Five Key Strategies to Save Thousands on College

When talking about college debt, the statistics are never encouraging. In fact, the story gets sadder each year.  Statistics for 2021 indicate that 44.7 million Americans have student loans that collectively total $1.71 trillion in education debt. The key to avoid being part of this grim statistic is to consider some highly effective strategies.

1) When choosing potential colleges, students should not necessarily reach for the stars – unless it’s to a college with an impressive endowment. When students apply to colleges a tier below the level where they would likely get accepted, the scholarship money is almost always much greater.  Students planning to major in business, for example, often identify NYU’s Stern School of Business where the cost hovers around $75,000 a year. These same students could reasonably expect to be welcomed at St. John’s University in New York, Drexel and St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, and a host of other institutions with impressive business schools, substantially lower costs of attendance, and generous merit money (to attract strong students) which does not get paid back.

2) Once students have received acceptances from several colleges, they should compare scholarship offers.  If a student’s first choice college offered less scholarship money than another, parents should call the preferred college, share the competing offer, and ask if they can match it. Colleges are ranked on their yield – the percent of accepted students who actually enroll – and are often quite willing to do whatever they can so an accepted student will say “yes” to their offer of admission.  

3) Be proactive in seeking outside scholarship money, particularly from local competitions that do not draw the number of applicants as do national contests. Currently, for example, there is a Future Municipal Leaders Scholarship Competition, asking local students, “How has local government played a role in your life regarding the ongoing pandemic?” 

4) File a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and answer “yes” to the question on whether the student would like to be approved for Work Study.  It’s always wise to be eligible for work-related opportunities on campus, particularly if a job comes along to do research for a college professor or partake in some other academic endeavor.  Work Study is also a great way for students to earn spending money as the last thing they should do is accumulate credit card debt to add to any college debt.

5) Encourage students to raise their G.P.A. and SAT scores.  At almost every college, the amount of scholarship money awarded is based somewhat on high school grades, and to a greater extent on SAT scores.  By carefully preparing for the SAT and taking it several times to get the best possible scores, students can maximize their merit award which is typically renewed for the next three years. This is frequently the easiest and most productive way for students to minimize their student debt.

Susan Alaimo is the founder and director of Collegebound Review that, for the past 25 years, has offered PSAT/SAT® preparation and private college advising by Ivy League educated instructors. Visit CollegeboundReview.com or call 908-369-5362