How to MAKE College Worth It!
I’m no futurist, but last year I published an article asking what was then a rather difficult and controversial question: Was a college education still worth the investment? I highly recommend that you check out my surprising answer since this year it seems that my question is the query of the hour. Just last month I published another article discussing why I thought that a Florida education was becoming a bad investment. I hate to sound self-serving, but I suggest you read that piece as well (if you’re from Florida), since this weekend the Herald published a series of opinions about the value (or lack there of) at our esteemed institutions.
Seems as if you can”t turn on the TV, check your kindle or open a paper (I’m old school) without hearing about the sad state of higher ed, rampant un(der) employment of college grads and the $ Trillion student debt bubble just beggin’ to burst. If you’ve been reading my stuff for awhile, you know that this is all very troubling news — BUT it is NOT NEW NEWS!
I have been talking about a higher ed crisis among the largely ‘forgotten’ middle class AND providing real solutions to real families like yours for years. So what’s most troubling me is not that the pundits have finally come to our party. I’m happy about that. What’s making me furious is that among the chatter, all I hear about are interest rate reductions and loan forgiveness — which are REACTIVE solutions — and do nothing to help families AFFORD college in the first place, which is what they should be talking about! In my blog and in my practice, we focus on strategies that make college affordable for regular people, sans excessive debt. My clients and their children find that they can actually enjoy a return on their educational investment!
I hate to rant, but this is also the time of year that I get emergency emails and panicked queries from families who say that ‘I know I should have done this last year, but…’ or ‘I’ve been reading your emails for almost 2 years now and my kid is in 12th grade and headed to Top Choice U and I need money’ … or… ‘I wish I knew about you a year ago…“ I got three like this on Friday. I really can’t help them now, and I absolutely hate knowing that there were strategies that they could have implemented last Fall that would have helped them say ‘yes’ to their child this Spring. With NEXT school year just around the corner, I have to ask: Are you going be better prepared for college when it starts for YOUR student?
You definitely can be.
Are there real concerns about our turning into an over-educated, under-employed and deeply in-debted people? Yes there are. But there are also real personal strategies that you can implement to help you avoid that fate. But you have to take action. Don’t let the summer go by without learning the difference between what a college education costs and what a college education should cost YOU (hint: it’s almost never the sticker prices you see on school websites). Find out now — not after your child has fallen in love with a photo of autumn foliage on a brochure or the school mascot –how to research and select schools that are the right fit for your student and the right price for your family. If you don’t know where to start, come to one of my classes or download my free resource guide… or at the very minimum, search my blog for the articles I referenced above. And, if you have already come to one of my classes, it’s time to get off the fence and give us a call today, while we can do something to make college more affordable… well before the bill is in hand, and you’re in crisis mode and you’re options are limited.
Best,
Peter
