FAFSA Season

This year, the time for seniors and their families to think about financial aid is earlier than ever.  Starting this year, the Free Application for Financial Aid (FAFSA) opens on October 1.  The deadline for California State grants (like the Cal Grant and the California Middle Class Scholarship) is still March 2, but students are encouraged to submit the FAFSA as early as possible, as some forms of aid are first come, first served.

Another change this year - when completing the FAFSA, students and their parents will use tax information from 2015 (Prior-prior year).  This is good news - no need to estimate income information; assuming you filed 2015 taxes this past Spring, you can use the IRS data retrieval tool to pull the information directly from your taxes.  More good news - this change should allow schools to determine financial aid packages earlier than in the past.  Whether or not they provide you with information on your financial aid package any earlier remains to be seen.

Are you wondering whether you should apply for financial aid?  The answer is YES!  Many students and families mistakenly think they don't qualify for aid.  With the rising cost of college, some aid is now available for families who previously did not qualify.  California, for example, has recently implemented a program called the California Middle Class Scholarship, which provides some assistance to students with family income and assets up to $156,000 per year, provided the student is attending a school in the University of California or California State University system.  Furthermore, many universities require completion of the  FAFSA in order for students to be eligible for university grants and scholarships, even those that are primarily merit - based.  So you have everything to gain and nothing to lose - complete the FAFSA!

Other reasons some students choose not to complete the FAFSA:

They don't want to take out loans.  Guess what? You don't have to.  The FAFSA will determine your eligibility for financial aid, including grants and scholarships, work study, and subsidized student loans.  Once you receive your financial aid offer, you can accept what you want and decline the rest - you can collect any grants, scholarship, and work study eligibility and decline the loans if you so choose.

They don't know how to apply.  Help is available!  The application is online at https://fafsa.ed.gov/.  The federal student aid commission has an FAQ page to help with questions, as well as telephone assistance and online chat to help.  Your high school counselor should be able to help also if you have questions.  Many high schools and community organizations in California organize in Cash for College workshops, where you can get help and file your FAFSA right then and there.  Cash for College workshops are open to everyone, you do not have to be a student at that high school to attend.  For information, or to find a Cash for College workshop near you, visit the Cash for College website.

However, wherever, whenever you choose to do it, file your FAFSA!  And do it soon.

Things You Should Know About College

Happy Fall!  Congratulations to all the students who will be embarking on a new stage of their lives in college this fall!  For those of you still in high school, it's time to start thinking about your future.

The first thing to do is make an appointment with your school counselor.  If you're a senior, you need to get on this right away, but even if you are just starting high school, it's good to be thinking about what you want to do when you graduate.  Discuss your plans with your counselor, and make sure you are taking the right courses to get to where you need to be when you graduate.

Did you know:

• In most cases, high school graduation requirements are not the same as college admission requirements?  If you are looking to go to a 4-year university, you need several classes beyond your high school graduation requirements to meet the university admission requirements.
• Each college has its own admission requirements, and they are slightly different, so be sure to check the website of colleges you are interested in to make sure you have the right classes
• Different states have different requirements.  While California public universities only require two years of science, Oregon schools generally require three.
• If you are applying to a college with competitive admission (many more students apply than they have room for, as is the case with many California public universities), it's generally recommended you go beyond the basic requirements.  So even though only two years of science are required, it's probably better to take three or even four years if you want to go to a University of California campus.
• Many states and regions have reciprocal tuition agreements, so students from nearby states get a  break on out of state tuition.  The Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) is an example. Since tuition rates vary from state to state, if you are coming from an expensive state (e.g. California) it may actually end up being less expensive to go out of state if you can get the WUE tuition rate.
• Financial aid is available!  You should fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) whether or not you think you will qualify.  You may be surprised.  Also, many private and university-based scholarships require you to fill out the FAFSA before receiving any type of aid.

So enjoy the last warm days of fall, jump into your classes, start thinking about your future, and start the path toward your goals today! 

How to Save Money in College

Want to save money in college?  Pay attention in your math class, and listen to your English teacher.  And take a fourth year of math, even if it's not required.

According to a study by Education Reform Now, approximately a quarter of all students who go directly from high school to college are required to take remedial coursework. The total cost of this remedial coursework for families - about $1.5 billion dollars annually.  Furthermore, students who start with remedial courses are much more likely to drop out, and those that finish take on average about a year longer to complete their Bachelor's degree.

Remedial (sometimes called developmental) courses are those designed to prepare students for college level work. This implies, of course, that about 1 in 4 incoming college freshmen are not prepared for college level work in math and/or English.  This problem is not only confined to community colleges; the results hold true across nearly all institution types and all income levels.

Several articles I read in preparing this post place the blame on high schools for not adequately preparing their students, but I think there's a bit more to the story than that, and each student certainly has a level of control over this.  If you attend a high school without adequate support and instruction in math and English, I'm sorry.  However,  I would argue there is a large amount of student choice that goes into this as well. As a high school counselor in a personalized learning school, I am not going to force you to take that extra math class.  You have a choice in what English classes you take.  If you choose to take less challenging English classes, and to stop taking math after you've completed the minimum graduation requirements, you likely won't be ready for college level work, and may well find yourself contributing to that $1.5 billion dollars spent on remedial education.

If you find yourself struggling in math or English, and you can't find the support at your school, what can you do?  First, talk with your teacher, counselor, or principal and find out what help is available. There may be after-school tutoring support you can take advantage of.  Find a friend who does well in these subjects, and see if they can help you.  Many libraries offer tutoring services, either in-person or online.  Khan Academy has a wealth of resources in many different subjects, and though options for support in English are limited, it can certainly help if you are struggling in math.

The main thing, though, is to take action. Take your classes seriously, and take responsibility for your own learning and preparation.  Challenge yourself in high school, and you'll be ready for college.  And you'll probably save a lot of money by doing so.

Important Choices

Now is the time for many anxious high school seniors when the letters of acceptance, rejection, or wait list status begin arriving.  After all the work of developing your college list, after all the work of completing and submitting applications, now comes the work of deciding which, among the options open to you, is the best.

Ideally, during the search and application process, students identified a number of schools that would be a good fit personally, socially, and academically, and students have either received, or will soon receive, acceptance letters to several of these excellent schools.  Which is the best choice?  There are several factors to consider - majors offered, location, support services, student life, cost.....  These are perhaps not terribly helpful, however, as these are the same factors considered when creating the college list in the first place.  The good news is, the reason you applied to these schools is because they are all a great fit, so you should have a good experience whatever you choose.  Once you've made your choice, don't waste any time wondering if one of the others would have been better; instead, focus your time and energy on connecting with and getting excited about the school you have decided to attend.

Before you make that decision, however, try to visit the schools you are considering; at least your top 2 or 3 choices, if you haven't already.  Nothing can take the place of a personal experience on campus, talking with students, faculty, and staff, and getting a sense of the personality of the school.  Some colleges can arrange for you to sit in on a class during your visit.  Before you go, research campus clubs and activities you may be interested in, then try to connect with someone from those clubs while on campus.

Some students will make long lists of pros and cons for each choice, and try to boil it down to a purely rational choice.  While this seems like a reasonable approach, the truth is that big decisions in our lives rarely come down to pure reason.  After having a chance to visit the schools, pay attention to your feelings and emotions in addition to the objective facts.  As Ruth Chang states in her excellent TED talk "How to Make Hard Choices", hard choices are hard specifically because neither option is inherently better than the other.  We ourselves create the reasons that makes one choice better than the other - for us.  Don't get caught up in issues of prestige, or how others are going to feel about your choice of college - this is about you and your future, not what other people think you should do.

So after you've created your long list of pros and cons, put the list aside for a moment, close your eyes, and reflect on how you feel.  Imagine how each of the schools you are considering will help you become the person you want to be.  And when you're ready to make the leap, jump enthusiastically onto the path you've chosen, and don't look back.

Is College Worth It?

There has been much concern in the media in recent years about college costs and student debt, and rightfully so.  The question then keeps popping up, is it worth going to college at all?  Some writers point to mounting student debt and argue that young people are delaying life events like getting married, starting a family, buying a house, etc.  According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics from 2014, adults with a bachelor's degree earn on average $22,516 more per year than those with a high school diploma.  College graduates are also less likely to be unemployed - the unemployment rate for adults with a bachelor's degree was 3.5%, compared with 6% for those who stopped their education after high school.  I would argue that living in poverty and battling unemployment and underemployment while scraping to make ends meet would also make it difficult to start a family or buy a house.

We've all heard the stories about college educated barristas and retail clerks, and horror stories about students enduring 4, 5, or 6 years of college, collecting large student debt loads, and then not finding a job after college.  While it was indeed a tough time for college graduates during the height of the recent recession, what these stories miss is that it was a tough time for everyone.  Unemployment and underemployment rates peaked in 2010, with an underemployment rate for those with bachelor's degrees hovering around 6.2%.  At this time, the underemployment rate for those with a high school diploma was 12.9%. It turns out the stories of unemployed college graduates are also a bit exaggerated.  While it is certainly true that some college graduates end up working in jobs that don't require a college diploma, the underemployment rate has dropped sharply since the end of the recession, and those with a bachelor's degree have benefitted far more from the recovery that high school graduates.  According to a recent study, even among the underemployed college graduates (those working in a field that does not require a college degree), most are employed in the higher-paid categories of non-college occupations, while those without a college degree are more likely to end up working as low-paid physical laborers or in low-skill, low-paid service occupations. Furthermore, many college graduates who initially work in non-college occupations move into higher-paying jobs that do require a college degree within a few years of graduation. For more details on the study, see this excellent article from Inside Higher Ed: Challenging the Barrista Myth.

The benefits of a college education are not only economic.  Developmentally, the late teens and early twenties is a time of great personal growth potential.  The exposure to new ideas and experiences, a widening of your perspective on your own and other cultures, development in analytical and critical thinking skills - these benefits cannot be quantified in an economic sense. A college degree also opens opportunities to a much wider array of career options.

So, the question remains, is college worth it?  With an average increase of income of $22,516 per year, it seems to me that a $200 student loan payment is not as much of a burden as it might seem. Even after a year's worth of payments, the net gain is still over $20,000 per year.  Of course, students should be savvy about financing college and explore all possibilities for avoiding loans altogether, including maximizing grants and scholarships, creative financing options, and thorough research on college costs to choose an affordable program in the first place, but current economic research indicates that the answer is a resounding YES!  There are also other factors in the modern economy that make a college degree worth more now than ever before.  Job growth in the economy is now almost exclusively in fields that require some training after high school.  Income for college graduates is rebounding well in the wake of the economic recession, but wages for non-college jobs are not rising at the same rate.  Thus, the income gap between high school and college graduates is getting even bigger.

A final rant on this recurring question of "Is college worth it?" - I've noticed that many of those publishing articles or making statements that college may not be worth the investment have themselves benefitted greatly from their own college education.  These aren't "I never went to college and I'm doing great" testimonials; rather they are "I went to college and am thriving, but you maybe don't need to" statements.  I, for one, would be wary of such advice.

Is it important as a nation to take action to control rapidly rising college costs?  Of course.  Should you try to minimize the amount of student debt you take on?  Certainly.  Even if you have to take out some loans and make some sacrifices, is college worth the investment?  Absolutely.

What Does College Really Cost?

What does college cost?  It seems like a simple question, but the answer is a complicated mixture of a variety of factors including, of course, which college you choose to go to, but also your family's financial situation, your academic record, where you live, and any interests, skills or talents you may have. Let's address these factors one at a time:

The college you choose has a big impact on the cost you will pay, but not necessarily for the reasons you might think.  Of course, the cost of tuition, as well as room and board and other expenses will play a part, but what will make an even bigger difference in the price you actually pay is the availability and the policies determining the distribution of grants and scholarships.  For example, although the University of California has a published tuition cost about twice that of the California State University system, low and middle income students on average pay about the same (or sometimes even a lower) net price at UC schools.  This is presumably because there is more financial aid available in the form of grants and scholarships, as well as the policies of state aid in California, which pay either the full tuition (Cal Grant) or a percentage of the tuition (California Middle Class Scholarship, Blue and Gold Program); these grants are therefore worth more at the higher-tuition UC schools than they are at CSU. Similarly, small, private liberal arts schools often have more aid available and can meet a larger portion of a student's financial need, thus resulting in a lower cost to the family, even though the published tuition is much higher than that of a local public university. Finally, some colleges and universities award most of their aid using need-based criteria (your financial situation), and others award a large chunk of their aid using merit-based criteria (grades and test scores).  More on this later.

Another factor to consider is the total amount of time it will take to get a degree.  If you end up at a lower-priced, but overcrowded college or university, you may not get the proper advising or access to classes to finish your degree in 4 years.  An extra year or two can make a big difference financially, so when considering costs, be sure to look at average time to graduation and consider the total cost of attendance, not just the annual cost.

Perhaps the biggest question in determining the actual cost of college is what sort of financial aid you will get.  This, of course, depends on your family's financial situation, and is a complicated, confusing, and sometimes frustrating issue to tackle.  When you complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) - which you should do as soon as possible! - you will get an estimate of your Expected Family Contribution, or EFC.  This is NOT the amount you will have to pay for college; it is the amount the formula used in the application predicts you should be expected to contribute.  The actual price you pay may be more or less than this, depending on all the other factors discussed in this post.  Your EFC determines how much need-based financial aid you are eligible for:

Cost of attendance - EFC = Financial Need

 You can receive need-based aid up to this amount.  Obviously, the lower your EFC, the more aid you will be eligible for at any given institution.  If your EFC is low, it may be worthwhile to research the average financial need met at the schools you are considering.  For example, if your EFC is 0, a school with a cost of attendance of $25,000 that meets 50% of demonstrated student need will cost you $12,500 in the end, while a school with a cost of attendance of $33,000 that meets 80% of student need will cost $6,600 after all financial aid is applied.

Your academic record may also play a significant role in your college costs, particularly if you are looking at colleges that offer a large amount of merit-based aid.  For example, at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, a 3.5 GPA along with a 28 ACT (or 1250 SAT) score is worth $6,000 for in-state students, $10,000 for out-of-state students.  That's right, good grades and test scores actually have monetary value at many schools.  If you're in the right range, a 0.1 increase in your GPA and/or a 1 point increase in ACT scores (or 100 points in SAT score) could be worth $2,000 in merit aid.  Many other schools also have merit aid and automatic scholarships based on high academic achievement; this information can usually be found on the scholarship page of the school website. Obviously, good grades will also be useful in private scholarship applications.

Where you live affects how much you pay for college for obvious reasons (in-state vs. out-of-state tuition, different costs for public universities in different states), but can also affect your cost when you go out of state.  There are a number of regional exchange programs that offer reduced tuition (significantly less that the out of state cost) for students from nearby states.  These include the Western Undergraduate Exchange, the Southern Regional Exchange,  the Midwest Student Exchange, and the New England Regional Student Program.

Finally, your interests, skills and talents may affect the cost of your education through more specific scholarship opportunities, such as athletic or artistic scholarships. A word of caution here - there is not as much money available in athletic scholarships as many people think, and competition for these scholarships can be fierce.  Even if you aren't at the level to get an athletic scholarship from your college of choice, be sure to research private scholarships - there are many athletic-related scholarships from private parties that are not necessarily connected with individual schools.  You should also search college websites for departmental scholarships in the field you want to study.  For example, a number of scholarships are available through the engineering department at Montana State University, but you have to look for them, they won't automatically consider you for these scholarships when you apply to the school.  If you are interested in a military career after college, all major branches of the military offer ROTC scholarships.  These will generally pay your tuition, books, and a small monthly stipend while you are in school in exchange for participation in the ROTC program and a service commitment of 4-5 years upon graduation.

Unfortunately, there is no way to know the exact price tag of a given college until you have been accepted and received your financial aid offer letter, usually sometime in the spring of your senior year. There are, however, several resources to help you figure out what, ultimately, your cost will be.  Each college has a net price calculator on its website.  These vary in accuracy, but should give you a good estimate of what you can expect to pay (these only take into account federal, state, and institutional aid, you can lower your price more with a thorough scholarship search and application process).  The following sites also provide some guidance in looking for affordable college options:

College Scorecard: A new tool designed by the US Department of Education, compares schools based on average cost, graduation rate, and earnings after college.

College Affordability Guide: After analyzing over 10 million data points related to over 5,000 colleges, this group published a guide ranking colleges based on affordability (lowest cost for low- and middle- income students as well as flexibility in learning and credits) and positive outcomes (based on graduation rates and loan default rates).

Determining cost and affordability of college options is a complicated process.  The point here is not to make assumptions about the cost of college based on the published tuition and cost of attendance; a little further research using the college's net price calculator or the resources listed above will help you figure out how much that school will actually cost YOU, which in general will be somewhat lower than the sticker price.