If your college-bound high school junior is interested in multiple universities, it may be tempting to just yell “road trip,” but campus tours can mean thousands of dollars in travel costs.

There are ways to visit colleges and universities without breaking the bank. Here are a few tips to save money on college tours.

•Work with the teenager to do as much research as possible from home. Read college viewbooks, catalogs, websites, newspapers and activity calendars. Have the teen talk to college students or alumni about their alma mater to get a feel for the school before visiting. After research, the teen may find there are fewer colleges on the list.

•Even if they’re not interested in them, have the student check out colleges close to home to compare large schools to small schools. This could help them discover what they don’t want and help narrow the list even further.

•Once the school list is finalized, map them out into regions and try to combine a number of college tours into one road trip.

•Before making travel plans, check with college admissions offices for any travel deals or other added incentives at local hotels.

•Take advantage of airline and hotel loyalty programs to use points instead of cash for accommodations.

•Ask friends if their children are looking into visiting any of the same schools. Coordinate simultaneous trips with them to split the cost of gas and lodging.

•Turn the family vacation into a college visit trip, tacking on an extra vacation day to visit a school, or bring the student on a business trip if there are colleges nearby.

•Look into the student’s high school to see if they organize college tours, which may be more affordable, or search online for “college tours” to find a company that provides campus tours, which can save time organizing trips.

By planning ahead, not only will parents save cash, but teens will get more out of the trip, allowing them to determine which school is a good match.

This article provided by North American Precis Syndicate Inc.