New Year’s Resolutions
Happy 2024! Did you make any New Year's resolutions? Research shows that the vast majority of New Year's resolutions fail. Research also shows several common reasons why:
The goal is too big or unspecific. For example, you might resolve to get into better shape-- a big and not very clearly-defined goal. You might be more successful in resolving to go to the gym three times a week; even better, resolve to go to the gym Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 5:30.
We don't think about why we want to make the change. Change takes effort and discomfort, and it's usually optional. All of those combine to make it easy to give up. Framing your resolution from the perspective of the ultimate goal-- your why-- makes it easier to put up with the effort and discomfort. Rather than getting into better shape, perhaps you want to run a marathon or a 5k or feel healthier or fit into a favorite pair of jeans.
With that in mind, here are some achievable New Year's resolutions for parents with college-bound kids of any age.
Increase your college savings rate. Even if it's just by a little, little bits add up and more savings will give your student more choices. If your child is in kindergarten and you increase your savings rate by $10 per month every year, you'll have $14,000 more when they graduate from high school. The easy way to do it: Do it on their birthday. Every year. It's a great time to think about not just how much they've grown, but all that you hope for them in the future. (And of course, if you don't yet have a 529, open one now. Not sure which one? Here's how to choose.)
Do the (extremely poorly named) Student Aid Estimator on the Department of Education website to get an estimate of your Student Aid Index. This will help you to understand if your student is a candidate for need-based aid or for merit aid. If your SAI is less than the Cost of Attendance at a particular college, then you are a candidate for need-based aid.
Since colleges aren't required to meet your financial need, do the net price calculator for any college your student is interested in. (If your kids are too young to be interested, do the one for your alma mater or a college you think would be a fit for them.) Net price calculators tell you what a particular college is likely to cost your student; this is far more helpful than the student aid estimate. Colleges are required to have net price calculators on their website; they're usually on the financial aid page. If you can't find it, just google "[school name] net price calculator."
A few specific to families of high school students:
Have a conversation with them about college expectations costs. Specifically, what can your family contribute, what skin in the game do you expect them to have, what will you do if their top choice schools don't fit your budget. Taking a goals-based approach to this conversation ("Our goal is that you'll graduate from college without any student loan debt. We're able to contribute $X per year to get you to that goal...") is probably going to get better results than a limits-based approach ("We can only afford in-state tuition so don't apply to any private schools").
Research merit scholarships at your in-state public schools, and scholarship qualifications-- weighted vs unweighted GPA, test score considerations, whether they're awarded automatically or applications are required.
Take the tests! The beauty of standardized tests right now is you can't hurt yourself. Most colleges are test-optional, but many give preferential consideration to students who submit scores because of how US News treats test scores in its rankings methodology. And merit awards often consider test scores.
Research outside scholarships. Check at your high school college and career center-- they probably have a list. Ask your employer. Ask teachers, coaches, and others who volunteer in the activities you participate in if they're aware of any. Fastweb, Niche, the College Board and more have great databases as well, but the applicant pools tend to be vastly larger for those.
Get in touch with colleges you're interested in. Follow them on social media, sign up for a virtual tour, request information when they send you direct mail-- there are plenty of ways to do this and not only will you get more and better information about the college, you'll also demonstrate interest which is often a key component in admissions and scholarship decisions.
Now it's your turn: Pick a few of these and commit to doing them. Give yourself a timeline and just get them done. And if you want a template for keeping these resolutions and more, pick up a copy of my book, How to Pay for College, which walks you through the entire process of building out a college plan.
