SALEM, Ore. (KOIN) — Tens of thousands of high school seniors will choose where to spend their next 4 years by Wednesday, the college decision day deadline.
But student debt — which has hit $1.5 trillion — weighs on the minds of families around the country.
With inflation of tuition, financial planners say college is one of the largest investments anyone will ever make. Applying for FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is only the beginning.
Kendall Blunt has more than 3 decades of experience in financial planning but it wasn’t until his first child got to college that he realized he could have spent less.
“As I did research, I found mistakes that I made, and they’re the same mistakes many other parents make as well,” Blunt told KOIN 6 News.
So he put together a program called College Success Planner to help people decipher the financial aid process.
“The key element in financial aid is school selection,” he said.
There are more than 4600 colleges in the US, yet most families only look at about 5. Schools can have the same sticker price, but Blunt said needs-based aid can really fluctuate from university to university.
Needs-based aid is determined by a family’s finances and usually doesn’t have to be repaid. Blunt helps families realize there is more aid available than they’re typically collecting.
“We really encourage people to expand their universe with regard to school selection that will have a material impact on their eligibility for aid,” he said.
Among the common mistakes, he said, are people don’t know the deadlines and don’t do the research. But his program has resources that can help estimate a family’s aid eligibility in advance.
“That can take several years, in certain circumstances, so it’s really important to start early in that process,” he said.
Families are encouraged to start figuring out their financial aid when their students are freshmen in high school because the impact of realizing the full potential of your needs-based aid is noteworthy.
Blunt has helped save students and parents anywhere from $15,000 to $40,000 per year.
“Multiply that by 4,” he said, “and suddenly that’s very significant money.”