Author: Alan F. Dauphin

College Has Never Been More Important

• College graduates with a bachelor’s degree typically earn 66% more than those with only a high school diploma; and are also far less likely to face unemployment.
• Over the course of a lifetime, the average worker with a bachelor’s degree will earn approximately $1 Million more than a worker without a post-secondary education.
• By 2020, an estimated 2/3 of job openings will require post-secondary education.

College Has Never Been More Expensive

• For most families, a college education represents the largest purchase they will ever make.
• Over the past three decades, tuition at four-year colleges has more than doubled.
• 70% of students graduate with student debt.
• As of 2016, the average amount owed by a typical student loan borrower who graduated with a bachelor’s degree more than doubled to a total of nearly $37,172.
• The maximum Pell Grant in 2015 only covered about 30% of the cost of a four-year public college education – the lowest proportion in history.

Cost & Debt Are Only Part of the Story

• Increased focus on student success is paramount. The most expensive education is one that doesn’t lead to a degree. Students’ ability to repay their loans depends more on whether they graduate than how much total debt they take on.
• 70% of Americans will study at a four-year college, but less than 2/3 will graduate.
• 60% of college dropouts had no financial help from their parents.
• Students who take out college loans, but don’t graduate, are 3X more likely to default than borrowers who graduate with a degree.
• More than 40% of first-time full-time students who enroll in a bachelor’s degree program don’t graduate within six years.

So, What Do We Do?

• Ensure students go to the schools representing their “best fit”.
• Ensure students don’t pay one dollar more than they need to, to attend their best-fit schools.

“At New England College Planning Associates, our goal is to help students and their parents to successfully navigate the college selection, admissions, and financial aid process so they can send their child to their best-fit college, without creating life-long debt.”