I Love Cartoons...and the truth they share!
Personal Confession- I love cartoons. All kinds of cartoons. Family, political, social, etc. Before all things Internet, cartoons were a social art form we enjoyed in newspapers & magazines. As a kid, my day was not complete until I had read my favorites.
This cartoon is funny and true. We are whispering in our children’s ears what we remember worked for us. Sadly, the rules today are more restrictive & more complex. Let’s take a deeper dive.
Full-Ride Scholarship- Remember, the number of students attending college has increased by 40% since 1975. It is tough today to get ANY meaningful amount of scholarship money.
A full-ride academic scholarship is usually reserved for the valedictorian and occasionally a salutatorian. Those are the #1 and #2 high school seniors based on grade point average. We graduate over 72,000 valedictorians and salutatorians EVERY YEAR. There are less than 5,000 colleges in our country. This is why academic scholarships are so scarce and tiny.
Let’s dish on sports scholarships, too: only 2% of all high school athletes (yep, those that wear the jersey) get ANY NCAA Division I and II athletic money. AND- it has a cap. Here’s the summary for this year.
The average athletic scholarship for all sports in Division I is approximately $14,270 a year for men and $15,162 for women. In Division II sports, the numbers drop to $5,548 for men and $6,814 for women. It is important to understand that no scholarship is guaranteed for a full four years.
Then there are the ARTS. There may be one scholarship per discipline, Often, they will split that award up to spread the love around. It is like professional golf; a three-way tie at second place gets you one-third of that award. No fun.
Work-Study Program- This Federal program gives funds to colleges and universities based on a statutory formula AND demonstrated need as identified through the FAFSA. So, here’s the rub. You don’t ask to be on work-study; your school offers it to you. The school, within guidelines, disperses among those deemed to have the greatest need. Here are some more delightful facts:
1)The work-study is not guaranteed for each year you may attend.
2)Generally, work-study is not applied to tuition as that must be paid in advance but helps with books, supplies, and other college costs.
3)And finally, it is subject to both state and federal income taxes. Boo-hiss. The only hope is your student earns below the taxation line for the year.
Pell Grant- This program is aimed directly at families with almost no means to send their kids to college. Here were last years’ numbers, as described by Francesca Fulciniti on the www.blog.prepscholars.com site.
“The Pell Grant is an annual award given out by the federal government to students who need help paying for college. If you apply for FAFSA, you'll be automatically considered for a Pell Grant.
To meet the Pell Grant requirements, you'll need to meet all the federal eligibility requirements for financial aid and prove that your expected family contribution is at or below $5,140 for the 2019-2020 school year.
Currently, the maximum Pell Grant award is $6,195. Once you receive a Pell Grant, you don't need to pay it back, unless you drop out of school or change from full-time to part-time student status, in which case you'll need to repay all or part of your Pell Grant.”
If you want to see if you MIGHT qualify, do a PRACTICE ESTIMATE ( not official ) called the FAFSA4caster at the link provided below. This will let you see if your EFC ( Expected Family Contribution ) is below the cutoff number noted above: Here’s the website link for FASFA4caster.
I wish the cartoon Dad had been whispering these ideas instead-
Dual-enrollment- While in high school, your junior can take college credits if they are accepted into your local program. It is hard, but they can earn almost 2 years of transferable credit. Strong grades and community service projects will improve their selection into this tough program.
Discover your Gifts & Dreams- If parents help their students look at what they love to do & what they get lost in, that can help create direction. Consider having your student take a quality online career aptitude test. Seriously, if they have crazy love for welding, there’s a nice living to be made out there! Narrowing down options makes finding a path much easier.
CLEP-College Level Exam Placement - This is the secret sauce I offer in my book, ENOUGH! The College Cost Crisis. The College Board has 33 courses of general college studies you can take towards your requirements at the school of your choice. 80% of all public & private schools accept CLEP credits.
BUT- You MUST work this backward. You choose the school and degree, get accepted, get their CLEP list from the school & work with an academic counselor at the college/university. Study the courses online, take & pass the tests, THEN show up on campus roughly two years later to do the REST of your college studies. I call this REVERSE-Engineering your degree. It can be worth tens of thousands of dollars you didn’t have to borrow.
My advice stands. College costs too much to blindly borrow. Develop your plan with and for YOUR student. If it doesn’t work, do something else. When it comes to college borrowing, remember the phrase they coined about avoiding flood waters- Turn Around- Don’t Drown.
It applies to college debt, too.
Next week- DON’T MISS the importance of OCTOBER 1st for your High School Senior- it may help your student with college grants and scholarships.
Until next time,
All my best,
Bonnie
