Why Visit Colleges?

Before heading to New Mexico last week to visit Santa Fe University of Art and Design (SFUAD), I checked the weather report.  My image of a temperate southwestern climate was quickly dispelled when I read the forecast:  snow showers.  I put away the t-shirts and packed the parka.   Thanks to weather.com I was not at all surprised to see the snow covered peaks as the plane began its descent.  Yet other revelations were in store. I was already familiar with Santa Fe’s reputation as an artist haven, yet it never occurred to me that it was also a destination for filmmakers and winter enthusiasts.   In fact, the city, at 7,000 feet, is a short drive to several challenging ski areas and sits at a higher elevation than Denver.   So much for preconceived notions; many of my assumptions about attending college in Santa Fe were tossed before I even stepped foot on the campus.

Seeing is believing, and getting to know a college is no exception.  Visiting is the one sure way to get a feel for a university and to imagine oneself as part of its community.  Do your research before a visit so you have some idea of what to expect, but be open to a few surprises.  A trip to a college is the best way to get to know a university, its offerings, student body, campus feel and surrounding community.  If you are the type of person who needs to experience things firsthand, all the more reason to plan a visit. 

When I scheduled my trip to SFUAD, I did some online research in advance to ensure that I wouldn’t arrive on campus clueless about its programs.  A college’s website is the obvious place to start any search in order to gain an initial sense for whether a school has the right academic fit for a student.  Sites like Unigo and College Prowler can also be helpful in providing the student perspective.  However, nothing can replicate the college visit. It would have been easy for me to make assumptions about SFUAD, a southwestern college in transition, which had been the College of Santa Fe in a recent former life. Today a re-born SFUAD, supported by an outside investor and the city of Santa Fe, has emerged as a niche liberal arts program focused in the fine and performing arts. On paper (or more precisely, online), its offerings sound similar to many other art colleges.  Yet the collaboration, not only among students but also departments, makes for a truly interdisciplinary artistic experience.  How do I know?  I saw it firsthand:  theater majors auditioning for film student productions, musicians involved in multimedia projects, and visual art students exploring every medium the studio art program has to offer.

Answers to questions such as ‘what type of student thrives here?’ and ‘what makes this college unique?’ begin to get to the essence of who might do well on a particular campus.  Yet the ‘being there’ impression is as important as the answers offered, if not more so.  A college may sound perfect from the description in the glossy view book, but it’s the campus visit that will confirm or dispel one’s preconceived notions.

How does one get the most out of a college visit?  With an open and inquisitive mind.  The feel is not just about physical beauty.  It’s also about the intangibles which are sometimes more difficult to see at first glance.  A few years back I visited a small Midwestern college that did not make a compelling first impression; the campus looked tired and downright sleepy. My colleagues and I reassessed our plan:  say a quick hello in admissions and leave as quickly as possible.  Three hours later, we were still there...by choice!  The students we spoke to were smart, passionate and genuinely fired up about the many cross-disciplinary opportunities available to them and about the exceptional faculty mentoring.  We left applauding the college’s decision to choose the intellectual investment in the faculty and students over building a more sensory appealing state-of-the-art athletic facility.  Our focus had shifted from observing the physical setting to seeing the less tangible environment where possibilities abounded.  So take the time to get out of the car even if the grass is parched from an extended drought.  A college experience should be more than skin deep. Classroom environment, student engagement, career services, academic rigor, social scene, and opportunities in one’s chosen major…these are just some of the many areas that can and should be explored.

Reflecting on my trip to SFUAD, I am reminded that finding the right fit college is an art, not a science.  Getting to know my students and understanding the vibe of the colleges I visit are both essential to my assessment for which schools would be appropriate for each individual.  However, the decision in the end rests with the student and family.  It is an important decision which warrants as much firsthand knowledge as possible.  So whether your child sees each campus before he or she applies or just prior to making a final choice, don’t under estimate the value of a road trip.  

Who Should Apply for Financial Aid?

“If we aren't likely to qualify for need-based aid, should we file a FAFSA?”  “Is it true that everyone should complete financial aid forms, regardless of need?” “Do I need to complete the FAFSA to receive merit aid?” These are questions I often get from parents who are trying to determine whether there is any benefit to filling out this "black box" form.  The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, more commonly known as the FAFSA, is the federal form that all colleges require students to complete in order to qualify for certain types of financial assistance and any federal student aid.  (Nearly 400 colleges also require submission of the CSS/Profile form, found on the College Board website, for the allocation of their own institutional aid). You will need to fill out the FAFSA to receive need-based aid, but that is not the only reason to spend the time and effort.

Who should complete the FAFSA?  Anyone who believes he or she may qualify for need-based aid should invest the time; filling out the form is the only way to know for sure.  There is no maximum income or set amount which precludes one from qualifying.  Rather, many factors in addition to income influence eligibility including the age of parents, assets owned, family members living in the household and number of children in college.  Yet the FAFSA is not only required to calculate demonstrated need.  Any student or parent who wishes to borrow under the federal Stafford loan program, regardless of financial situation, must file a FAFSA.  This even applies if a parent chooses to take out a PLUS loan.  A handful of colleges require that students complete the FAFSA in order to receive merit aid awards.  The single best way to find out a college’s documentation requirements is to visit the financial aid pages on its website.  

  

Completing the FAFSA is relatively straight forward for those who have already filed a tax return and meet the eligibility requirements to take advantage of the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.  This enables filers to fill in much of the financial information on the FAFSA automatically by transferring data from their tax return.  But here’s the Catch-22:  You must wait approximately 2 weeks if you process your return electronically, or 6-8 weeks if you file by mail before you can access this feature.  By then the college financial aid deadline might well have passed (check individual college websites) so you may still be faced with the challenge of estimating your prior year tax information (a word of advice: better to under than over-estimate earnings).  For those who estimate, you will ultimately have to amend your FAFSA with the actual numbers, and can take advantage of the data retrieval tool at that point.  If you are certain you will not qualify for need-based aid yet will complete the FAFSA in order to borrow either a Stafford student loan or PLUS loan, you are not constrained by college financial aid deadlines so file your tax returns first to simplify the process. 

For a helpful guide on filling out the FAFSA form, you may want to view the 7 Easy Steps to the FAFSA tutorial before you get started.

Keep in mind that qualifying for financial aid is not a guarantee that you will receive lots of free money so go into the process with realistic expectations.   As I have emphasized in many of my blog postings, your personally estimated need, your FAFSA determined “demonstrated need,” and the amount of assistance you might actually receive can and will likely be three different numbers.  Financial aid formulas may yield a higher Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and lower demonstrated need than what you believe you can afford. The FAFSA is not frequently updated and consequently underestimates today's cost of living, especially for those who reside in expensive regions of the country. Furthermore, most colleges won’t fully plug the gap between the Cost of Attendance and what you are expected to pay. Like many of us managing our personal finances, colleges struggle to judiciously allocate a finite pool of resources.  So embark on this process with tempered hope and expectations. 

Need-Blind, Need-Aware and College Admissions

Does financial need factor into the college admission decision and if so, how does it affect applicants and to what extent?  Adding to the anxiety about college admissions is the question about how to handle and interpret application questions on financial aid.  Parents, especially those who are not sure whether they will qualify for assistance, often ask whether checking “yes” to the need-based aid question might negatively impact a student’s chance for acceptance. 

Like many questions related to college admission, the answer is rarely so straightforward. Students, of course, want to maximize the probability of admission without jeopardizing their opportunity to receive financial aid for college.  Some schools profess to be need-blind, meaning that they do not consider ability to pay in the admission decision.  That may sound like good news; however, it does not necessarily mean that the college will provide adequate financial aid to enable the student to attend once admitted.  New York University, a need-blind university, does not claim to meet demonstrated need and generally comes up short by more than 30% of the cost.  Admitted students are counseled by admissions, only after acceptance, that attending the university might not be a sound decision if it requires excessive borrowing.  

Certain need-sensitive colleges take a different approach to college admission, choosing to give more aid to fewer students rather than put affordability out of reach for many. Several of the more selective need-sensitive colleges, in fact, admit most though not all students without regard to their ability to pay.  When it comes down to the final 2-20% of the admission decisions (depending on the college), ability to pay becomes the deciding factor.   Is this more palatable than offering a spot in the class without providing the means to pay for it? Wesleyan University believes so, yet met with protests from students, parents and alumni when it switched from a need-blind to need-aware or need-sensitive policy this past May, stating that it would now consider ability to pay when filling the last 10% or so of the class.  The college chose to alter its admission approach so that it would still be able to meet the demonstrated need of every admitted student. A list of the small group of Colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need was published by U.S. News & World Report earlier this year.

Whether a college is need-blind or need-aware, families should have an understanding about what they can afford to pay and what amount of borrowing is manageable, even before the applications are submitted. The unfortunate truth is that need is an unavoidable topic in most college admission offices. Colleges do not have unlimited financial aid budgets and most have to factor this into the equation. You can decide to try to game the system and avoid checking the will you apply for need-based financial aid? box, but if you honestly do not have the ability to pay, you are not doing yourself or your child a favor.  That being said, it is a good idea to understand the likelihood of your receiving aid as you work through the process.

Here are some guidelines on how to think about the application financial aid question to help you evaluate its potential impact on the admission decision for your child:

-          Is the school in question a reach, mid-range or likely for your child? If he or she is not at the high end or at least in the upper half of the admitted student range in terms of academic performance or some other compelling factor, having a financial need probably works against him/her in the admission process.  A student with money and the same academic qualifications has a better chance of being admitted. 

-          The most selective colleges reserve their financial aid for qualified students with demonstrated need rather than those with the best academic record.  At places where admission is less selective, merit tends to rule.  Many colleges use financial aid as the carrot to lure the most desirable students, whether they need financial assistance or not. In search of ever-improving rankings, colleges essentially pay to attract the high performers. 

-          More schools “gap” than do not; they expect that you will fill the balance of your need with student or parent loans.  So even if your Expected Family Contribution or EFC is less than the cost of attendance, don’t just assume that the college will make up the difference with a grant.  One major caveat: some colleges disingenuously qualify loans as financial aid; since loans must be paid back, be advised to distinguish them from grant money which is a gift.  If it is not clear whether a financial aid “award” includes borrowed money, ask.    

The best way to find out how need factors into the admission decision at a particular college, if in doubt, is to pick up the phone and call the school.  Keep in mind, however, that a need-blind policy will not necessarily work in your favor if tuition is high and the financial aid policy is to gap.  Net price calculators which can be found on every college’s website are another tool at your disposal to estimate your actual out-of-pocket cost per year.  You can also use College Navigator, a Department of Education site, to get a sense for what families in your income range typically pay at a given college.   With these tools, you will be better informed before checking the financial need box. 

Cycling My Way through a Tour of Colleges

The lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer are officially here, which for me means the three “Cs:” colleges, cycling and camaraderie. The beginning of summer has become my time to venture to a new region of the country or revisit a familiar one to tour colleges by bike.  I look forward to what has become an annual journey of discovery with my two-wheeler colleagues, an energetic group of school counselors and independent consultants who share a sense of humor and our love for cycling and colleges.  This year our trip takes us to western Michigan, Indiana and Chicago.  The colleges on our list comprise an eclectic group of household names and lesser known gems: Calvin College, Hope College, Kalamazoo College, University of Notre Dame, Valparaiso University and Northwestern. And if time allows before our tour officially begins, I will fit in two more Chicago schools, regretfully by means of public transportation!  In all, we will cover 255 miles in five days.  We are not a wimpy group; we transport our own gear in panniers and hope to get some rest after long days of cycling and college touring, retiring most nights in campus dorms on extra-long, well-worn twin mattresses.

I should mention that barely nine months ago I toured half of the colleges on my upcoming trip.  The campuses were teeming with students and showing off the colors of their brilliant autumn splendor.   Yet “been there, done that” was no excuse to take a pass on this year’s bike trip. It’s not just about my love for cycling and the camaraderie of being with summer biking pals.  I relish the opportunity to revisit, even the campuses I have walked before.  The schools, no doubt, will be more tranquil in July than during the school year, and I expect that they will show very differently under the haze and humidity of early July.  No college can be captured in just a few snapshots; nor should that be the sum total of my experience on a particular campus.

The first trip to a college is an opportunity to get a feel for the landscape.  I want to see the big picture:  the essence of the academic experience, the social life, the character of the student body and the feel for the surrounding community.  A return trip allows me to delve deeper.  Every time I see a campus, I discover something new, an unusual major I had overlooked before or some specific aspect of the admission process that may make a difference for a particular student.  Building upon what I already know reinforces my understanding of what makes a college special and who would thrive in that environment. 

I sometimes stop to ponder what I love so much about what I do.  Today I would state my job description this way:  my role is about discovery.  Whether it is getting into the mind and soul of each student or uncovering the unique qualities of a particular college, I am challenged to find matches that will enrich a young person’s life over the long term.  Next week I will have another opportunity to pursue that mission:  on a bike!

Does That Price for This College Make Sense?

The cost of college today has put affordability truly out of reach for most Americans, including many who are comfortably middle class.  I am not stating anything that anyone who is currently putting children through college hasn’t realized.  While higher education has always come at a cost, it has reached a price point that now exceeds the pain threshold for most Americans.  As President Obama, Congress and colleges wrangle over how to fix the problem of runaway tuition increases, I sadly am of the opinion that the situation has no satisfactory solution that doesn’t involve drastically changing the delivery of higher education in this country. But that is a subject for another day.  Right now I am consumed by the decisions families make with respect to cost and choosing a college.  

The question that has been weighing on my mind is how much is too much to pay for college, specifically for schools that heavily discount tuition.  Anyone who follows the news about rising college costs probably is familiar with the difference between the “sticker price” (what a college publishes as its total cost) and “net price” (what its students actually pay, on average).  In recent year, most colleges have made a practice of offering merit aid to students they wish to lure away from more selective schools.  Colleges do that by “discounting” the sticker price so that students feel like they are getting a real deal…but are they?  The discounting of tuition, in fact, is one of the main drivers of higher prices.  Colleges are able to offer select students sizable discounts by charging everybody else more.  So should you pay full price for a college that uses your tuition dollars to subsidize other students?  

The question has no simple answer.  What makes sense for one student and family may be impractical for another.  My goal here is to provide a framework for families wrestling with this question as they help their children make the all-important decision about where to attend college.  

Have the family discussion and a joint understanding about affordability before the applications go out and the acceptances come in.  It is okay to apply to the dream college, but be clear with your son or daughter about what kind of financial aid package, either need or merit-based, will make it feasible to attend.  Setting expectations early may mean avoiding future heartache.

Recognize that loans may make it possible to attend the college of choice today, but that excessive borrowing will feel like an albatross around the neck once graduation has passed and the loan payments come due. Borrowing a reasonable amount to pay for college makes sense, but knowing what is affordable requires planning and forward thinking.  How much will the student and/or parents probably have to borrow over four years?  What will be the approximate size of the future graduate's monthly payments and how long will it take to pay off the loans?  Given a student’s career plans, what will he or she likely earn, and will that be sufficient to comfortably meet debt payments while still covering other living expenses?  A good rule of thumb is to keep debt payments at or below 8% of gross income.  Calculators such as those available on the website http://www.mappingyourfuture.org/ enable one to project future debt payments, based on expected borrowing and interest rates. The calculators will also help you determine what a person should earn in order to comfortably pay back a given balance in student loans. If you are looking for a way to estimate average salaries in a specific field by region, you might want to check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics site: http://www.bls.gov/.

Think it through before you pay the sticker price at a college that heavily discounts tuition. It is important to find out what percentage of students receives some type of merit aid and the amount of the average award.  If a school discounts tuition for a significant number of students and you are not one of them, you are probably overpaying and subsidizing someone else’s child who has better grades and test scores.  When is it okay to do this?  1) If it’s the dream school and you can afford it without borrowing, 2) if the student wants to pursue a unique major or program for which the college is renowned, 3) when the college offers some merit aid, but most students pay full fare (e.g., the “subsidizing of other students is not significant) and 4) in cases where other less expensive options truly do not meet the academic needs of the student.

Have your child include schools on the college list that that will likely offer tuition discounts based on his or her test scores and GPA.  For the most part, you can figure out which colleges these are.  Are the test scores and GPA at the high end of the school’s range?  In all likelihood, the college will offer some discount as an incentive to entice your student to attend.

 

Weigh the emotional against the practical.  Does it make sense for the middle income family that receives no need-based aid to choose the Ivy League or highly selective university over the state school option?  Given the emotions wrapped up in these types of choices, I find it difficult to advise others on the right and logical decision.   Choosing the highly selective, name brand college may indeed change the student’s life, but at a high cost if excessive borrowing is involved.  This is especially true if a student has plans to go on to graduate school.  I know.  It’s hard to turn down Harvard or Yale, nor am I saying that you should.  However, graduating debt-free or with limited loans is anything but over-rated.  Do well as an undergraduate anywhere and you can spend the bigger bucks on graduate school.  

Deciding what a college education is worth is a complex analysis, yet unlike an integral calculus problem, there is no single right answer.  My hope is that having a framework to evaluate this decision and a list of questions to ponder will help each family come to the answer that is appropriate for them.