This is the final post of a six-part series titled “Getting Ready To Apply to College”. Each post is on an aspect of the college application process that current juniors need to be paying attention to before they begin applying to college in the fall. The previous topics that have been covered are Course Selection (Part 1), The Application (Part 2), The SAT/ACT (Part 3), The Essay (Part 4) and Teacher Recommendations (Part 5).
For the final post of this series, I will be focusing on the all-important topic of financial aid and scholarships.
The cost of a college education has been rising at an astonishing rate for over 15 years now. This has created both a panic among seniors and parents who want to attend certain colleges and also among college admission personnel who are accepting a certain number of students and hoping a certain number decide to attend (which is called their yield) in order to meet their budget. This has also caused many seniors to apply to more schools so they can see what financial aid and scholarships they will get from each school and determine which one is more affordable. Since more seniors are applying to more colleges, there are certain schools (flagship state schools mostly) that have become more competitive.
For a proper perspective on the cost of college and why it’s important to not go into a lot of debt when attending college, click here to watch a great documentary on Amazon Prime.
Besides their future home, what a student ends up paying to attend college will be the most significant investment in their life. They can easily have overwhelming and debilitating debt if they don’t make a wise financial decision on where to attend college. Don’t forget…colleges are businesses. They care about students but they’re most concerned with their bottom line. Please read this post titled “Colleges are Businesses So Treat Them Like One” for how this needs to impact your approach to financial aid and scholarships. Below are my most important pieces of advice when it comes to making sound financial aid/scholarship decisions when applying to college and making a decision to attend a certain college.
1) Complete the Net Price Calculator- The federal government requires that every college have a net price calculator on their website. Over the last few years, most colleges have made them extremely accurate. Before you apply to a college, it would be very advantageous to complete the school’s net price calculator and determine if that school is affordable. This way, you don’t end up applying, spending all the time completing the application, paying the application fee and then finding out you couldn’t afford to attend that school. This may also prevent undue emotional stress and anxiety as well if a student has high hopes to attend a school that the parents know they cannot afford.
** You may also ask the college’s financial aid office for a “financial review” in the summer before you apply to their school. Some colleges will do an individual review for you, and give you a very accurate idea of what you should have to pay, if you send them the documents they need.
2) Exhaust all merit scholarship options- Every college has merit scholarships available for incoming freshman on their website. Typically, you can find these scholarships by clicking on Admissions > Undergraduate or Freshman Admissions > Financial Aid or Scholarships. Sometimes these scholarships are ones you need to apply for but most are scholarships you will be awarded automatically if you have a certain GPA and test score (if submitted). They are not based on need, just merit, which consists of your grades and test scores. Every senior should pay attention to what their grades and scores are so they can take advantage of the merit based scholarships available to them. Seniors need to understand how important their senior year grades are in obtaining these scholarships and they may need to take the SAT or ACT one more time in the spring of their senior year in order to receive more merit based scholarship money.
3) Complete the FAFSA ASAP after October 1st (Dec. 1st for ’23-’24)- Please do not wait to complete your FAFSA. It is important to complete it as soon after October 1st as possible. You are submitting your previous year’s tax return. The FAFSA is very important to colleges when they need to reward need-based aid and grants and some schools even require it to determine on whether to award scholarships. Here is a link to resources that you can access and use to prepare you when applying for financial aid
4) Understand your college loan options- While the ideal is to make it through college without having to take out any loans, it’s just not realistic for most. “How much in loans should I take out”? The answer to that is going to be different depending on the financial position of the family and the scholarships and grants (money you do not need to pay back) they receive. If you need to take out a loan to pay for college, you want to try to take out as little as possible. If you ask the question, “What is the max amount of loans I should take out”? My answer to that question comes from a piece of advice I received a number of years ago that I like. The most in loans that you should borrow for college should be less than the starting salary you will have when you get your first job. The best and safest loan is the federal government’s Stafford Loan. Below is a guide when applying for student loans.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/loans/student-loans/student-loans-federal-vs-private-loans/
5) Pursue Honors College, Honors Programs or Leadership Programs at colleges- There are programs that you can apply to at almost every University that may provide you more merit based scholarship money if you happen to be accepted into these programs. The most popular are the Honors Colleges within a larger Universities. Just about every public university has either an Honors College or Honors program within their university. Sometimes there are additional application requirements to be accepted into these Honors Colleges or Programs and sometimes you can be automatically considered or admitted based on your grades and scores. At many schools there are also leadership programs that the college funds and are looking to fill spots in each year. Take advantage of these if you qualify and you may receive more merit-based aid for college.
6) Know which colleges meet 100% need (is it really 100% need?)- There are many colleges that claim to meet 100% need. This means that after you complete the FAFSA and/or CSS Profile and/or their own institutional form, they determine what your need is. They come up with a number they expect you to pay and whatever the difference is between that number and their total cost of attendance they cover with grants, scholarships and sometimes a loan. You have to be careful as to how much you expect to get from a specific university who meets 100% need. These schools tend to go about determining need differently. Some may go by the FAFSA and whatever your EFC (Expected Family Contribution) is is what you are expected to pay. Most will want more information and that may mean completing the CSS Profile and a form they have from their school. You also need to be careful because they will throw in a Stafford Loan as part of the financial aid package. This is money you will need to pay back later. Below is a link to a list of schools that claim to meet 100% need.
https://collegeselectionstrategy.com/colleges-that-meet-full-financial-need/
7) Take advantage of any national or private/local scholarships (OPM- Other Peoples Money)- You hear that there are “millions of scholarships out there” and “most do not even get claimed”. The truth is that the bulk of money you will receive for college comes from the incoming freshman scholarships that colleges give. When you consider private/local scholarships, know that there are a good number of them out there and it will take some time and effort to apply for these, but the reward amounts for most of these scholarships are small (compared to the incoming freshman scholarships at colleges) and you are really only covering 7-8% of money you will receive for college from these scholarships. I AM NOT SAYING THEY AREN’T WORTH APPLYING FOR. A one-time scholarship of $1000 or $500 is still a lot of money and helps because it isn’t coming out of your pocket. I always tell students who think it’s not worth their time to apply for these scholarships, “if you apply for 10 of these scholarships and it takes 10 hours to complete each of these applications and you get one for $1,000, you just got paid $100 an hour for your time.” They don’t think of it that way. I keep a list of local scholarships in Naviance that includes all of the scholarship opportunities that come through my office. I would also check your “local circles” for any other scholarships. This may include your township, parents place of employment, local Rotary or Kiwanis clubs, where the student works, etc. You can also apply for national scholarships that are available to any student across the country. Websites to go to in order to view national scholarships are salliemae.com, collegeboard.com, scholarships.com just to name a few.
8) Take advantage of AP credit, dual credit, online and CLEP options– One of the big benefits of taking an AP course is the opportunity to take the AP exam at the end of the year and possibly receive a score that the college you will be attending accepts for credit. If you can get credit for a course you no longer need to take at college anymore, that can save you possibly $3,000-$4,000 right there. If you would like to know what scores specific colleges will accept click here.
We also offer dual credit options through Colorado Christian University here at DC that allow students to receive credit for a college course they would have taken at CCU by just taking certain AP or Honors courses at DC.
There are many colleges now that offer online courses that students can take at a very discounted rate in the summer or during school that would count as credit towards their degree if they attend their school.
Not many know about the CLEP program through College Board. These exams cost $90 each and over 2,900 colleges award college credit if you receive a certain score on CLEP exams. Click on the link below, watch the video and learn more.
https://clep.collegeboard.org/earn-college-credit/get-started
