Today’s Guest:
Chuck Erickson, College Counselor & Former Associate Director of Admissions
Chuck Erickson brings over 25 years of experience in college admissions and counseling. He helps students navigate the college search process, while host Brad Baldridge focuses on guiding parents through the financial side.
Questions Answered Today:
Why are college visits so important?
Chuck notes that admissions counselors have seen a dramatic decrease in families visiting campuses since the COVID pandemic. Many rely on virtual tours, but these don’t capture the real feel of a campus. He shares some valuable tips to help maximize college visits:
- Visits help students compare big vs. small, urban vs. rural, and understand what a good college “fit” means. Without visits, students might rely only on Netflix or YouTube portrayals of college life.
- Even if a student won’t apply there, visiting nearby schools provides context. Seeing a large public university, a small liberal arts college, and a medium‑sized regional school gives students a “Goldilocks” comparison.
- In‑person visits reveal practical realities such as walking distances, campus culture, and weather. Chuck notes that students often underestimate the physical size of campuses until they walk them.
- Families should separate temporary factors (bad weather, one poor tour guide) from the true campus experience. Brad recalls visiting a school in sideways snow—his son had to recognize that weather wasn’t a permanent feature.
It helps to remember that visits aren’t just about vetting final choices. They help students discover preferences early, narrowing their list of schools.
How should families research colleges?
Research goes beyond rankings. Chuck advises families to “kick the tires” and look under the hood. As a general rule, families should look into the following:
- Academic programs, majors, and graduation requirements
- Retention rates and graduation timelines
- Student life (i.e., organizations, sports, music, and housing policies)
- The surrounding community. Urban vs. rural settings affect lifestyle and opportunities. A student who thrives in a city may struggle in a remote campus.
He also reminds parents to be cautious with rankings, as they often rely on superficial data. Families should focus on what the college itself offers through websites, official YouTube channels, and social media rather than third‑party lists.
Brad compares college research to buying a car: you wouldn’t buy one in an hour without checking features, price, and reliability. College requires the same thoughtful process.
What should families know about ACT or SAT testing?
Brad and Chuck explore critical ideas surrounding testing and why it remains a complex step:
- Both the ACT and SAT are accepted everywhere; students can try both to see which suits them.
- Many high schools offer one free test in a student’s junior year. Students should take advantage of this.
- Some flagship public universities (e.g. Florida, Wisconsin, Purdue, UNC, Ohio State, Michigan) still require scores.
- Over 80% of colleges allow test‑optional applications, but families must check requirements.
- Test scores often impact scholarships. A higher score can mean thousands more in aid.
Brad warns that skipping tests may remove a potential advantage. For example:
- A student with a 3.8 GPA and a 30 ACT might qualify for $26,000/year in merit aid, while the same GPA with no test score might only earn $20,000/year. That’s a $24,000 difference over four years.
- Outside scholarships sometimes require test scores. Skipping tests can close off these funding sources.
- Even at test‑optional schools, strong scores can reinforce a good GPA and transcript, giving admissions officers more confidence.
Hence, families should plan early, decide whether to invest in tutoring, and understand how college test scores affect both admissions and scholarships.
How can families maximize scholarships?
Scholarships are often described as “free money,” but families need to understand that scholarship opportunities vary dramatically depending on the type of institution and the student’s profile. Chuck and Brad emphasize that scholarships directly affect your net price (the actual cost families pay after discounts). Understanding how scholarships work is essential to building a realistic college plan.
Private colleges
- Many private institutions use merit scholarships to make their high sticker prices more competitive.
- A $60,000 private school may award $30,000 in merit aid, bringing the net cost closer to a $30,000 public university.
- Families should not dismiss private schools based on sticker price alone; research whether they are “scholarship‑generous.”
Public universities
- Some public universities offer merit scholarships, but many do not.
- Families often assume that all schools provide merit aid, but Chuck warns that this is not the case.
- Parents must verify whether the public institutions on their list award merit scholarships or only need‑based aid.
Highly selective schools
- Ivies, Ivy‑plus institutions, and many top‑50 schools rarely offer merit scholarships.
- These schools may provide need‑based aid, but families should not expect discounts based on GPA or test scores.
- For students targeting elite institutions, affordability depends heavily on your family income and financial assets.
Outside scholarships
- Local organizations, national competitions, and foundations provide additional scholarship opportunities.
- Families should plan how many to pursue and understand the time commitment.
- Outside scholarships can supplement institutional aid, but they require consistent effort and organization.
Brad compares scholarships to shopping at a department store. A $50 t‑shirt might cost $20 after coupons, while Walmart sells a $20 t‑shirt outright. Both can be affordable, but families must know which “pricing game” they’re playing with colleges.
Why is financial planning critical?
Families must confront the financial realities of college early, rather than waiting until a student’s senior year. The decisions parents make about money directly shape which schools are realistic options and whether students will graduate with zero debt, manageable debt, or overwhelming burdens. Brad and Chuck share some things that families need to consider:
Budget decisions come first. Families need to establish a clear spending range; whether that’s $10,000 per year or $50,000 per year. This sets the boundaries for the college search. Without a defined budget, families risk falling in love with schools they cannot afford.
Fairness among siblings must be addressed. Parents should decide whether each child will receive the same financial support or whether funding will vary based on circumstances. These conversations prevent resentment later and help students understand what resources are available to them.
Savings and investments play a major role. Some families have built up college funds through 529 plans or other investments, while others are starting from zero. Assessing what is already saved helps determine how much more needs to be covered through aid, scholarships, or loans.
Understanding financial aid is essential. Families must know whether they qualify for need‑based aid, merit aid, or neither. Chuck warns that many parents assume that aid will be offered, only to discover late in the process that their income or assets disqualify them. Brad adds that merit aid depends on GPA, test scores, and the generosity of the institution, which vary widely.
Loan limits cannot be ignored. Students cannot borrow unlimited amounts; federal loans have strict caps. Parents often need to co‑sign or take out loans themselves, which can jeopardize retirement savings or financial stability. Families must understand these limits before committing to a plan that relies heavily on borrowing.
Links and Resources
Helpful Articles and Resources
- Taming The High Cost Of College
- Don’t Chuck It Up Podcast
- Chuck Erickson’s Contact Info:
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Presenter 0:00
Welcome to the Taming the High Cost of College podcast. Here is your host, certified financial planner Brad Baldridge.
Brad Baldridge 0:10
Welcome to Taming the High Cost of College. I'm your host, Brad Baldridge. Today, I'm sitting down with Chuck Erickson, and we're going to talk about the five things that parents of juniors should be doing right now. Let's start with number one. College visits for many families. I think you need to figure out how many visits you're going to be doing. In other words, is it just a couple visits that are local, or do you have a far and wide kind of kid where you're getting on airplanes and flying around the country? So that needs to be worked out junior year.
Chuck Erickson 0:36
The second thing everyone should be thinking about right now is college research. Are students going to be applying to public universities, private universities? There's over 2700 options out there. So, you need to research and figure out which one's the best fit for you. Are you, what are you looking for in your college experience? Urban, rural, suburban, big, medium, small, there's lots of options. What college options are in your state, and what is available to you within five to six hours of your home, so make sure you plan out time to research your colleges.
Brad Baldridge 1:05
Next, we have ACT or SAT plan. In other words, what is your testing plan? Are you going to take both tests? Are you going to skip testing altogether and go test optional, or do you need to do some prep or hire some tutors? The landscape is changing a lot when it comes to testing. Some colleges are starting to bring it back, so you need to understand what you're up against, and again, work that out junior year, so you have it taken care of. Fourth
Chuck Erickson 1:28
thing you should be thinking about is scholarships. This is the free money that you can get either directly from a college or from outside resources, so you need to think about, are you going to be finding colleges that offer lots of scholarships, or are you going to be applying for outside scholarships, if you're looking at outside scholarships, how many are going to apply for? 5, 10, 50? Make a plan, so you know how many scholarships you're going to be looking for.
Brad Baldridge 1:49
And then, finally, college financial plan. We have college budget. How much is your family going to spend when it comes to college? Is it 10,000 a year, 50,000 a year? How are you going to be fair, among all the children, do they each get the same amount, or how's that going to work? Saving and investing, are you currently saving and investing? Do you have a big pile of money to pay for college? Are you starting from zero? A lot of families have some money, but unfortunately, as they figure things out, they realize they don't have quite enough, and they're going to have to fill some gaps. Then there's understanding financial aid. Will you get need-based aid, merit aid? Some families can have both, some families won't get either. So, you really need to understand how that system works. And then, finally, loans: are you going to fill the gaps with loans? Are the parents going to take the loans? Are the students going to take the loans? Well, first, you need to understand what loans are available, because, not, you know, students can't borrow unlimited amounts of money. So, sometimes parents are going to need to sign and co-sign, so you really need to understand the overall financial process and get that going early, because I see a lot of families paint themselves into a corner and they don't understand the finances until it's too late to fix it. There you go, Chuck. We did it late night, Letterman style. We did the five things, went through them quickly. Let's slow down a little and spend a little more time now, and talk about each of these things, and why they're important, and how they can make a difference in someone's overall plan and college experience.
Chuck Erickson 3:12
Sounds great. Let's dive into it, and I'm happy to provide my perspective as a college counselor.
Brad Baldridge 3:18
All right, so let's go ahead and dive into each of these topics in a little more detail. So, first we talked about college visits, and I guess we were talking a little bit earlier. You mentioned something about lots of families are starting to skip visits. Explain that to me a little.
Chuck Erickson 3:32
Yeah, so as part of my work as a college counselor, I'm constantly in contact with various admissions counselors at colleges all across the country, public, private, big, small, and the biggest thing that they are saying is they have seen a dramatic decrease in families who are visiting the colleges, and that's at any point in time, whether that's the junior year or the senior year. Now, that could be due to lack of free time available, lack of funding available, but this is very different than pre-pandemic, where we saw families really going to visit college campuses, and I'm worried that families are waiting until the last minute before that may 1 decision deadline to do all the visits, and they're not really giving this the due process that it needs to really explore and understand college campuses.
Brad Baldridge 4:17
Right. Yeah, I mean, I guess we've heard for years and years and years, that one of the things you should be doing is visiting colleges, I guess, with the pandemic and now new technology, where we can do the virtual tours and that kind of stuff. I can see, you know, perhaps skipping some visits, but you know, some advice that I've always given my parents is just go do some local visits. It doesn't even have to be schools that you're ultimately going to put on your list just to be fair to the student. I think they need to see a big school and a small school and an urban school and a rural school, so when you ask them questions, they know how to answer. I mean, how can a 17 year old that's never been on a college campus give any sort of input as far as what they're looking for if they haven't even again had. That chance to shop around and look around.
Chuck Erickson 5:01
I agree, and these students really haven't had any college experience. Their only college knowledge is what they've seen on Netflix or YouTube or movies. They haven't really physically been on campuses, they haven't been going to college summer camps or like that. So, parents need to, and I 100% agree with you, go visit the local places that are not too far from home, you don't have to spend a ton of money to go visit colleges, find a day that everyone is free, and that could even be a Saturday, and go do college visits. So it's kind of like the Goldilocks test, they've got to see what a big, a small, and a medium is kind of like, so then they can figure out which size is right for them.
Brad Baldridge 5:37
Right. Absolutely, and I think the other piece of it is to realize that there's multiple reasons to do a college visit. Certainly, you want to visit the colleges that are on your list that you might ultimately attend, just to kind of vet again the colleges you're going to pick and ultimately attend, but you can also do a college visit early in the process, like I said, to help a student understand if they're looking for that urban or rural, you know, when I was doing college visits, you know, my mom was very adamant about there's got to be some green space, and she's still adamant about it. My kids are visiting now, and she's saying the same thing. Do they have any green space? Do they have a quad where you could throw a frisbee, so that you know, again, so that was important to her. But is that important to your student? Really working out the haves and the have-nots helps you narrow the list, too. As you mentioned, there's lots of schools. As you visit, you might learn, here's a big pile of schools I don't like. I don't like urban, or I don't like rural, or I don't like big. Well, okay, that helps us cut large swaths off the list, and I don't know how else to do that, besides visits. I mean, I guess you could do the virtual thing, but then the other reasons to look would be, I'm trying to learn about majors. Well, the physical therapy major local is the same physical therapy major as it is in Texas or Florida, or wherever else you might be going. So, learn about physical therapy local, and then go study it somewhere else.
Chuck Erickson 6:54
I agree with all that. I also think by visiting local colleges, you can see, oh, I like the medium size, but I don't want to stay in my own state. Well, now that you know what a medium looks like, there are lots of other medium schools that that allows you to kind of then project and say, well, if I like this setup here, it's going to be similar to another one. I have noticed that a lot of students think, oh, I'm just going to go to the major flagship of my state, and then when they go visit, they don't realize the physical size of the campus, and they're walking 3045 minutes to the parking garage, and they go, 'Wait, it's going to be a 3045 minute walk to a parking garage if I have a car and I park it in the parking garage.' And then they go, 'Wait a minute, I didn't realize it's this big.' That's the downside with virtual is you don't understand the physical walking size, and everything on virtual always looks great. The pictures are always perfect, everyone's always smiling, people are wearing the college gear, virtual looks practically perfect. And by going to visit, you get to see it in real life and not in a virtual setting, where everything is just pristine,
Brad Baldridge 7:53
Right? And, of course, another caution there is, so now when you actually go to visit, there's a little bit of a bias, potentially, you know, as an example, I visited the college that my son ultimately attended. The day we visited, it was about, and it was in April, but it was about 30 degrees, and it was snowing sideways, and the wind was whipping, and it's like, man, this is just miserable all during covid, by the way. So it was just not a great visit from a bad luck perspective, luckily he was able to kind of separate, well, bad weather can happen anywhere, that's not part of the decision, hopefully.
Chuck Erickson 8:27
Yeah, and the two biggest factors that students really talk about is their, the weather that happened when they were visiting, and the experience of how engaging the tour guide was, and parents need to help students separate those out, because I tour colleges when it's raining, and I kind of go, well, if I like it at its worst, I'm really going to like it at its best. So I have to try and remove the weather, and tour guides are, you know, flip a coin. Some of them are really awesome, some of them are absolutely not trained at all. And yes, that is the person who is showing you around, but that is just one student's perspective. So if you didn't enjoy that one student's perspective, go back. That's a perfect reason to go back for another visit and get a different tour guide and see if it's the experience is different.
Brad Baldridge 9:09
Right. Absolutely, so I think we've talked enough about visits, we're probably going to make a whole podcast about it soon. So, let's move on to college research. So, college research is the research, are you typically recommending? What does that mean?
Chuck Erickson 9:21
This is when you got to kind of kick the tires and look under the hood, so to speak. So, research is looking at everything from what type of academic programs are offered, majors, minors, although keep in mind most students change their major within the first year, so you may not have to lock in, but again, looking at, you know, graduation requirements or graduation possibilities within four years. I always look at retention numbers as to how many students are coming back for their sophomore year, but then I'm also researching the local area. What is it like in the neighborhood, the city, the town? I'm looking at what type of student organizations are available for students, sports, music? What is going to keep the students engaged inside and out of out of school? Is it a fully residential college where students live all four years, or is it a place where students only live on campus for one year and are commuting for the rest of the time? So I'm looking at a wide variety of factors when I'm researching,
Brad Baldridge 10:14
Right? Exactly. So that's, and again, it would tie back to visits. I visited colleges, and I realized I really want to be part of the football crowd, so I guess I got to find a college that has a football team, you know, not all of them do, or a basketball team, or whatever it might be, or I have a very unusual major, potentially. So, which colleges actually offer said major? Because obviously you could love the college, but if it's not offering the major you think you're targeting, you're going to have to change things up. So
Chuck Erickson 10:44
One note of caution, I was going to say one note of caution about all of this is looking at rankings, because rankings are very superficial, and they're not always directly connected to data, and there's a ranking list for every type of thing that is out there. I am not very pro rankings, because that is someone who is crunching numbers inside of an office that has that's never experienced the campus, and then they're giving it a ranking, and so I always encourage students and families try to ignore the rankings and look at the college from its own point of view, from its own website, its own promotional materials, YouTube channel, social media look at what the college itself is saying about itself, not what other people are saying about the college.
Brad Baldridge 11:27
Yes, absolutely. And just also, again, getting that potentially the independent data of finding that list of every college that offers a nursing major, and then finding them some sort of map or whatever that says, which of these colleges are within driving distance, or which of these are urban, or which of these are rural. So, there are some databases out there. I know through the course that I offer, we have some search tools that certainly would help you figure out what's close, what's nearby, what's within 50 miles or 500 miles, or is it public or private, or so there's lots of stuff to learn, and that's the point, right. How much of this do you need to learn? How much do you want to learn by talking about buying a car? So, imagine this: you wake up one Saturday morning, and you talk with your spouse or significant other, and you say, 'Hey, you know what? I think I need a new car. I'm gonna go buy a new car now. I'll be back in an hour.' And a lot of people think that's funny. It's like, you can't buy a car in an hour
Chuck Erickson 12:21
Yeah
Brad Baldridge 12:22
Well, actually, you can. You could walk in and say, 'I'll take the blue one. How big of a check you need? Let's get this done' again, Is that wise? Of course not. Most people would do that. Most people would say, you've got to do some research, you got to decide what kind of car you want, and look up if they're a good car or not, and figure out what a fair price is, you know. And then the bigger things are, do you need to tow a boat, do you need to fit a family of seven? Do you all that stuff, you know, that's just, you know, you can translate all that to the college process. So, some people would say, well, you got to spend hours and hours and hours figuring out what the right car is at the right price. Yet, when it comes to college, did the same rules apply? I think they do, but again, so that's the college research. What's important to you? How do you figure out which schools have it, which schools don't? What's important to the student? Make sure they're part of the process and move on from there. All right. Next, we have test planning, ACT or SAT, I guess, for the beginners out there. What is an SAT or ACT?
Chuck Erickson 13:16
These are standard exams that have existed for, I don't know, probably over 50 years or higher now that are really a way to offer a different independent metric of a student's knowledge and capabilities outside of what is on the transcript, but they are very different, they're different styles, they're both now offered online primarily, and what has really changed, I think, for our generation and older is that back in our time, a lot of schools said we either want the ACT or the SAT, and now that is not the case. All colleges will accept both, so it does not matter which one you take. It is going to kind of matter what your high school provides. Many high schools allow for a student to take a free ACT or SAT, typically in the spring semester of the junior year, and I always highly encourage students do that, but some students will take one and then try doing the other one and actually have a higher score on the other version, so if you like taking tests, feel free and take one of each, but many students are fine just going with the one that is offered free from their high school, and then coming up with the testing plan from there
Brad Baldridge 14:24
Right? Exactly, and I think some families realize that testing is important because maybe the schools they're interested in have high test requirements where they expect really good scores, and again the driven student might say, I'm actually going to take this test four times and I'm going to do some tutoring in between, and I'm going to really work at it, and if that's your student, well, now you need all of junior year, potentially, to get all that done, and maybe even into some of senior year, whereas some other families are going to say, well, we'll take it the free one at school, if we get a good score, great, if it doesn't turn out so well, we'll just look test optional, because. You know, we don't want to worry about it. We don't want to stress about it. My kid's not a test taker, hear that all the time, right?
Chuck Erickson 15:06
I was gonna say, and that's another podcast for another day, but just to give you kind of some high-level thoughts on this. Many of the public flagship universities are now requiring or expecting students to submit scores, so if you are looking at going to the most notable public university of your state, please check to see if they require testing. For example, the entire state of Florida - every public institution in the state of Florida now requires an SAT or an ACT. Again, it doesn't matter which one, but there are a lot of the public flagships. So, UW Madison is really encouraging students to do it, Purdue, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Tennessee, and on and on, Ohio State, University of Michigan. All of these large, very well-known schools are really expecting tests. You don't like to test, there's still plenty. Over 80% of the nation's colleges allow students to apply test optional, so if you don't like to test, or as you said, you may not be a good test taker, there are options out there, but you need to pay attention to see if the colleges you're interested in do require it, and then make sure you have a plan
Brad Baldridge 16:12
Right? And I think, too, is understanding that test optional, if your student could have put up a good score, they were just too lazy to work at it
Chuck Erickson 16:21
Yeah
Brad Baldridge 16:21
Which is quite real, I think, in a lot of cases.
Chuck Erickson 16:24
Yep.
Brad Baldridge 16:24
Then all that, while that's really happening, is a lot of colleges will look at the 10 different things to figure out if you're admittable or not, and they're saying, okay, well, we don't have a test score, so I guess we'll base it on the nine, and what you essentially did was say we took one of the things that we could have had as a feather in our cap, and we eliminated it. There's another evaluating us on these nine other things, where we had a chance of putting our best foot forward. We just chose not to. So, understand the pros and cons of test optional.
Chuck Erickson 16:52
Yes. The other thing I would talk about, and it's going to lead into our next topic, which is many colleges do utilize ACT and SAT as a factor for awarding scholarships, so if you are looking for colleges that are giving out some great scholarship offers, you may want to say, do you factor test scores as part of your scholarship criteria? Because that is separate from admission. Admission is one set of criteria, scholarship is a different set of criteria, and might be able to get admitted without a test score, but you may not qualify for the top scholarships unless you submit a test
Brad Baldridge 17:25
Right. And I've also seen situations where, if you have an ACT of 3.8, you qualify for a $20,000 scholarship merit scholarship, and if you have that same 3.8 but your ACT score is a 30 or better, there's a different table, and that scholarship is $26,000. So, it's $6,000 if you can provide a test score that's of the right number.
Chuck Erickson 17:50
I had a student this year who had a high GPA. First ACT score was lower, and the college that she was really interested in said, well, if you get this ACT, which is three or four points higher, she would have gotten an additional $5,000 scholarship money. Parents said, okay, 5000 over four years, that's $20,000. We are going to invest some time and energy into test prep to help her improve her ACT score. She did her next ACT score was incredible, and she was awarded the much higher level scholarship, so in essence they saved money in the long run by feeling that, oh, if we invest in test prep, it actually improves your chance for a higher scholarship.
Brad Baldridge 18:29
Right? Exactly. And then I think another really big challenge is you don't know what schools are going to ultimately bubble to the top, and if the ones that bubble to the top, the ones you really like, are not test optional, and you decide, you know, again, you've kind of put the cart before the horse. So, for a lot of families, my recommendation is, if you have any doubt at all, take it seriously and consider it part of the process. And then, at the end of the process, if it's like, well, actually, turns out we could go test optional, and it makes sense to go test optional, well, then that's when you make the decision, not let's, let's cut some workout, let's save the hassle of testing.
Chuck Erickson 19:04
I agree, yeah. And that would be the process that I would do as well, as I would look at the factors and look at colleges that they're looking at, and go, actually, with your test score, and, well, should I say, with your GPA, your transcript and your GPA are really strong, and your test score doesn't really correlate to that, and the colleges you're looking at allow for test optional, so we can go down that route. The thing to keep in mind is that if you live in the state of California, the University of California system, the Cal State system don't require ACT or SAT, and there are limited opportunities to take the ACT and the SAT in California, so I've had to have California students actually travel to a different state in order to get the testing done. So make sure that you have testing available in your region, because that has to be part of the testing plan. Can I actually take it
Brad Baldridge 19:53
Right exactly? And I've heard some grumbling, some of the politics and so forth. I've heard some grumblings that maybe California is going to reverse that decision, but who knows for sure where they may start bringing some of the testing back, because they're having some problems, because they've so wholesale gotten rid of it.
Chuck Erickson 20:11
We will see that is to be determined. I have, I don't have any further information on that point at this moment in time.
Brad Baldridge 20:16
Correct. All right, so scholarships, free money, don't we all want free money?
Chuck Erickson 20:21
Absolutely, and there's lots of great ways to get scholarships. I think the biggest misnomer for a lot of families is that they look the price tag of private schools, in particular, and say there's no way we're going to afford that, and what they don't realize is that many private colleges and universities offer substantial merit scholarships to bring the cost down to the level of a public university, and sometimes even lower than a public university. What also families don't understand is that many public universities either offer substantial scholarships, and they're like, "Oh, there's an opportunity to get scholarships right from my public, but a lot of them don't, and I think they go, "I'm sure my college offers scholarships and I'll be able to get it, and I'm like, "No, some of them don't, and the ultra selective private institutions that are hard to get into, your IVs and your IV pluses and your top 50 don't offer scholarships. So this is something as a part of your research. Again, is that an important factor for you? And do the colleges offer it? And I really encourage families to think about if scholarships are important to you, look for the colleges and universities that provide those as part of their application process. Then, of course, there's always the outside scholarships
Brad Baldridge 21:26
Right? Exactly. I mean, scholarships is a very big and broad topic. I've got some resources out there, the 10 types of free money. Half of them are scholarships, which is also the federal grants, and so there's lots of ways to get the free money, and your job junior year is to figure out, well, which types of free money work for us, because again, some of it's need-based, some of it's merit-based, some of it is highly needs-based, where you have to have very low income, some of it you have to have a rock star student, so really understanding how all the pieces fit together, that's the whole goal of the scholarship, so having that scholarship understanding, and how it applies to you again, because you might select certain schools because they're scholarship generous, you might select certain schools because they're low cost, and you know you're not going to get scholarships. Ultimately, what we're really concerned about, and this comes up for the next topic, which is, what is the true net cost of college? Right, so here's the analogy, if you go to the department store, and you want to buy a T-shirt, sometimes you have to play the game, right? You show up, and you use your points, you get your coupons out, you do your Kohl's cash, and all these different games, and that $50 T-shirt now costs $20 or you go to Walmart, and you buy a $20 T-shirt for $20. Both work. Some type, some people would say, well, this t-shirt is better than that t-shirt, which, again, same thing about college, right? Some colleges are better or worse, I wouldn't say it that way, point blank, but certainly better or worse for your particular situation, or better or worse for your particular student. Absolutely, but it's not automatically better or worse sight unseen, or without the research, right? So understanding how that net price is going to affect you, and then ultimately, can you afford it? Right. So, I guess we just jumped into the next topic: college financial plan. You know, what is your plan for paying for college? You know, and is it realistic? Because you need to kind of vet your plan to say, well, here's my goal: I'm going to borrow $400,000 and pay for college, and it's like, really, okay. Well, what are the consequences, and will you even qualify? Lots of people can't borrow $400,000 they don't have the credit scores, they don't have the ability to borrow college for college, and lots of people say, well, we're just going to go to a school that costs 5000 or less, that's our solution. It's like, okay, well, theoretically, but 5000 or less, a realistic price for your situation
Chuck Erickson 23:47
Right? And I think we're seeing a lot of parents that just don't want to touch this topic, they want to make their kids happy, so they're like, I want to, you know, whatever college they want to go to, I'm going to figure out how to make it work, and that is the biggest red flag for me, when parents say I'm just, I'll figure out how it's going to work, and I'm just going, you need to understand what you as parents paid for college back in the 80s and 90s is not what it costs today, and you have to get a better grip on what are the actual costs of college, I have too many families that contact me in May, sorry, in March or April of their senior year, getting the final financial aid award in hand, and they go, we can't afford this, and I said, well, why did you apply to a college that costs $90000-$95,000? You don't qualify for need-based aid, they don't give out scholarships, so you are literally left with a $95,000 per year price tag. Why did you apply if you knew you weren't going to be able to budget for this? And they said, well, we wanted to give our kid the best opportunity, and I said, you also give them the most expensive opportunity. So, is it worth it? Like, really, I think there's some better options out there.
Brad Baldridge 24:57
Right? Well, again, that's the realistic side of things, where you know about some of the high-end schools can be the low-cost leader, and for it's $95,000 a year, roughly, and that's all in tuition, room and board, books, fees, beer, and pizza, the whole cost, but they put out a press release and said if your family income is below $100,000 and there's a little asterisk there, by the way, but then they will cover it all. It will be free if your income is below $100,000, it is free. If your income is, say, 500,000 and up. Stanford will be full price at 95,000.
Chuck Erickson 25:32
Correct? Oh, when.. and the asterisk on that. Well, yeah. And the asterisk on the free is, can you get admitted to Stanford? Like, so a lot of people will, a lot of people will see those press releases where College X, Y, and Z is offering free tuition or free full cost. Remember, most of these are free tuition, they're not covering room and board, so they'll say free tuition, which is actually the federal financial aid calculation. So, you can get free tuition at a lot of places if you are coming from an economically disadvantaged situation, if your family is really scraping by financially, and I'm talking like dirt poor, like we're talking, you know, getting federal assistance to do things. A lot of colleges will offer you free tuition, that's that's kind of the norm. They're putting out these press releases because they're trying to get more kids to apply, but also there's the asterisk that can you get admitted to these higher, you know, hyper-selective institutions? It's like, yeah, it's free if you go, but they have an acceptance rate that's somewhere between, 2 and 5% Like, come on,
Brad Baldridge 26:32
Right? Exactly. And then the other thing they don't mention is, well, what if you own a business or somehow can manipulate your income? That's the other aspect, right? Is yeah, you might be able to manipulate your income low, but they're going to dig a little deeper and check your assets and check your, you know, your tax returns, and really understand their goal is to help people that deserve it, and they're going to dig a little bit to try and figure out if you're just working the system or if you truly deserve that type of free money
Chuck Erickson 27:00
They might even look up your, your home value, like some families would be like, oh yeah, we, we've paid off our mortgage, we don't have a mortgage, we don't have debt, we own our home outright, but they claim that they have no money, because maybe you know something happened in their situation. Colleges can Zillow your house and be like, you currently live in a very expensive house, you aren't dirt poor, you might look dirt poor on number-wise and via taxes, but you aren't because you purchased this house or you were gifted this house, 20-30 years ago.
Brad Baldridge 27:30
Right? Exactly, right. So, understanding how the net cost of college is going to work for you is always a big challenging project for families, and we do offer a course where you can understand how need-based aid and merit aid will affect your net price, and you can actually use it to again get a good preliminary price for most colleges, and again, there's a little bit of an asterisk in that nothing is perfect, especially in the college world, because generally colleges can do what they want in some instances, so we can't predict every college all the time, but again gives you some good working knowledge, so that you have reasonable numbers, and you're not again painting yourself in a corner or assuming things that perhaps won't come to fruition. Any other final thoughts? I think we should wrap things up here. We've covered the five things. Any closing remarks?
Chuck Erickson 28:18
Yeah, I was gonna say parents just need to be more aware, and students need to be more involved in the process. My biggest thing is start early and stress less. If you can start this process earlier, you're going to have less stress. And my other big mantra is this is a marathon, not a sprint. So, this is going to take weeks, actually months. On average, it takes a student and family about 18 months to go through this entire college search application, scholarship, financial aid process. So, start early, stress less, and remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint. I'm always happy to meet with students for a free consultation, or meet with parents for a free consultation to see how I can help assist them in this process.
Brad Baldridge 29:03
All right. Well, thanks, Chuck. All our information will be in the show notes and in the YouTube comment area, if you want to learn more about it or find some of our other work. That's all we have for today. We'll see you next time.
Presenter 29:15
Thank you for listening to the Taming the High Cost of College podcast. Now it's time for you to take action. Head to tamingthehighcostofcollege.com for show notes, bonus content, and to leave feedback for Brad. The next step on your college journey starts now.
Presenter 1 29:32
Brad Baldridge is a registered representative of Cambridge Investment Research and an investment advisor representative of Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, a registered investment advisor. Securities are offered through Cambridge Investment Research Incorporated, a broker dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC. Brad owns two companies: Baldridge Wealth Management and Baldridge College Solutions. The Baldridge companies are not affiliated with Cambridge Investment Research.
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