Supply & Demand
As more and more students enter college, and the financial aid system balances between supply and demand, financial aid offices are being forced to use their limited funds to attract the strongest applicants. These strongest applicants will be the students who demonstrate the most convincing record of academic and extracurricular achievement, school and community involvement, and the desire to succeed in life.
Years ago colleges looked at financial aid as a charitable operation run within the institution. Financial aid has now become a strategic tool that is commonly used to recruit students that colleges and universities would like to enroll.
Scholarships, grants, and tuition discounts are how colleges commonly label their funding – when, in fact, all of these monies are actually rate reductions off of the institution’s total cost of attendance. The vast majority of colleges are using these reductions to get the best blend of good students and paying customers. Their business approach is to get the family to pay as much as possible and still get the student to attend.
Although the admissions battle that colleges are facing is becoming more widely publicized, behind the scenes, most colleges are actually in a huge financial battle to fill their seats with the most attractive candidates.
The very wealthy schools (basically the Ivy Leaguers) are still in a seller’s market. In other words, they can most often command that a student (and family) still pay the sticker price. Bear in mind that this is not in all cases – but certainly in most.
However, there are hundreds of very fine institutions that are very comparable to the Ivy Leaguers. These are mainly private institutions that offer a wide range of course / major specialties. These colleges have found themselves in the midst of a bidding war to attract desirable students. These institutions are where the majority of the real educational bargains can be found. These institutions offer the finest in education, most often at a discounted rate (as compared to their publicized cost of attendance). More for your money!
However, you must be careful. Although these schools will most often discount, they will also reduce their discounts (not offer as much financial aid) to students who may be less attractive or more likely to attend no matter what the offer of funding may be.
Due to the intense competition, these colleges are constantly looking for those students whose decision may be swayed by financial aid. This is a true buyer’s market. This buyer’s market puts the student (and family) in a very strong position, and in most cases allows the student to call the shots.
When it comes to choosing the perfect college for you, it is not all about the money. The courses offered, the size and location of the institution, and the quality of education are obviously huge additional considerations. Although money is not your sole consideration, it certainly comes into the picture. Everybody wants the best value for their money!
Exploring your educational options and keeping those options open can have a huge impact on your future. What you may be offered from one institution may be far different from what the next is willing to discount just to get you to attend.
This again emphasizes the importance of effectively preparing yourself while in high school. This preparation not only helps make you a well-rounded person, it will also help make you an even more attractive candidate, which puts you in a stronger position when it comes to attending and paying for college.
Brad Asbury
Access College Foundation
basburycsa@yahoo.com
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Real Money Sources
The Real Money Sources
To effectively devise a plan to pay for college, it is important to understand where the money "really" comes from. Funding for college comes from three basic sources – the federal government, the institution itself, and the private sector.
There are two basic types of funding – gift aid (money that does not have to be repaid), and self-help aid (money that is either worked for or borrowed). Gift aid is commonly in the form of scholarships, grants, endowments, and tuition discounts. Self-help aid is made up of work-study programs, along with federal student and parent loan programs. Nearly all funding packages have a combination of both gift and self-help aid.
The government’s money is passed to the colleges and universities and is then distributed to the students by the institutions. Government funding may be in the form of gift aid or self-help aid.
In addition to the government’s money, many public institutions and most private institutions have their own endowment funds. Schools with endowment funds not only distribute the government’s money, they will also offer their own money, most often in the form of gift aid, to attract the students they want. Many school’s endowment funds are substantial. In fact, there are currently over fifty (50+) institutions with over $1 Billion in endowments in the United States, and more than three-hundred (300+) with over $100 Million.
The private sector scholarship funds (Target, Tylenol, and your local Elks Club – for example) are separate applications and are typically not reliant on the federal government, the institution, or their procedures. Private sector scholarships are most often gift aid (commonly called “free” money) and do not have to be repaid.
Private sector funds are very attractive; however, it takes a great deal of time and effort to locate and match potential awards with the student's situation and achievements. Although attractive, it is important to know that private sector scholarships make up only about three percent (3%) of all awarded funding each year. In addition, nearly all private sector scholarship sponsors set their own rules. In other words, they are not obligated to respond to a request for an application, nor are they obligated to notify an applicant if their application is incomplete.
Brad Asbury
Access College Foundation
basburycsa@yahoo.com
To effectively devise a plan to pay for college, it is important to understand where the money "really" comes from. Funding for college comes from three basic sources – the federal government, the institution itself, and the private sector.
There are two basic types of funding – gift aid (money that does not have to be repaid), and self-help aid (money that is either worked for or borrowed). Gift aid is commonly in the form of scholarships, grants, endowments, and tuition discounts. Self-help aid is made up of work-study programs, along with federal student and parent loan programs. Nearly all funding packages have a combination of both gift and self-help aid.
The government’s money is passed to the colleges and universities and is then distributed to the students by the institutions. Government funding may be in the form of gift aid or self-help aid.
In addition to the government’s money, many public institutions and most private institutions have their own endowment funds. Schools with endowment funds not only distribute the government’s money, they will also offer their own money, most often in the form of gift aid, to attract the students they want. Many school’s endowment funds are substantial. In fact, there are currently over fifty (50+) institutions with over $1 Billion in endowments in the United States, and more than three-hundred (300+) with over $100 Million.
The private sector scholarship funds (Target, Tylenol, and your local Elks Club – for example) are separate applications and are typically not reliant on the federal government, the institution, or their procedures. Private sector scholarships are most often gift aid (commonly called “free” money) and do not have to be repaid.
Private sector funds are very attractive; however, it takes a great deal of time and effort to locate and match potential awards with the student's situation and achievements. Although attractive, it is important to know that private sector scholarships make up only about three percent (3%) of all awarded funding each year. In addition, nearly all private sector scholarship sponsors set their own rules. In other words, they are not obligated to respond to a request for an application, nor are they obligated to notify an applicant if their application is incomplete.
Brad Asbury
Access College Foundation
basburycsa@yahoo.com
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
College Scholarship Tips
Tips for Winning Scholarships
1. Apply if you’re eligible. Play the numbers game. Apply for
as many scholarships as you can. Pay attention to smaller,
local scholarships, which are frequently less competitive.
You can’t win if you don’t apply.
2. Get Organized!
Request letters of recommendation from your teachers,
counselors, coaches, employers, and community service
supervisors. Tell them what you want the letters to say
about you and give them plenty of time! Keep copies of each
in a neat, orderly file. Have copies of transcripts on hand.
Make copies of every application and keep track of dates
mailed, and when you should expect to hear if you’ve won.
3. Complete the application! Follow directions. Note deadlines
(note postmark or received by dates) and supplemental
materials such as letters of recommendation or official
transcripts. Be sure to sign the application if required.
4. Neatness counts! So does spelling. Type the application and
start with a copy as a rough draft.
5. Write a strong essay by being personal and specific. Follow
the prompts! Include concrete details, but be reflective of
the “story” and use a mature voice. Avoid “cute” and be
careful with humor.
6. Send It! Be sure of where the application needs to be sent
and address the package carefully. Don’t fold a bulky
application; sent it flat in a large envelope with plenty of
postage. If it doesn’t arrive you are not entered.
7. Give yourself plenty of time for each application. Allow
your application to sit overnight and proofread a final time
before sending. Reread for misspelled words, punctuation or
grammar errors. Have someone else (who will be critical and
honest) look it over for you.
8. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from the College and
Career Center or your Counselor if you need it. Let us know
if you win.
Brad Asbury
Access College Foundation
1. Apply if you’re eligible. Play the numbers game. Apply for
as many scholarships as you can. Pay attention to smaller,
local scholarships, which are frequently less competitive.
You can’t win if you don’t apply.
2. Get Organized!
Request letters of recommendation from your teachers,
counselors, coaches, employers, and community service
supervisors. Tell them what you want the letters to say
about you and give them plenty of time! Keep copies of each
in a neat, orderly file. Have copies of transcripts on hand.
Make copies of every application and keep track of dates
mailed, and when you should expect to hear if you’ve won.
3. Complete the application! Follow directions. Note deadlines
(note postmark or received by dates) and supplemental
materials such as letters of recommendation or official
transcripts. Be sure to sign the application if required.
4. Neatness counts! So does spelling. Type the application and
start with a copy as a rough draft.
5. Write a strong essay by being personal and specific. Follow
the prompts! Include concrete details, but be reflective of
the “story” and use a mature voice. Avoid “cute” and be
careful with humor.
6. Send It! Be sure of where the application needs to be sent
and address the package carefully. Don’t fold a bulky
application; sent it flat in a large envelope with plenty of
postage. If it doesn’t arrive you are not entered.
7. Give yourself plenty of time for each application. Allow
your application to sit overnight and proofread a final time
before sending. Reread for misspelled words, punctuation or
grammar errors. Have someone else (who will be critical and
honest) look it over for you.
8. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from the College and
Career Center or your Counselor if you need it. Let us know
if you win.
Brad Asbury
Access College Foundation
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
HS Seniors! Make your summer a productive one!
Summer Schedule, Junior transition to Senior
Use summer “down-time” effectively to assure a comfortably paced admissions process this fall!
Students: May/June
Request a copy of your transcript before school is over, or during summer school. Specifically, highlight the GPA labeled, 10th – 12th w/o PE. Most transcripts provide multiple Grade Point Averages, but 10 – 12 w/o PE is the GPA the colleges will be focusing on for their merit award grant eligibility purposes.
(After the SAT is factored, of course!)
Start your resume or personal statement. This should be a well-crafted statement of who you are, what you have accomplished, and where you are going. Your draft should be reviewed by at least two people whose opinion on writing and communicating are important to you. An AP English teacher, a friend of the family, clergy, etc. will be helpful. Ask them to review for content as much, if not more than grammar and spelling! Use their valuable input to improve your essay while keeping in mind that your words and phrases should be indelibly stamped on it. Remember, your SAT essay will be compared with your admissions essay!
Volunteer for an organization that will have career exploration potential, find a job
which interests you or register for a summer course or program at one of your local universities.
Take the SAT I, ACT, SAT II, and AP Exams.
Continue or Initiate School or Community Based Extracurricular Activities
(Preferably with Career Exploration potential)
Register after mid-June for the fall SAT I (collegeboard.com)
and/or the ACT Assessment (act.org), if necessary to improve scores.
Students: July
Expect May AP Exam Grade Reports to be received mid-July. Remember, scores of 4 and 5 will allow for courses to be credited and save the student time and effort, allow them to advance into more interesting courses, and graduate more rapidly. Some colleges will also accept scores of 3. Parents will save a significant amount of tuition, fees, and books expenses! Remember, most schools limit the number of AP courses accepted to six.
Create files for organizing general and individual college materials. These can be electronic files backed up on a flash drive or hard copies in a manila file folder.
Fine Tune Your College Choice List
(6-8 Total; 2 Safe, 2 Realistic and 2 Reach) {One local and two or three private}
A Safe college is one where the average SAT and GPA scores are below yours, a comfort school is when you match the average SAT and GPA scores, a Reach College is one where your SAT and GPA scores are below the average scores.
Initiate substantive contact with choice colleges. Remember, the colleges are now maintaining records of by whom and how many times they have been contacted. This information is used in admissions and award decisions.
Students should request on separate occasions; a hard copy of each of the colleges’ information kits, specifics on admissions requirements and due dates, college-specific financial assistance application procedures and due dates, sports and clubs of interest, etc.
Parents should inquire (again, on separate occasions) about receiving the campus safety statistics reports which are required to be generated by the universities each year, on and off-campus housing availability and costs, school-specific financial assistance availability and application requirements, etc.)
Start drafting your college admissions essays. Go to your chosen colleges’ websites and click the Prospective Students tab, then Admissions, and then Apply. You will be taken to the college’s admissions application; about two-thirds of the way through the application will be instructions on how to write the essay. You will be given an expected Word count, Essay Subject, and Specific Essay Question(s). There may be more than one essay required.
Student: August
Complete “final” drafts of the admissions essays for your college choices.
When back in school, request a final review from the English instructor who you respect the most, and whose opinion you value the most.
Request the admissions applications from your prospective colleges.
You will probably be referred to their website, but ask for a hard copy to be mailed to you. Remember, contacts are important!
Create a Master Calendar for both Admissions and Financial Assistance Applications Due Dates.
Color code your dates and name them by school. We recommend red for admissions and green for financial assistance.
(Example, USD 10/31/08, 11/30/08, UCSD 11/30/08, 03/02/09)
Start your Letters of Recommendation request list. Identify teachers, coaches, counselors, employers, clergy, etc. who will be able to provide an exemplary statement about your capabilities and what a benefit you will be to your college. Provide your resume/personal statement listing your accomplishments and remind them of exactly how you interacted. “I participated in 240 hours of volunteer work at the Church Summer School program this past year serving in the capacity of Assistant Organizer of Athletic Events.”
Consider SAT/ACT preparation assistance for early fall exam, if needed.
Call us with your SAT/ACT scores and your current college choices to verify their last year’s incoming freshmen class average SAT scores and see how they compare to yours.
Compile writing samples, portfolios, audition tapes, profile DVDs, etc. Ask family, teachers, directors, coaches, etc. for their recollections of your highlights. Remember, you will be marketing yourself to universities with thousands of applicants to consider!
Parents:
June
Assist your student with their list.
Create your College Funding Plan
Annotate both the least and most expensive Costs of Attendance (COA) for your student’s college choices. Calculate your Family Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Write out a plan for how to pay these costs. in the most cost-effective and tax-efficient manner possible. Consult with us regarding future tax benefits, potential financial assistance, and gap funding requirements with the most cost-effective and tax-efficient strategies possible.
July
Assist your student with their list.
Assess any actions which may reduce your Expected Family Contribution.
Evaluate to what extent current assessable assets exceed your Asset Protection Allowance, assure appropriate asset titling is in place, etc. Remember, a student’s assets are weighted 500% more than a parent’s assets. And, parents have an asset protection ceiling which students do not have!
Compute your Out-of-Pocket Expense.
Subtract the COA from your EFC. If your EFC is higher than the COA you may have no eligibility for Need-based assistance, but you should definitely still file all requested paperwork to assure eligibility for Merit-based assistance and individual college-subsidized scholarships, grants, endowments, endorsements, and loans.
Assess Payment Options
Create spreadsheets to examine pros and cons of possible payment options.
(Examples; Current Income, Current Savings, Home Equity, Education Loans, etc.) We can help you review the outcome to assist in formulating the best options on a complimentary basis!
August
Assist your student with their list.
Act on Final Plan by August 2009, finalize before October 2009.
Remember, October and November 2009 will be Profile and Institutional Financial Assistance filing dates. Also, many admissions applications request financial information. Mid-January, 2010 will be your FAFSA filing dates.
Access College Foundation
Brad Asbury (916) 607-3104
basburycsa@yahoo.com
Use summer “down-time” effectively to assure a comfortably paced admissions process this fall!
Students: May/June
Request a copy of your transcript before school is over, or during summer school. Specifically, highlight the GPA labeled, 10th – 12th w/o PE. Most transcripts provide multiple Grade Point Averages, but 10 – 12 w/o PE is the GPA the colleges will be focusing on for their merit award grant eligibility purposes.
(After the SAT is factored, of course!)
Start your resume or personal statement. This should be a well-crafted statement of who you are, what you have accomplished, and where you are going. Your draft should be reviewed by at least two people whose opinion on writing and communicating are important to you. An AP English teacher, a friend of the family, clergy, etc. will be helpful. Ask them to review for content as much, if not more than grammar and spelling! Use their valuable input to improve your essay while keeping in mind that your words and phrases should be indelibly stamped on it. Remember, your SAT essay will be compared with your admissions essay!
Volunteer for an organization that will have career exploration potential, find a job
which interests you or register for a summer course or program at one of your local universities.
Take the SAT I, ACT, SAT II, and AP Exams.
Continue or Initiate School or Community Based Extracurricular Activities
(Preferably with Career Exploration potential)
Register after mid-June for the fall SAT I (collegeboard.com)
and/or the ACT Assessment (act.org), if necessary to improve scores.
Students: July
Expect May AP Exam Grade Reports to be received mid-July. Remember, scores of 4 and 5 will allow for courses to be credited and save the student time and effort, allow them to advance into more interesting courses, and graduate more rapidly. Some colleges will also accept scores of 3. Parents will save a significant amount of tuition, fees, and books expenses! Remember, most schools limit the number of AP courses accepted to six.
Create files for organizing general and individual college materials. These can be electronic files backed up on a flash drive or hard copies in a manila file folder.
Fine Tune Your College Choice List
(6-8 Total; 2 Safe, 2 Realistic and 2 Reach) {One local and two or three private}
A Safe college is one where the average SAT and GPA scores are below yours, a comfort school is when you match the average SAT and GPA scores, a Reach College is one where your SAT and GPA scores are below the average scores.
Initiate substantive contact with choice colleges. Remember, the colleges are now maintaining records of by whom and how many times they have been contacted. This information is used in admissions and award decisions.
Students should request on separate occasions; a hard copy of each of the colleges’ information kits, specifics on admissions requirements and due dates, college-specific financial assistance application procedures and due dates, sports and clubs of interest, etc.
Parents should inquire (again, on separate occasions) about receiving the campus safety statistics reports which are required to be generated by the universities each year, on and off-campus housing availability and costs, school-specific financial assistance availability and application requirements, etc.)
Start drafting your college admissions essays. Go to your chosen colleges’ websites and click the Prospective Students tab, then Admissions, and then Apply. You will be taken to the college’s admissions application; about two-thirds of the way through the application will be instructions on how to write the essay. You will be given an expected Word count, Essay Subject, and Specific Essay Question(s). There may be more than one essay required.
Student: August
Complete “final” drafts of the admissions essays for your college choices.
When back in school, request a final review from the English instructor who you respect the most, and whose opinion you value the most.
Request the admissions applications from your prospective colleges.
You will probably be referred to their website, but ask for a hard copy to be mailed to you. Remember, contacts are important!
Create a Master Calendar for both Admissions and Financial Assistance Applications Due Dates.
Color code your dates and name them by school. We recommend red for admissions and green for financial assistance.
(Example, USD 10/31/08, 11/30/08, UCSD 11/30/08, 03/02/09)
Start your Letters of Recommendation request list. Identify teachers, coaches, counselors, employers, clergy, etc. who will be able to provide an exemplary statement about your capabilities and what a benefit you will be to your college. Provide your resume/personal statement listing your accomplishments and remind them of exactly how you interacted. “I participated in 240 hours of volunteer work at the Church Summer School program this past year serving in the capacity of Assistant Organizer of Athletic Events.”
Consider SAT/ACT preparation assistance for early fall exam, if needed.
Call us with your SAT/ACT scores and your current college choices to verify their last year’s incoming freshmen class average SAT scores and see how they compare to yours.
Compile writing samples, portfolios, audition tapes, profile DVDs, etc. Ask family, teachers, directors, coaches, etc. for their recollections of your highlights. Remember, you will be marketing yourself to universities with thousands of applicants to consider!
Parents:
June
Assist your student with their list.
Create your College Funding Plan
Annotate both the least and most expensive Costs of Attendance (COA) for your student’s college choices. Calculate your Family Expected Family Contribution (EFC). Write out a plan for how to pay these costs. in the most cost-effective and tax-efficient manner possible. Consult with us regarding future tax benefits, potential financial assistance, and gap funding requirements with the most cost-effective and tax-efficient strategies possible.
July
Assist your student with their list.
Assess any actions which may reduce your Expected Family Contribution.
Evaluate to what extent current assessable assets exceed your Asset Protection Allowance, assure appropriate asset titling is in place, etc. Remember, a student’s assets are weighted 500% more than a parent’s assets. And, parents have an asset protection ceiling which students do not have!
Compute your Out-of-Pocket Expense.
Subtract the COA from your EFC. If your EFC is higher than the COA you may have no eligibility for Need-based assistance, but you should definitely still file all requested paperwork to assure eligibility for Merit-based assistance and individual college-subsidized scholarships, grants, endowments, endorsements, and loans.
Assess Payment Options
Create spreadsheets to examine pros and cons of possible payment options.
(Examples; Current Income, Current Savings, Home Equity, Education Loans, etc.) We can help you review the outcome to assist in formulating the best options on a complimentary basis!
August
Assist your student with their list.
Act on Final Plan by August 2009, finalize before October 2009.
Remember, October and November 2009 will be Profile and Institutional Financial Assistance filing dates. Also, many admissions applications request financial information. Mid-January, 2010 will be your FAFSA filing dates.
Access College Foundation
Brad Asbury (916) 607-3104
basburycsa@yahoo.com
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
College access vs. college success
College access vs. college success
What exactly is college success? For many, the question is, will my son or daughter able to get into the college s/he wants to attend? That's college access.
College success is attending the most appropriate school for the career of your choice, graduating in the least amount of time (a four-year degree in four years), graduating with the fewest loans and out-of-pocket expenses, and being "successful and happy in your career."
Choosing the proper school is paramount since the wrong fit leads to high attrition. The freshman attrition at four-year colleges is 25 percent nationwide. Only 35 percent of students actually graduate in four years; most take five to six years to obtain a degree. Factors contributing to this trend include changing majors, changing schools, and selecting a school simply because that's where your friends are going. The current freshman attrition rate at two-year schools is 50 percent.
Then there are the rapidly rising costs. Between 1990 and 2005, college costs went up 5.9 percent, while average income in the U.S. went up less than 2 percent annually. Fewer than 4 percent of families have more than $5,000 set aside for their child's college costs. "Perceived financial means denied almost 500,000 students a college education last year,"
Brad Asbury is a consultant with the non-profit organization, the Access College Foundation.
916-607-3104
basburycsa@yahoo.com
What exactly is college success? For many, the question is, will my son or daughter able to get into the college s/he wants to attend? That's college access.
College success is attending the most appropriate school for the career of your choice, graduating in the least amount of time (a four-year degree in four years), graduating with the fewest loans and out-of-pocket expenses, and being "successful and happy in your career."
Choosing the proper school is paramount since the wrong fit leads to high attrition. The freshman attrition at four-year colleges is 25 percent nationwide. Only 35 percent of students actually graduate in four years; most take five to six years to obtain a degree. Factors contributing to this trend include changing majors, changing schools, and selecting a school simply because that's where your friends are going. The current freshman attrition rate at two-year schools is 50 percent.
Then there are the rapidly rising costs. Between 1990 and 2005, college costs went up 5.9 percent, while average income in the U.S. went up less than 2 percent annually. Fewer than 4 percent of families have more than $5,000 set aside for their child's college costs. "Perceived financial means denied almost 500,000 students a college education last year,"
Brad Asbury is a consultant with the non-profit organization, the Access College Foundation.
916-607-3104
basburycsa@yahoo.com
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