With the cost of college rising every year, it is no wonder parents and kids are worried about paying for all of it.  Many times the conversation about how to pay for college starts in high school and not earlier like it should.  And it is even more common for parents to exclude their kids in this conversation.  Then, when the time comes for students to choose a college and analyze their financial aid letters, they have an idea of how much money their parents will contribute to these costs. This is usually different than the amount their parents have decided to contribute.  It is crucial for parents and kids to have this conversation way before junior year.  Ideally, parents would begin planning for college at birth by starting a 529 or another savings plan.  As the student goes through elementary and middle school, parents would talk with their kid about expectations related to college.  These conversations should include whether the parents are expecting their kid to go to college and if the kid has aspirations of going to college.  They should also talk about how college will be financed.  Will the parents pay for it completely? Does the child expect to contribute something?

A recent study by College Savings Foundation found that 82% of students believe it is their responsibility to pay for at least part of their higher education.  71% of students said they would pay for at least 25% of college costs. While this is up from 53% the previous year, 25% of college costs can be a pretty big number and if students do not have a plan for saving, they won't be able to actually contribute this money.  With cost of attendance, for one year at private 4 year colleges averaging $46,272, it is essential that families begin talking about college costs, financing, and responsibilities before junior year.  If your student expects to pay for at least 25% of college costs each year, they will need $11,000 a year. They'll need to save this amount before they graduate high school but that is just for one year of college. They'll then need a solid plan for how they'll save for their contribution of the next 3 years.  

So how can students save? Students can get a part-time job during the school year, making sure to put away most of this money for their college fund. They could also work more hours during the summer and do the same with their paycheck. Not only is this great for their savings, it will also show admissions officers that the student is responsible, is able to manage their time, and is able to juggle multiple responsibilities at the same time like school and work.  Students who do this could save $3,000-$7,000 a year! Students can also contribute to their own 529 plan with these funds!  Students should also be on the lookout for scholarships for kids their age. While there aren't as many scholarships for 9th or 10th graders as there are for seniors, there are still great scholarships for them!  Students should take the initiative and research these scholarships and apply for them! A few helpful sites: www.fastweb.com ; https://colleges.niche.com/ ; www.cappex.com.

How can parents save and make college more affordable? Well, it is important to make sure you fill out the FAFSA. This is done in the student's senior year of high school. The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. By filling this out, you will automatically qualify your student for state and federal grants and some scholarships. Check to see if your employer offers tuition assistance program or scholarships for the kids of employees. Also check with your union, church, or any professional organizations  you are a part of and ask them if they offer scholarships for the kids of members.  Start a 529 savings plan and ask friends and family to contribute to it instead of buy gifts for holidays and birthdays.  This might seem odd to some people but the money really adds up!

At Riley College Advising, we counsel families through the financial aid process and help them make realistic plans for paying for college.  We're here to help make this stressful process a lot more manageable and even, enjoyable. 

How long has it been since you have check your child's social media accounts? No, not just Facebook or Instagram but ALL of their social media accounts. Do these accounts portray your child in a positive light or do they highlight your kids more questionable activities? In a recent survey by Kaplan Test Prep, 40% of admissions officers said they routinely check applicants' social media accounts. They are looking to find out more information about the applicants' interests, awards, creativity, and illicit or questionable behavior.  This isn't a practice for admissions, coaches and athletic scholarship committees also take a student's social media into account.  In a recent article by ESPN, the author includes a picture posted by a coach at SMU showing the length his team goes to to review what recruits are posting to social media.  The article also shows how a coach at Auburn University dropped a prospective recruit because of his social media presence. It is heartbreaking that a student can have the skill, ability, and drive to make it on a team at a DI or DII school or earn an acceptance to a great college or receive a scholarship but because of their lack of discretion on their social media accounts, they lose out on those amazing opportunities.  

If social media is so important, then how can students use it for their benefit? Cleveland.com published an article detailing how student athletes can use social media to their advantage.  The article says students should connect, communicate, commit, and promote with their social media accounts.  Although these ideas are for athletes, all students could use these methods to mold a positive public persona.  Most, if not all, colleges and many admissions offices specially, have social media accounts. After visiting a college or meeting with an admissions office, student could mention the school or admissions office online along with a complimentary message. Talk about what they enjoyed on campus or what programs offered at the college that they would be interested in taking part in.  Students can also use social media to talk directly to the admissions office. For some colleges, students could get into contact with the admissions office faster via social media than if they called the office's main number. Once a student has chosen a college to attend (ideally after they received not only their acceptance letter but also their financial aid letter), they could mention the college in a post, using a picture of themselves in the college's t-shirt, with a pennant, or the college mascot. Most importantly, students really need to take an objective look at ALL of their social media accounts to see what an admissions committee, scholarship committee, or coach would think of them if they saw all of these accounts.  They should also take into account what their friends are posting about them, including mentions in their posts and pictures posted.  Most social media apps have a feature to turn off tagging or require that the person who is tagged in a post or picture approve of the post before it is posted.  Riley College Advising has helped many students modify their social media accounts to portray a more professional online presence and highlight their achievements, creativity, and great personalities. 

April is the season of acceptance letters and of course, rejection letters from colleges. For many kids, a rejection letter from their dream college can be crushing.  If they planned well, they should have at least  one acceptance to another college, which they might have deemed their "safety school". College admissions is more competitive than ever so rejection letters are expected.  The New York Post recently published an article suggesting that parents can take the rejection just as hard as their kids.  Parents can drive themselves crazy thinking about what they could have done differently. Where did they go wrong? Should they have paid for an SAT prep class? Did they make a mistake by having their kid take AP Calc instead of AP US History? What about that internship? Second guessing could go on forever and it will do no good.  

We've worked with many families where students have taken the rejection letters better than their parents.  Students are preparing themselves for the rejection, even if they don't seem like it. They know that there is a chance that they could not get in.  Parents, on the other hand, feel like they've done everything they can to make sure kid will get into the best, most prestigious college and when that doesn't happen, they can take that rejection personally.  How could a college not totally fall in love with your baby? How could they reject your talented, smart, witty kid? Take comfort in the knowledge that you and your child did everything you could and college admissions is complex.  It is not just about grades or community service. It is more than what is on a student's transcript or application.  Admissions officers have complicated and secretive processes for accepting and rejecting an applicant. Riley College Advising can help you and your child navigate the college admissions process.  We will help your child create a well thought out college list, making sure to include a variety of schools that fit your child's personal, academic, and financial interests. We will help your family celebrate the many college acceptance letters he or she will surely receive but we will also help if a rejection letter makes its way to your mailbox. 

We all know at least one person who went away to college and didn't make it. They came home because they were homesick, or they didn't like sharing a space with a stranger. Maybe they couldn't live away from their parents or they didn't know how to make new friends.  Whatever the reason, everyone's first time living away from their home is always challenging so it makes sense to give your kid experience with this before they have to do it when it really counts.  A recent article by NBC News suggests going to sleepaway camp to give kids the chance to build the skills they need to be successful living away from home.  

Most of kids we work with express feelings of anxiety with moving away from home.  Even the kids that seem the most excited at the idea of leaving their parents or leaving their city are scared to actually do it.  These fears are amplified when the kids actually get on campus and begin to feel uncomfortable in their new environment.  They are expected to manage their money, get along with their roommates, manage their time, complete rigorous college-level work, navigate a new area, make friends, stay in contact with old friends, and of course, do laundry.  Going to sleepaway camp as child could give kids the experience of living away from home but with more support and less severe consequences if they mess up.  By fostering these skills at camp, kids will gain confidence in themselves to live on their own.  They've done it before and they can do it again.  This can also be true for parents who will inevitably be stressed and worried when their little baby leaves for college.  If you have the confidence that your child has accrued the skills he or she needs before they get to college, you can feel a little better knowing your kid can make it.  And while there is no guarantee that your child will be 100% prepared, it is worth a try.

The Washington Post recent published an article that chronicles a parent's frustration with financial aid.  In her article entitled When he’s accepted to college, but we can’t afford it, Tracy Major explains how she and her family must come off the high of their kid's many college acceptances to amazing colleges, many of them very selective colleges, when they realize that the financial aid packages that many of these colleges have created for their kid means that they are too expensive and unrealistic. She writes about "merit aid roulette" and how the merit aid offered by many colleges is set aside, often times, for freshmen with outstanding test scores and grades.  Merit aid is not something student can count on receiving until they see it on their financial aid letter and merit aid is at the discretion of the college. This ultimately leads her family feeling disappointed that they can only afford to send their kid to a few of the colleges that he actually got into.  

We've definitely seen this in the financial aid packages we review with families. Students and families will bring in their acceptance letters from one college after another, racking up Yes after Yes.  These Yes's eventually turn into No's for families when, after careful review of the financial aid packages they've received from these colleges, many of acceptances are not realistic because they are nor affordable.  Working with a College Advisor will help your family carefully evaluate every financial aid letter so you can make an informed decision when choosing what college your son or daughter ultimately attends.  It is important to think about cost when creating a college application list; however; you will not know how much a college will actually cost for your student until the financial aid packages is awarded. For middle class families, it often comes down to what college is most affordable but you do not want your student to only look at schools that seem inexpensive. Many colleges that look expensive on paper can turn out to be affordable once the financial aid letter is reviewed. But sometimes a college that told families they give out tons of financial aid and that they offer lots of scholarships to students, turns out to not be affordable because that money did not, in reality, make it onto the student's financial aid letter.  Make sure you work with an experienced College Advisor who will help you make a great list of colleges to apply to.  They'll have the knowledge of having seen many financial aid packages from these colleges and can recommend colleges they know give good financial aid.  

A 529 plan is a plan operated by a state or educational institution with tax advantages and possible other incentives to make it easier to save for college or other post-secondary training for a child or grandchild.  Money put in these accounts are NOT subject to federal tax and usually not subject to state tax. Contributions to these plans are not tax deductible.  

​What can a 529 be used for? Beneficiaries can use the money for the cost of any computer technology, related equipment and/or related services such as internet access.   The funds are most commonly used to pay for college, or an "eligible institution" which includes college, university, vocational school, or other postsecondary institutions that the government deems eligible to participate.

Who can set up a 529 plan? Anyone can set up a 529 plan and name anyone as a beneficiary- a relative, a friend, even yourself! There are no income requirements and there are no limits to the number of plans you can set up!

There are two kinds of 529 plans: pre-paid tuition plans and college savings plans. All 50 states sponsor at least 1 type of 529. Some private colleges and universities offer pre-paid tuition plans.  While there are many differences between the two types of plans, the biggest one is that the pre-paid plans offer less flexibility in where the funds can be used.  Use this article to get more info on the differences between the two plans. 

There are a few surprising things you can do with a 529 plan like use it for yourself! Some parents decide to change careers or go back to school. They can use the funds from the 529 plan if they change the beneficiary. Use this article to find out more surprising tips on using a 529!

While study abroad is one of the most sought after experiences in college, many students squander the experience and take on extra debt. Some mistakes include taking advantage of the lower drinking age overseas and spending too much money on drinks and wasting time being drunk and hungover.  Students also need to consider the effects of being too reliant on their smartphones when traveling.  This can disconnect them from their experiences and make them too concerned with that is happening at home instead of what is happening on their trip. They need to be present and available for all that their study abroad program has to offer. If you know of a student thinking about or on their way to a study abroad program, share this article  from the New York Times with them!

Data from the IRS, Treasury Department, and the Department of Education was used to create the College Scorecard, a new online comparison tool to help families in the college search process.  Information includes average income earned by alumni, graduate rates, and average cost after financial aid.  Below is our rundown of the Scorecard:
Pros: 
-Lots of data is great! 
-Allows you to compare apples to apples
-Does NOT rank colleges
-Lots of information in one place

Cons:
-Lots of data can be difficult to navigate, despite the attractive graphs
-Not ALL colleges made the list, schools that participate in Title IV federal financial aid programs and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
-Data can only go so far. These numbers do not provide a complete picture of the colleges. 
-No anecdotal information provided so families need to get this "other" info elsewhere and balance it with the data on the Scorecard
-Data is not value-neutral

While the Scorecard is a step in the right direction, it seems to merely take already existing data and present it in a more visually pleasing format.  This data is helpful but is definitely the only tool families should use when searching for colleges.  Riley College Advising is here to help you in this search.