Five Strategies to Save Thousands on College

When talking about college debt, the statistics are never encouraging. In fact, the story gets sadder each year.  The average recent college graduate has amassed a debt exceeding $37,000 and joins the ranks of 43 million borrowers who collectively owe $1.76 trillion in education debt. The key is to avoid being a part of this grim statistic by considering some highly effective strategies.

1) When choosing potential colleges, high school students should not necessarily reach for the stars – unless it’s to a college with an impressive endowment. Students will find that if they apply to a college a tier below the level of school to which they could likely get accepted, the scholarship money will almost certainly be much greater.  Students planning to major in business, for example, often seek to gain acceptance to NYU’s Stern School of Business where the cost hovers around $76,000 a year. These same students could reasonably expect to be welcomed at St. John’s University in New York, 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.

Parents Role in the College Application Process

Parents walk a fine line when it comes to their children and college applications.  Getting too involved will earn the title of “helicopter parent.”  Leaving everything to the student and hoping for the best – well that’s quite risky! There is a healthy middle ground. The ideal role for parents is to help with research, provide informational opportunities, and handle the financials.

Often students feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start the college process, so parents should help identify colleges that may be an ideal match.  The best way to start is by discussing what major might be of interest. Many students don’t know exactly what career they want to pursue, but they will likely know whether or not they are interested in science, business, engineering, education, or the arts, for example.  This knowledge alone will help to narrow down the research process. Together, parents and students can look up potential majors in College Board’s Book of Majors. Or they can visit collegescorecard.ed.gov which will identify every college that offers each major, as well as the average cost of attending the school and the average salary of its graduates in each particular field.

Six Years Is The New Four, College Students Sadly Find Out

“What is your four-year graduation rate?” This may be one of the most important questions that college-bound students and their parents can ask when considering a potential college.  The failure to graduate students in four years has become so commonplace that even U.S. News & World Report, in its highly regarded 2022 “Best Colleges” guide, reports the six-year graduation rate of colleges throughout the country.

Sometimes there’s a good reason for students to take six years to earn a degree.  Perhaps they switched majors and many of their credits did not carry over to their new course of study. On the other hand, perhaps it was out of their control.  Maybe some of their required courses were not readily available, requiring a longer than expected college stay in order to meet graduation requirements.  Either way, students and parents who are budgeting for a college diploma need to know, in advance, whether to multiply the annual cost of attendance (including tuition, room, board, books and fees) by four or by six!

“Even after six years, less than 60% of students at 4-year colleges have earned a Bachelor’s degree. The track record for community colleges is even worse, with less than 20% of community college students earning an Associate’s degree or Certificate,” according to a Forbes article drawing statistics from the book, Who Graduates from College? Who Doesn’t?