Author archives for Graham Archer
Blog
Will You Have to Pay “Success Penalties”?
In a recent discussion with the father of a high school freshman, he told me they had done an online calculation for how much a specific school would cost their family. When looking at an Ivy League school that costs $60,000+ per year, they could expect to get about $2,000 per year in financial aid.
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Blog
Why You Can’t Neglect Your Retirement for Your Kids’ College
A study by Personal Capital found that 70% of wealthy Millennial families are putting college savings ahead of retirement. That is a classic “heart vs. head” mistake for the simple reason that students can get loans and scholarships for college, but parents will not get loans and scholarships for retirement.
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Apply Logic to an Emotional Decision
As parents, we want to put our children on a path toward a better future. Plus, society tells us that the colleges our children get accepted to are a measure of success as parents. This makes our college choice even more emotional.
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How to Negotiate a Better Financial Aid Package
It’s important to me to help parents become better consumers of higher education. It’s so hard to be logical and practical when it comes to helping our kids get on their path toward a better future, but we owe it to them and ourselves to remember that where we send our kids to college is a lifestyle choice – just like buying a car or a house.
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Blog
Choose Your Child’s Perfect College, Not Yours
As a mother, I want to give my son every opportunity to become the best version of himself. It’s just the way parents are wired and that’s why we’re focused on getting our kids into a great college.
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How to Save Money for College Through 529s and Other Vehicles
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, “How 529s Affect Financial Aid,” I answer some questions that readers have about their 529s, such as what to do about leftover 529 funds and whether a summer college program for rising juniors would count as an allowable expense.
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Why You Should Negotiate What You Pay for College
A survey of college admissions directors by Inside Higher Ed found that only 34% of colleges met new student enrollments by May 1 when schools like to have their incoming class set. And that is down from 37% in 2016 and 42% in 2015.
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Blog
Has Your Student “Demonstrated Interest”?
Colleges use a lot of factors to determine who gets an acceptance letter. Most parents are aware of GPA, SAT/ACT test scores, essays and extracurricular activities. However, one that is often overlooked is something colleges call demonstrated interest.
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Blog
How to Talk Through Decisions with Your Teens
On Mack’s 15th birthday, we found ourselves at the Department of Motor Vehicles to get his driver’s permit. Everything about the driver’s permit was a life lesson: the preparation and testing involved; the mind-numbing inefficiency of our time at the DMV; the 50 hours of driving time we need to log between now and his 16th birthday.
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Blog
Why Now is the Time to Negotiate Financial Aid
The Atlantic article titled The Bursting of the College Bubble discussed how enrollments are down at colleges. Some of the reasons include fewer teenagers in the US and more adults staying in the workforce (many went back to school during the Great Recession).
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