Losing Sleep Over The Cost of College?- Ask the Counselor

I ask families all the time if they're worried about the cost of college for their kids, and with no exceptions their answer is a resounding "YES"! The reality is that more and more families are completely stressed out over the high cost of college. Are you one of them?

Hope Is NOT A Strategy

When I ask moms and dads what their plan is for paying for college, here are the top 5 answers I get:

·         We hope to get scholarships

·         We hope to get a Cal Grant

·         We'll borrow against our home

·         We'll borrow against our retirement

·         Student loans

Hope is NOT a strategy! And borrowing for college has proven to be financially devastating... for both students AND parents.

Students are graduating from college burdened heavily with student loans, often being forced financially to move back home with mom and dad. Others find their dreams of getting married or starting a family horribly delayed... all because of debt.

So What's The Solution?

You've got to have a deliberate, intentional PLAN in place to pay for college... before your student gets stuck on a dream school or becomes smitten with "Brand Name Paralysis".

Your plan must begin with an understanding of today's College Admissions and Financial Aid process. It's nothing like when YOU were in college! Surprisingly, few families have such an understanding, so it's no wonder they're severely disappointed in March when the Financial Aid "awards" arrive, and their stellar student has been offered nothing but loans.

Loans Are NOT Financial Aid

The colleges and government have successfully convinced moms, dads, and students that borrowing for college somehow equates to "financial aid". This is ridiculous! True financial aid comes in two flavors... scholarships and grants. Referred to as "gift aid", these represent the only TRUE forms of financial aid, because it's the "free money" families are looking (and hoping) for.

So WHO Gets The Free Money?

Herein lies the $64,000 question! To answer it correctly, you've got to know which "Financial Aid Quadrant" your student falls into. Quadrant #1 gets the most money... Quadrant #4 gets the least. Very few families have even heard of these quadrants, let alone know which one they're in.

Whether you have a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior... I want to assess your quadrant and what that means to you in terms of FREE MONEY.

Don't Be Normal

Don't let your college-bound student be "normal"! Here's what normal looks like in the landscape of college graduates today:

·         6+ years to get an undergraduate degree

·         $32,000 in student loans

·         50% chance of being unemployed or underemployed

·         85% chance of moving back home

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