BLOG: Ask the Counselor- 5 Steps to Zero-Debt College

1. Assess how much you as a family can afford to pay.

While this may appear as good ol' common sense, in today's if-you-don't-have-the-money-then-borrow-it culture, most parents evaluate college costs AFTER their kids are accepted. They then ask the question, "How do they expect us to come up with this kind of money?"

Step 1 involves sitting down... the "old-fashioned" way... and evaluating how much you've saved for college and how much you can realistically commit to earmarking monthly on a cash-flow basis. In this uncertain economy extreme care needs to be taken regarding future cash-flow. Be conservative.

By the way, when we say "afford", this does NOT include "affordability" of paying back college loans. For Step 1, assume that there's no such thing on the planet as a college loan.

2. Learn your EFC.

EFC stands for Expected Family Contribution. This is the computation by which colleges (and the government) assess a student's need. When your student is a senior, you'll more than likely complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).

The FAFSA form is the vehicle used by most colleges to compute your EFC. Some colleges use the CSS Profile Form as well, and this is an important topic for future discussion.

There are several good online (and free) "calculators" you can use. We recommend you use ours... it's exceptionally user-friendly. And if you like, we'll help you understand the results and the implications to your student's colleges of choice. Just click here for access.

Another option is the federal Department of Education's "FAFSA4caster". (Some families find it not as user-friendly as ours.) This is found on the official FAFSA website, www.FAFSA.gov. It's a little hard to find though, so if you'd like to use the government's FAFSA4caster, just click here to access it.

3. Assess your student's merit-worthiness.

What is it that your student excels at? Is it academics? Maybe performing arts? Athletics? Leadership? Debate? Any extraordinary achievement can potentially result in merit-based financial aid, commonly referred to as merit awards or scholarships.

As rule of thumb, the lion's share of scholarships are awarded to those students in the "Top 25%" of the applicant pool for a given college. The obvious question, "How do you know if your student is in the top 25%?" The short answer is, "It's not easy!"

Actually, for academics, there are some metrics that are readily accessible, often on the individual colleges' websites. Additionally, there are metrics on a variety of other websites, most notably www.CollegeBoard.com. But for other achievements, an accurate assessment will involve a discussion with your student's Admissions Officer for each college under consideration.

(It's important to note that some colleges have a steadfast policy that no merit scholarships are awarded. These include the 8 Ivy League colleges.)

4. Construct a realistic college list of 6 to 12 colleges.

This is where it all comes together. Every college has an "official" COA (Cost-of-Attendance). If you can't find this on the college's website, contact the school's Financial Aid Office.

The complication is that every school has different policies when it comes to financial aid, including both need- and merit-based. Some families are very good at this step, which involves in-depth research, in both the construction of a preliminary college list and the evaluation of college policies.

College by college, estimate the financial aid (if any) you would expect, based on your research. Subtract this from the Cost-of-Attendance, and this an estimate of what the schools will expect you to pay.

Compare this with your results from Step 1. Are the numbers close? If so, GREAT! If not, all is not necessary lost. Will Grandma or Grandpa be helping out at all? Are there any scholarships available from Mom's or Dad's employer? Have you factored in your student getting a job this summer... and throughout his/her college years?

There are many strategies in building up what you as a family are able to pay without borrowing any money for college.

5. Evaluate the awards and make the final college selection.

If you did all your homework right and built a realistic Final College List, then this step is the most exciting. The college list should contain only colleges that are known good-fit schools for your student and affordable based on the colleges financial aid policies coupled with your ability to pay.

Your child should at this point receive several offers for admission. And remember, with a proper college list, any of the colleges are good choices... from both an academic and all-around good-fit perspective as well as affordable.

Now you get to make a final comparison of the colleges that offered your child admission... including strength of curriculum and faculty, location, social and spiritual fit, and out-of-pocket costs.

CONCLUSION

We've developed a bizarre perspective in recent years... that our kids have "earned" the right to attend their college of choice. They "deserve" it for all their hard work and achievement. While we totally appreciate such noble ideals and parents' sense of duty, responsibility, and a sincere desire to provide for their children, the paradigm of "We'll do whatever it takes" has proven to be one lacking wisdom.

Student debt now exceeds a trillion dollars. In case you've never seen how many zeroes is in a trillion, here you go: $1,000,000,000,000. It's a million times a million! This exceeds the total amount of credit card debt in America. And it's climbing... quickly! Projections are that just beyond the year 2020, this debt will reach TWO trillion dollars.

It's our firm belief that this madness must STOP! We're mortgaging our kids' futures. Go to FoxNews or CNN's website and just watch the videos of young men and women SO heavily in debt that they've lost hope of ever achieving success due solely to the debt burden weighing so heavily upon them. Or just Google "student loan debt". You'll find articles like these:

- Excessive student loan debt drains economic engine

- Student Loan Debt Has Been a Nightmare for Years

- Student loan debt delays marriage, home buying, saving

- Student loan debt crowding out mortgages

And there's over 63 million more Google hits for you to choose from!

We want you and your family to do college right. We encourage you to begin by intentionally follow the 5 steps we've outlined above and join the growing number of families all across the country committed to avoid borrowing money for college, thereby providing their children a strong financial start in life... not enslavement to the chains of debt.

CAN WE HELP?

We've built our company on the foundation of "doing College Planning right", taking into account every element, including financial. It's what sets our organization apart from every other College Planning or College Funding company in the nation. College Admissions experts focus on one thing... good fit colleges for the student, emphasizing curriculum, location, social fit, etc. They ignore the affordability component and when it comes to paying for college, they offer this... "File the FAFSA form". That's it!

College Funding firms are most often in moving your money around, repositioning it, as they call it. They want to help you "look poor". This is most often to no avail. Many of them are motivated by high commissions awarded them when they sell you a permanent life insurance policy. Is this who you really want helping you "plan" for college?

If you have any questions regarding our professional services, don't hesitate to call us at 949.340.2675 or email us at support@GetCollegeFunding.org. It would be our pleasure to serve you in whatever capacity you require our talents and expertise.