stressful for the student. This is especially true when April comes and the money isn't there then the student feels like all the plans have fallen through and they don't know what will happen with their future.

3. Excellent Academics: Students with all As, top GPA (Grade 9-12), 1300+ SAT combined with proven leadership and involvement at CRICS set themselves up for the best scholarship opportunities. Those with slightly lower marks still have access to great scholarships, but usually not a full scholarship.