Make an Informed Decision
Spending more on college does not guarantee a better outcome; spending less doesn’t risk a worse outcome. What creates bad college outcomes? Not graduating.
Build a plan that meets your budget and gets your student an excellent education
As you begin the college search process, give yourself permission to limit your student’s choices to what you can afford. That might mean considering alternate pathways like community college or dual enrollment to start, or it might mean being diligent in researching merit and outside scholarships. Because going to college matters a lot more than which college you go to. See the earlier section Why College Matters for more on this.
I thought that researching colleges and trying to find fits was one of the most fun parts of the college application process. I know that not everyone sees it that way, and it’s no wonder, given the thousands of colleges out there and labor-intensive process of sorting through them. I want you to enjoy this process so let’s talk about what you need to know and how best to find it. To helps this process, I’m sharing access to a college research worksheet that’s also included in my College Financial Plan Masterclass. You can either use as-is, or take some of the topic headings and create your own since it is quite massive. But let’s start by talking about how to research colleges.
Where to Start
Many, many colleges and universities prepare students to succeed at the highest levels. And by being open to a variety of college choices, you open the door to a college plan that meets your family’s budget and gets your student an excellent education with a minimum of debt for either the student or the parent.
Learn more about:
Why researching colleges should be a collaborative process?
Why you should start by researching their in-state colleges?
When and how to start?
Net Price Calculators
The first thing you should do for any college your student is interested in is their net price calculator. Every school that participates in the federal financial aid system is required to have a net price calculator on their website. These calculators can give you a good sense of the financial and scholarships you’re likely to receive. They’re also really enlightening because you’ll see a huge range of prices based on you inputting the same data.
This section includes:
A video overview of Net Price Calculators and how they’re a must
What they include
One significant shortcoming
Researching Colleges
Families getting started on the college search process are well-served by keeping a list of colleges that the student is interested in.
To make this easy, download and use my the College Selection Worksheet from my College Financial Plan Masterclass.
The College Research Worksheet helps you and your student objectively compare and rank school by capturing the following:
General information
Application and admissions information
Financial information
Scholarship information
Why I should choose this school
Related blog posts
About the Free College Selection Worksheet
This proven tool will help you and your student centralize all of the essential data points that go into researching and choosing a college.