FINANCIALLY PREPARING FOR COLLEGE

Dr. Crystal R. Hudson Crystal@CrHudson.com

Oftentimes there’s one influential person in a student’s life that guides them to college. College can change a student’s life for the better and expose them to a whole new world. You, the school counselor, are probably that influential person. When considering the best college fit, students must also prepare financially. This article provides information that school counselors can utilize with students to help them develop a plan to pay for college.

Everyone deserves a great college experience, but they must plan in order to graduate debt free. Many students are graduating with an enormous amounts of student loan debt. Maybe they don’t realize that there is another option to pay for college, through scholarships and grants. There’s a student who runs up to me every time she sees me on campus and says, “Dr. Hudson I’m going to graduate debt free”. She was awarded a full tuition scholarship, each year, and she didn’t stop there. She hustled and found other scholarships to pay for her room & board. If she can do it, anyone can do it.

STRENGTHS, ACTIVITIES & INTERESTS

When developing a financial plan for college, the school counselor should have students list at least five strengths, activities, or interests that they could use to obtain scholarships and grants. Students who are strong academically, or whom have high GPAs would be eligible for academic scholarships. Athletes in any sport could be eligible for athletic scholarships and students who play musical instruments could be eligible for scholarships in the college band or through organizations based on musical instruments. An example would be The Chicago Federation of Musicians offers the “Dorothy Olsen Paulette Scholarship Fund” for young piano players who want to pursue a life of music (Chicago Federation of Musicians, 2023).

Scholarships are available based on students’ career interest and scholarships can be used to expose students to certain industries, especially when certain segments of the population are virtually absent from that industry. Female students might be offered scholarships to enter STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. African American students might be offered scholarships to study data analytics, because less than 3% of African Americans are in that industry (Northwestern Bootcamps, 2023). Scholarships are available through companies, states and federal governments, foundations, and individuals for a multitude of reasons.

CHOOSING A COLLEGE THROUGH COST/BENEFIT ANALYSIS

Next, school counselors should assist students in selecting their ideal college through a cost/benefit analysis. Through research, students should identify colleges that are well-known or have a great reputation for their selected career path. These colleges would generate the most career opportunities and advancements (benefits) for the student. If the student wants to be a computer programmer, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology) and Purdue University all have great reputations for offering top notch technology and computer science degrees. So, they would be great options for students.

Next, students should determine the least expensive option of these three colleges. If a student is from the state of Georgia, the least expensive option is Georgia Tech because it is a public university, which is less expensive than private universities. Furthermore, the student would pay in-state tuition as opposed to out-of-state tuition, which is more expensive. Also, the state of Georgia offers the HOPE scholarship and the Zell Miller scholarship for its residents to stay in state to go to college. So, between the three colleges, Georgia Tech would be the best option because it is the least expensive option and offers the same level of benefits.

Once students have selected a college, they should research the cost of that college. In other words, how much does it cost to attend Georgia Tech, per year, for in-state residents? All students should know the cost of attending college. This cost will be the funding target when students search for scholarships and grants. In 2023-2024, it cost $28,536 in tuition & fees and room & board for undergraduates to attend Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023).

Scholarship Search

I have been on college campuses for most of my adult life, and I believe that there are more scholarships available than there are students applying for them. Students need to know where to look for scholarships and must be aggressive in pursuing and applying. Before students begin the search, they should first understand the different types of scholarships. Merit-based scholarships are awarded based on academic performance or academic performance plus a special talent. Need-based scholarships are awarded based on the financial need of the student, typically determined by information on their FAFSA (Financial Application for Financial Student Aide) form. That financial need is based on the student’s Expected Family Financial Contribution (EFC) or how much their family could contribute to the student’s college education (Financial Student Aid, 2022a). Students who are eligible for both merit-based and need-based scholarships have an enormous number of scholarships available to them.

The most popular grant is the Pell Grant. The Pell Grant is provided by the US government to undergraduate students who display exceptional financial need. Those students with the most financial need would receive more aid from the Pell Grant than those who don’t have as great a need. The maximum amount of the Pell Grant for 2023-2024 is $7,398 (July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024). Aside from the Pell Grant, the federal government also offers the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) which is awarded to between 100 - 4,000 undergraduates who have demonstrated exceptional financial need (Financial Student Aid, 2022b).

ON CAMPUS: School counselors should direct students to start their search on the college campus of their choice. Most colleges will initially award scholarships to its top incoming freshmen based on their academic performance in high school. However, these same colleges list all available scholarships on their website; those scholarships that have already been awarded and those scholarships that are still available. Many colleges list scholarships that might apply to their student body. Thus, Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) may list the United Negro College Fund as a potential source of scholarships for its students. In essence, these colleges have already started the search for the student, they just must apply for them. There are other select places on campus where students can find scholarships.

OFF CAMPUS:

After searching for scholarships on campus, next the school counselor should direct the student to search for private scholarships off campus. Private Scholarships are provided by individuals, corporations, foundations or not for profit organizations both large and small. Some of the more popular private scholarships are:

• The Gates Scholarship: Awarded annually to about 300 minority high school seniors who exhibit strong leadership skills, have a strong academic record, and have an exceptional financial need. A GPA of at least 3.3 plus eligibility for the Federal Pell Grant are usually required (Murtagh, 2018).

• Coca Cola Scholarship Program: An achievement-based scholarship for high school seniors that recognizes the student's ability to lead and serve and to make a commitment to their school and community. Each year, awards are $20,000 per person to 150 students based on academic merit and leadership skills (Murtagh, 2018).

• Society of Women Engineers Scholarship: Scholarships that support women interested in a career in engineering, engineering technology and computer science (Murtagh, 2018).

• Google Scholarships: Google aims to provide financial support to students, especially students from underserved minority communities, who aspire to pursue a career in technology (Murtagh, 2018).

• Dell Scholars: Dell Scholarships are provided through the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation and Dell Scholars are awarded $20,000, given a laptop, and assistance with textbooks. These students must be from an underserved and lower income household to achieve their dream of a college career (Murtagh, 2018).

• United Negro College Fund (UNCF): UNCF is the nation’s largest provider of private scholarships to minority students. UNCF has raised over $4.7 billion to provide operating funds for 37 HBCUs and provides approx. 60,000 scholarships, annually, to college students (Murtagh, 2018).

Scholaship Search Portal

School counselors should advise students to use scholarship search portals for their off-campus scholarship search. They can use any browser and use key words to search for scholarships that may apply to them. If a student is the first in their family to go to college, they could do a search for First Generation scholarships. Or if a female student is interested in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields she should search for scholarships in that field. Students should set up an account on a scholarship search portal and search for scholarships. This same portal will deliver any future scholarship opportunities to students. Some of the more popular scholarship search portals are:

● scholarships.com

● fastweb.com

● collegescholarships.org

● niche.com

● scholarships360.org

•(Lutli, 2021)

Note: All information and activities in this article, and much more, can be found in Dr. Crystal Hudson’s latest book: “BE YOUR OWN COLLEGE ADVISOR: Your money management guide into and through college”. Which you can purchased by contacting Dr. Crystal R. Hudson or through Amazon.

References

Chicago Federation of Musicians (2023). Dorothy Olson Paulette Scholarship Fund. Retrieved from: https://cfm10208.com/support-us/dorothy-olson-pauletti-scholarshipfund

Federal Student Aid (2022a). Understanding Financial Aid. How Financial Aid Works. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC. Retrieved from https://studentaid.gov/h/understand-aid/how-aid-works

Federal Student Aid (2022b). Understanding Financial Aid. Types of Financial Aid. U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC. Retrieved from: https://studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types

Georgia Institute of Technology. (2023). Office od Scholarships and Financial Aid. Undergraduate Cost. Estimated year cost (2023-2024). Retrieved from: https://finaid.gatech.edu/costs/undergraduate-costs

Lutli. B. (2021). Student Loans: The 9 best scholarship search engines. BankRate. New York, NY. Retrieved from: https://www.bankrate.com/loans/student-loans/scholarship-search-engines/ Murtagh, A. (2018). 11 Private scholarships to help you pay for college. US News and World Report. New York, NY. Retrieved from: https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2018-09 -20/11-private-scholarships-to-help-you-pay-for-college

Northwestern Bootcamps (2023). Barriers to entry and opportunities for social justice in data science. Retrieved from https://bootcamp.northwestern.edu/blog/40-resources-diversity-in-datascience/.