Three Road Maps to Use Achievements to Avoid College Debt…and Regret

The coronavirus hits well-meaning parents of college-bound kids especially hard.

All the uncertainty makes it more critical than ever that you take strategic steps to protect your family from unnecessary college debt…and regret it later.

Those of us sandwiched between qualifying for financial aid and being able to pay $73,000 per year for college must be very deliberate about our college planning, starting in middle school.

The best way to avoid our kids graduating with mounds of unnecessary college debt is to take specific proactive steps based on our priorities. 

I’ve created three distinct road maps of cost-saving strategies to fit your family’s goals. 

Choose one of the following that matches your objectives:

1. Top-Notch – your high achiever is aiming for the most select colleges
2. Panning for Gold – you want to keep all your options open and decide later how much to pay for college
3.  Show Me the Money/Show Me the Degree – paying as little as possible is your #1 priority

The Pay Less for College Blueprint outlines in more detail, but here are the key strategies and points.

Remember:  You don’t earn too much for your student to win merit scholarships.  This money for college is awarded for your student’s achievements, passions, hard work, and uniqueness – not your family’s finances.  The wealthiest students can win big merit scholarships.

Tip: Start pursuing private merit scholarships early.  And that requires your student doing things to first deserve money for college. 

The Top-Notch Road Map:

If you and your student have set your sights on the Ivies or other highly competitive colleges – such as Stanford or Northwestern – the most important thing to realize is that these schools do not give any merit scholarships.  (Athletic scholarships may be an exception.)

Private merit scholarships are one of the few ways to lower the cost of attending the most selective colleges for students who do not qualify for need-based financial aid.

Pursue private merit scholarships as early as elementary school.  Crazy as it seems, your child can begin winning money for college in kindergarten with the Doodle4Google Scholarship!

Private merit aid comes from any entity that isn’t a college or university.  Businesses, service groups, non-profits, and individuals fulfill their own missions by giving students money for college who reflect their organization’s values.

It’s especially important that your student’s college list also includes schools that will cost less so you have more options later.  (Plus, I’ve seen how winning large merit scholarships from other colleges can reduce the sting of not getting admitted to a student’s top-choice college.)

With the cost of college so high, students attending the Ivies (and their “cousins,” other highly competitive and expensive colleges), should be prepared to make the most of the networking, research and academic opportunities so that the investment was worth it.

Responsibility, independence, initiative, resourcefulness and life skills come to mind as valuable “soft skills” to foster in high school.

Defining a clear career path and area of academic interest is key to ensure the investment pays off.  Hands-on experience and volunteering in high school to explore college majors is important.

The Panning for Gold Road Map:

With three daughters in three years, this is the path we chose – before I even knew there were different runways to reach different destinations.

We wanted more options for where the girls went to college and how much we paid for it.  That’s what lead to my spending 100s of hours researching merit scholarships for Rebecca, our eldest, and looking for additional ways to use the girls’ achievements, passions and efforts to save on college.

Together, our daughters won $600,000 in merit scholarships.

The only way for your student to attend a college that you can afford is to apply to a college you can afford.

Applying to target, reach, and safety schools for cost is the winning strategy so you can have more choices. 

Consider schools that offer:

• Large, renewable institutional merit scholarships – money for college based on achievements, mostly academic-related
• Graduation rates where most students complete their degrees in 4 years
• Tuition discounts
• Lower sticker price

Volunteering in high school and gaining hands-on experience in areas of academic interest is also important on this road map to avoiding unnecessary college debt.  Changing college majors can cost time and money – often as much as two additional years of paying for college. 

Show Me the Money/Show Me the Degree:

For you, cost is your top consideration in finding your student’s “best fit” college.

Perhaps finances are especially tight. Or you have numerous children heading to college.  Maybe your student also plans to go to graduate school.  For some parents, the very notion of paying a lot for college is enough to make cost the top priority.

To pay as little as possible for college, follow the Panning for Gold road map, above, and:

1. Consider attending community college and then transferring
2. Add schools to the college list where your student is expected to win big renewable institutional merit scholarships
3. Encourage your student to graduate in 3 years
4. Compare sticker prices carefully, along with opportunities for cost-cutting opportunities such as institutional merit scholarships
5. Pursue private merit scholarships starting in middle school – they’re available as early as kindergarten so if you’re really determined for your student to get as much money for college as possible, start in elementary school
6. Don’t change college majors 

Summary:

There’s no one-size fits all strategy that can possibly work for everyone.  And it’s a big, expensive mistake, to believe otherwise.

We only get one chance to avoid burdening our kids with decades of college debt or deplete our own retirement to pay for college.

Is the coronavirus shaking up your college plans? Get “Navigating College Planning Through a Pandemic: Staying Safe, Sane & Strategic Saving on College & Supporting Your Student’s Dreams” HERE.

Got questions?  Want help? Email me at [email protected]