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From
all I read college seems to be way out of reach for us
financially. Am I missing something? Is college too
expensive for us?
Since the amount of
information you read about how expensive college is seems to
outnumber the information about college's accessibility by
at least three to one, I'll give you three answers to the
question is college too expensive. No. No. And,
no.
Is college expensive? Often.
Is it more expensive than a loaf of bread? Usually &endash;
except in the cases of the students getting their college
education with the help of the military or their employer.
Yes, for most students a college education costs more than a
loaf of bread. There are all those students who get what is
called a "full ride" which means that they may be attending
a college that costs $36,000 a year, but the college and the
federal government pay almost all of these costs. The catch
is that there are often some other small expenses that the
college doesn't cover, so a $144,000 college education might
actually cost you as much as a hundred loaves of
bread!
The truth is . . . college
is much more affordable than we read. The financial aid
system actually works quite well. 75% of students are
attending colleges that cost less than $8,000 a year.
Depending on the national statistics you choose, signs point
to a four-year college education being worth almost a
million dollars in expected additional income over a
lifetime. Yes, there are plenty of exceptions, but that is a
pretty significant return on most any college
investment.
Some people can afford
$36,000 a year for college. Many, many more are receiving
significant amounts of financial aid. Many attend colleges
that cost $5,000 a year. Yes, many students and families
complete their college education with loans, but these
amounts are usually within reason. So how do you make
college more affordable? 1) Plan early and 2) do well in
school. You can split those two responsibilities up between
parent and student any way you choose.
This kind of news will never
make headlines, but it is fact!
I
am interested in sports medicine, maybe being a trainer. Can
you recommend any colleges?
I would look into the
following: Baldwin Wallace and Marietta in Ohio; Castleton
State in Vermont; Colorado State; Florida Southern; Gustavus
Adolphus in Minnesota; Elon in North Carolina; Linfield in
Oregon; West Virginia Wesleyan; Springfield, Merrimack, and
Northeastern in Massachusetts; Quinnipiac in Connecticut;
and last and certainly not least, University of Southern
Maine. These are all colleges with strong sports medicine
majors that I know Maine students often like.
What
is the Profile form? Do I need to fill it out to apply for
financial aid?
You're asking about the CSS
Profile form. If the college requires you to fill it out,
you do need to. All colleges require you to fill out the
FAFSA form which determines your eligibility for federal
financial aid programs, primarily Pell Grants, Supplemental
Educational Opportunity Grants, Perkins Loans, College Work
Study, Stafford Loans, and PLUS Loans. Some colleges also
require you to fill out a CSS Profile, which just asks more
questions and gets them more information to determine your
eligibility for their own scholarships. These colleges that
ask for the Profile tend to be the more selective and more
expensive colleges, especially those in the northeast. They
add up to just over 600 colleges nationwide. So if you are
applying to one of these colleges, you need to submit both
forms.
But, I'm not done yet! Some
colleges will ask you to complete a third form, usually
referred to as their institutional form, which gets at even
more information about your income and what is hiding under
your pillow. That's right, three forms!
When I do workshops I always
produce great groans and grimaces when I say this, but since
I can't see or hear either when I write, I will say again
that the American financial aid system actually works quite
well. There is always room for improvement, but financial
aid administrators nationwide are doing their best to keep
it fair and to help families afford a great education.
Is
there any way to estimate in advance how much college
financial aid we are likely to receive?
Yes, sort of. You actually
can't estimate how much financial aid you will receive, but
you can estimate how much the federal government will think
you should be able to pay toward college costs. It is your
hope that the college will cover the rest through financial
aid &endash; not always the case, but always the
hope!
So, the government's
estimation of how much your family can afford toward college
is called your EFC (Expected Family Contribution). You'll
get this number after you complete the FAFSA form during
your senior year in high school. But, if you want to
estimate your EFC years in advance, which is a very smart
thing to do to help you get a handle on how much you should
probably be saving for college, you have several options.
Your best option, in my opinion, is the College Aid
Calculator. You can buy this software CD (check with your
bank) or you can find it on the Internet at FAME's website,
famemaine.com. I suggest you consider buying the software,
which is not expensive, and playing with the numbers to see
how changes in your assets and income will impact your EFC.
Better yet, you can download a full version of the College
Aid Calculator from their website at, you guessed it,
www.collegeaidcalculator.com. But, first check for
discounted prices through your bank.
It
seems to me that the NextGen program isn't a very good way
to save for college because if your child decides not to go
to college, you lose your money or you have to give it to
someone else. Isn't that right?
You are right, sort of. Both
the Education IRA, now called an ESA, and Maine's 529 Plan,
called NextGen, are very good ways to save for college. Your
investment and earnings are tax-free at the federal and
state levels. That's a good deal. It is designed to
encourage and help families save for college. You get that
"good deal" because you have committed this money to
college, not groceries tomorrow. I am not a financial
advisor, but it seems pretty obvious that you should be
careful about saving money in a NextGen account that you may
need before college time.
But, if your child decides
not to go to college, you don't have to lose your money. You
have the option of transferring the money to a brother or
sister, son or daughter, niece or nephew, mother or father,
or spouse of your child. Think about that. That means the
unused money could go down a generation and be used by your
child's children or even come back to you for your own
education. There are more details, but the bottom line is
that there is quite a lot of flexibility. Furthermore, you
can get the money back, though you will have to pay the
interest on your earnings (which you would have paid in a
taxable investment account anyway) and you usually pay a 10%
penalty just as you would if you made an early withdrawal
from an IRA.
I like the NextGen program
and Education IRAs. They are good ways to set aside and
invest some money for your child's college education --
which is a very smart investment!
Are
there SAT preparation courses available to help my child
prepare for the SAT?
SAT preparation courses come
and go. Check with your guidance counselor about what is
available locally. Kaplan and Princeton Review are the two
big players nationally in SAT preparation. These courses can
be helpful, they can also be very expensive and time
consuming. They offer some good information, lots of
practice, and some discipline/structure.
My preference for SAT prep
has always been one valuable book &endash; 10 Real SATs. It
is available from the College Board, the people who bring us
the SAT, and in many bookstores. I won't promise that it
will be fun, but anyone who reads the advice at the
beginning of the book and takes these real SATs will gain a
better understanding of the skills and insides of the SAT.
More importantly, the student will get a lot of practice and
will gain some confidence, which is the critical piece once
you pick up your #2 pencil. And, when you finally put down
your #2 pencil you can go out and treat yourself to a pizza
with all the money you saved by preparing for the SAT in
this way. In fact, you can probably treat yourself to fifty
pizzas and have change left!
Can
you recommend any colleges with especially strong
architecture majors?
There are quite a few very
good architecture programs throughout the U.S. A few
well-known programs at colleges that I like and that Maine
students should consider include: University of California
at Berkeley; Carnegie Mellon and Lehigh in Pennsylvania;
Cooper Union, Cornell, Columbia, and Rensselaer in New York;
Tulane in Louisiana; Yale in Connecticut, Boston
Architectural Center and MIT in Massachusetts; Montana
State; Rhode Island School of Design and Roger Williams in
Rhode Island. Some of these are primarily art colleges, some
are engineering schools, most offer a broad curriculum. Many
students interested in architecture will pursue an advanced
degree, a master's or a doctorate in architecture.
I
have heard about a program that lets you take courses at
other New England colleges at a discounted tuition. Do you
know what this is about?
You are probably referring
to the New England Board of Education's Regional Student
Program. You'll find almost all the information you need at
www.nebhe.org. This is a great program that all New England
students should know about. In short, if a certain major is
not available at a public college or university in your home
New England state, but it is available at a public
institution in another New England state, you may be able to
attend that out-of-state institution at about one and a half
times the tuition rate for their in-state students. That
often means students can save between $3,000 and $7,000 a
year on tuition. Not bad!
My
son says George Mitchell offers college scholarships to
Maine students. Does he and if so, how do we find out about
them?
He certainly does. You can
get more information about his scholarship program at
www.mitchellinstitute.org and from your high school guidance
counselor, I'm sure. In addition to working for peace in
Ireland, peace in the Middle East, peace in disaster relief
funding, and a piece of the Boston Red Sox, George Mitchell
helps many Maine students piece together some great college
opportunities. This is another program that all Maine
students should know about.
We
are in the process of choosing courses for next year and are
trying to decide if our daughter should take honors courses
or just college prep and whether our choice will affect our
daughter's college choices.
Your decisions about which
course level to take can make a big difference. I'll explain
why after making this comment, which really should be more
important to you. It is always best to first choose the
course and course level that will offer the student the best
educational experience. That is rule number one. Confidence
is an absolutely critical component of successful learning.
Whichever course will help a student develop confidence in
his or her learning abilities and develop interest in the
subject will almost always be the best choice. That may mean
doing very well in, and getting excited about, a college
prep course or a general studies track instead of an honors
level course.
With that said, the most
selective colleges in the country look first at the level of
the course you take. These highly selective colleges will
expect students to take almost all honors and AP courses if
they are available. So if you are interested in one of these
colleges, you really ought to take the honors course
beginning in 9th grade. If you are trying to choose between
an anticipated A in a college prep course or a C+ in an
honors or AP course and you are thinking only about college
admissions to very selective colleges, you are probably
better off going the honors or AP route. Less selective
colleges will be more flexible and accept students who take
college prep courses only (as opposed to honors courses
which are also college prep). There are plenty of great
colleges that will take students with "general track"
courses.
Bottom line &endash; focus
first on the quality of the educational experience, but do
realize that your course level decisions beginning in ninth
grade will impact your college options.
Where
can our daughter study nursing in state?
There are many fields that
are closely related to nursing, such as Emergency Medical
Services, Medical Laboratory Technology, Physical Therapy,
Radiology, or Sports Medicine. As for nursing, I suggest you
look into what is offered at the following schools: Central
Maine Medical Center's School of Nursing, Husson, St.
Joseph's, University of Maine - Orono, University of Maine
&endash; Augusta, University of Maine &endash; Fort Kent,
University of New England, University of Southern Maine,
SMTC, NMTC, and EMTC.
How
do I find out about college scholarships for Maine
students?
Your best bet is to go to
FAME's website at www.famemaine.com. You'll find a good list
of many Maine scholarships. A printed list of these
scholarships is also available from FAME and is in your high
school guidance office . . . no matter what your child says!
Other than that, stay in touch with your high school
guidance counselor. He or she knows more about local
scholarships than you may think.
Where
should a homeschooling family look for information on
local/regional scholarships? Some area organizations only
publish information on their scholarship programs in
publications targeted to high school guidance
counselors.
Unfortunately, you are
right, much of the information about local scholarships
struggles to get beyond the high school guidance office. You
should still check with them. Otherwise, be sure to go to
FAME's website at www.famemaine.com. You'll find a good list
of many Maine scholarships. They have a printed list of
scholarships they will send you as well. You should go to
www.fastweb.com, collegeboard.com, fastaid.com, and
finaid.org for national scholarships, but don't hold your
breath. I would check in with the Mitchell Institute, which
is trying to be a clearinghouse for Maine scholarships as
well, www.mitchellinstitute.org. Check with your church.
Check with your local Rotary, Kiwanis, and Chamber of
Commerce. If you check with all of these, you have probably
done the best you can do. From there you just have to keep
your ears open and don't hesitate to stop by the high school
guidance office.
My
son is freshman at U.M.O. majoring in Civil Engineering. So
far he has received no scholarship funds at all. In his
senior year at high school he applied for what seemed like
every scholarship out there. He has made the Deans list his
first semester, however is getting very discouraged at the
lack of help anywhere. Any information you could give us
will be appreciated.
I am not sure there is any
question I try to field more often than this one. There
aren't always easy answers. The first and best answer is to
talk to the U.M.O. financial aid office. Explain your
situation to them very clearly and explain that you need
more financial help for your son to continue his studies. Be
straight and honest with them and ask for their help. Your
son may be able to arrange to do some work on campus. I
would also encourage your son to talk with his professors in
Civil Engineering. They will know about engineering
organizations that offer scholarships; organizations like
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), the National
Center for Construction Education and Research, the American
Society of Civil Engineers, and the Civil Engineering
Research Foundation. I would also think very seriously about
talking with prospective employers.
As for all these
scholarships that everyone is looking for throughout the
country, 90% of the time families come up disappointed after
applying to too many scholarships. Check with the Maine
scholarship sources listed above, but you will have your
best luck with the university itself. Just be ready to push
a bit.
How
can we as a community encourage more kids to consider
college?
This is an important
question which needs to be addressed. How can we help more
kids have more career opportunities, make more money, and
develop the economy of our community and state in good ways?
Some will say (in some communities) that we don't need to
send more kids to college. I am not in that camp. A college
education, particularly a four-year college education, opens
up many new career opportunities, builds a critical pool of
knowledge, and roughly doubles your expected
income.
Some will say that we don't
need more bachelor's degrees, we need more people with
associate's degrees and technical training. That may be what
employers currently need from the workforce, but let's focus
on opportunity for our kids and future (and smart) growth
for our communities.
So how do we encourage more
students to attend college? 1) We remind them that all
students can attend college if they choose. No one is "not
smart enough" for college. 2) We make sure we define college
very broadly so that students who do choose to pursue an
associate's degree, technical training, or a degree from a
truck-driving college are all equally proud of their
accomplishment. 3) We work hard as a community to spread
accurate information about the cost of college. It is far
more affordable than we always seem to read in newspapers.
4) We talk about college in our communities &endash; a lot
&endash; and not just in schools. I am always struck by the
difference in the amount of conversation about college from
one community to the next; unfortunately, it often seems
directly related to economic standards.
5) Lastly, and perhaps most
importantly to me, I am a great advocate of helping students
design their future beginning at a very young age. We live
in a country that offers unequalled opportunities to do
this. I am always reminded of my conversation with a fourth
grade boy who said he wanted to open up a skateboard shop in
a small town in western Maine when he grew up. The average
adult response would be, "Cute idea, but you won't make any
money, so get a real job." In fact, this boy could be very
successful if he sets his sights beginning in fourth grade.
And, there's no harm done if he changes his mind along the
way, once or 100 times. He will need to gain a tremendous
amount of knowledge, more than most of us have, to make the
business successful, but it is all doable. Designing a
career from an early age gives more purpose to a student's
education, it helps the student make more of their
education, and it builds much more exciting futures for our
communities.
I
have heard there are scholarships for Maine students who
want to go on to be teachers. What can you tell me about
this?
Educators for Maine. Your
best sources for information on this program are FAME and
your high school guidance counselor. You will find plenty of
information about the program at
www.famemaine.com/html/education/ed4me-prog.htm. "Educators
for Maine" is actually not a scholarship, it is a loan which
is forgiven for selected Maine students who teach in Maine
elementary and secondary schools after college. It's a "loan
forgiveness" program. The college loans may be up to $3000
each year in college. Eligible high school students need to
be in the top 25% of their graduating class and be selected
by a committee. Applications must be submitted by April
1.
Next, and no less
significant, are the federal Stafford and Perkins Loan
forgiveness programs. These programs forgive some part of
the student's federal Stafford and Perkins Loans if the
student goes on to teach in a "low-income" school, of which
we can modestly say we have no less than 410 in Maine. Or,
the student may teach a subject for which there is currently
a shortage of teachers in Maine. That list recently included
Chemistry, Physics, Math, French, Spanish, teaching students
with disabilities, and speech and language. You'll find good
information at www.ed.gov and specifically, to save you some
time, at
www.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/Students/repayment/teachers/stafford.html
I suspect there are a few
other scholarships for future teachers hiding somewhere in
the woods of Maine. Again, FAME can be a valuable member of
your search party.
How
do we know if our son should take the SAT 2's?
SAT II's are similar to SAT
I's except that SAT II's test knowledge in specific
subjects. SAT I's test your more general aptitude with math
and language reasoning plus some acquired knowledge. SAT
II's come in the form of U.S. History and French and
Chemistry and Math, etc. Your success on SAT II's is very
dependent on what your teacher has taught in class (or what
you have learned, in case that is different!)
So, there are two answers to
your question should your son take the SAT II's. The first
answer is that you need to check with the colleges your son
might be interested in. Some colleges could care less if he
takes the SAT II's. Many colleges will like it a lot if he
does take them and does well on them. Some of the more
selective colleges will require that he take the SAT II's,
often times requiring that he take three. His scores on
these tests can be an important part of the admissions
decision.
The second answer is that
you need to ask your teacher whether what he/she has been
teaching is in line with the questions on the SAT II. The
answer will usually been found in the track record of past
students in that class who have taken the SAT II in that
subject. If that all seems too complicated, you can usually
find some good practice SAT II's in your local bookstore.
You can score these tests yourself and then decide what to
do.
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