Savvy College Financial Strategies

1. Savvy College Financial Strategies Paying for College and Discussing it with kids! Cozy Wittman, Education & Partnership Manager College Inside Track 612-850-5729 cwittman@collegeinsidetrack.com

2. College Inside Track saves families an average of $75,488 off the four year college sticker price!

3. 3 Key Factors For Success Social Academic Financial

4. University of Chicago: $74,526 Northwestern: $72,980 NYU: $71,784 Drexel University: $ 71,763 University of Pennsylvania: $68,687 St. Thomas: $54,133 University of CA-Berkley: $36,015* University of Michigan: $31,396* University of Minnesota: $28,304* *in-state tuition rates

5. There is no purchase as significant as college that people know so little about BUT think they know the facts.

6. Average family college debt: $57,800in loans for students & families per child • *Sources: Nerdwallet.comGot Parent PLUS Loans? Save Money With These Alternative Payment Plans and The Institute for College Access and Successaccessed 8-18-17

7. Determining A Family Strategy How do know what you can afford?

8. There are multiple ways to pull a successful financial college experience together!

9. Parent and Kid contribution potential?

10. What is your Philosophy? Who has skin in the game? • “We will pay it all, we don’t want our kids to have loans” • “We have a 529 /other savings, that’s our contribution, everything else is theirs” • “We have a 529/other savings but we would love the college to cost $X so they have money for grad school” • “Our student needs to pay for X percentage and we cover the rest” • “School is all on the student, we expect them to take out loans for school”

11. Break Down Where Money is Coming From! Parents • Is there savings? 529? • Sports fees, private school payments convert to tuition payments, etc • Pay as you go monthly • Loans Student • Savings • Merit Aid Grants/Scholarships • AP/PSEO/CIS • Work or Work Study • Loans Have this conversation NOW!

12. 4 Tips to Take With You! Have this talk with the student early in the college search Make financial considerations an equal part of this search along with academic and social fit Determine the strategy for who has skin in the game and determine what your “maximum” bottom line is Have an open discussion around loans and use real world examples to illustrate payback

13. How Does “Aid” Factor into the Discussion?

14. What is a FAFSA and what on earth does it mean? • Free Application for Federal Student Aid – FAFSA • Application for Federal student loans • Formula determines Expected Family Contribution – Roughly 47% of your net income • Colleges use the number to determine “Need”– sticker price of the college minus the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) = Need We aren’t getting any “aid” so we aren’t filling out a FAFSA • True, a family may not get need based aid, but if you want your student to take out loans, it is required • Some merit based schools use the FAFSA as a key that unlocks the grants and scholarships they are giving • Some colleges add merit to the package just because the family filled out the financial forms and there is no way to determine which schools those are

15. Forms Need Based Aid • FAFSA – Schools use it to determine need at their college • EFC – Expected Family Contribution • Not tied to tax returns for divorced families • Done yearly • CSS Profile & school specific forms Grants & Scholarships • Added to your financial package • Revised yearly based on FAFSA outcome

16. Criteria Merit BasedAid • Varies school to school • Grades are only one factor of many that determine the amount • Location, talent, demographics Grants & Scholarships • Added to your financial package • Generally applies for all four years if your student meet basic terms • Read carefully!

17. Top 2 mistakes families make with merit aid? • Not all colleges offer merit aid! Narrow the field of colleges too soon!

18. Myth What about other scholarships? • There are millions of dollars of unclaimed scholarship money! If we just spend enough time, we should be able to get some! Truth • The vast majority of kids don’t “win” that money • Ave award amount: $1950 • Deducted from Merit Aid package by the school • SO MUCH MORE MONEY is given by colleges

19. Scholarship/Grant Sources 6% Employers Federal government 40% 7% Private scholarships State governments 11% 35% Colleges

20. Loan Considerations!

21. LOAN Limits Federal Student loan – maximal set amount Freshman - $5500 Sophomore - $6500 Junior - $7500 Senior - $7500 State loans- http://www.gocollege.com/financial-aid/student-loans/states/ Parent Plus loan – limited to the cost of attendance minus any financial aid the student is receiving Home equity loans are no longer tax deductible, but rates still make them an attractive alternative Generally, private loans should be reserved as a last resort!

22. Guidelines for Debt • Never take out more in loans than a first year salary in your chosen field • For every $10,000 in loans you take out, it will be roughly $100/month loan payment • Federal loans are only available for the year they are offered, so consider the entire 4 years before declining loans

23. What We Do Just like you hire a realtor for the major purchase of a home, you hire us for the major purchase of college Most families do this search a couple of times, we have done it hundreds of time We find that blinders and myth often cost families money

24. We help navigate the complicated process and find the right fit

25. We help families save lots of money

26. We are a neutral third-party that students listen to

27. How do we partner with schools • Support the work that you! Help get the message to the parents • Free presentations on strategies to reduce the cost of college • Monthly newsletter focused on college search for you to post • Training for counselors/teachers in your school for CE credit • Free family consultation to discuss goals for college, share strategies that align, estimate the EFC

28. Questions? Cozy Wittman, Education & Partnership Manager College Inside Track 612-850-5729 cwittman@collegeinsidetrack.com