I don't 100% understand.

I just read an article this morning on Forbes about parents getting into the "risky business" of co-signing for a student loan with their child. Here it is: http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/14/student-loans-retirement-moneybuilder-personal-finance-loans.html

But here's what I don't understand. Why are they encouraging parents and students to tap a 401k retirement fund or take out a second mortgage on the home when if the parent is willing to co-sign, there are plenty of much safer alternatives that are set up for education to take?

For instance, first the student has the option of Stafford Loans. These have many, many years to repay and are primarily in the student's name. (And while I understand many parent's don't want their child to leave college with debt, I think a little isn't a bad idea because it helped me get my credit established which eventually let me buy my first home and a nice car... and it also helped me take school a little more seriously when I realized it was coming out of my own pocket!) They also have low, low interest rates as well as some have subsidized interest while you're in school so you don't accrue any interest during that time.

Then there is, at least in Minnesota, the PLUS loan which requires a co-signer and again is similar to the Stafford loan. Then there are Perkin's loans and a whole bunch of other loans that are set up for education- specifically in that there are no payments while the child is in school, interest is low and there isn't a risk of the parent losing a home or a retirement fund.

Articles like that, in my opinion, cause the unnecessary panic about attending college due to the financial situation that is completely unwarranted. I think they also prevent some students from going to college because the parents put it in the child's head (and I have seen this happen) that it's completely impossible because it's too expensive.

Dear Publication Companies: before you cause an uproar in the educational community by showing how risky financially it is for a child to attend college PLEASE show the whole story and not make it appear that the parent has to remortgage their home (an example used in the article) to send their child to school.

Thank you,
Nikki

Now, that being said: do some students not understand that their loans are loans that have to be repaid? Yes. But there is REQUIRED financial aid entrance counseling when a student starts school and REQUIRED financial aid counseling when a student leaves school. If a parent co-signs on the loan should the student have a clear understanding that the student is the primary beneficiary of the loan and therefore responsible for repayment? Yes! However, these issues which seemed insurmountable in the article are ones that a little communication between the parent and student will clear up..

As far as the student not getting a job right out of college? Again, as long as the student doesn't have the unrealistic expectation (or the parent!) of the student walking off the graduation stage into the $500,000 a year job (not saying that doesn't happen, but let's face it, it's not common) and will have an entry level salary for a while and may have to (gasp) make some sacrifices to start some of the repayment on student loans repayment is not impossible.

I have a fair amount of student loans myself from my undergraduate and graduate studies. (And by "fair amount" I mean significantly more than I see people freaking out about in these articles.) And you know what? Once repayment starts my payments for all of them are less than $300 a month. I have made payments on them in the past between colleges, and you know what? I was able to make the payments on my student loans, my car payment on a new car, my rent payment and still have money left over for food on about $12.00 an hour.

So please, please please please when you read articles like this please don't fall prey to the panic that I think they induce. Talk to your financial aid counselors before you say college is impossible. I'll get off of my soap box now. Please go to college.

Oh, and have a great weekend!

How Much Say Do Parents Have?

I just read an interesting blog regarding a student unhappy that his parents want him to go to school to be an MD (well whose parents wouldn't?) but he would rather go to be an English major. The blogger asserts that if the parents are paying then they have 100% say over where the student goes and what is studied.

Yikes. I happen to completely disagree. I posted a response to the blog which you can read, but I would like to share it here as well in more detail. Also, my perspective on college is that I paid for a large majority of my undergraduate studies and all of my graduate studies on my own. (Which again, unlike the blogger, I do not regret.) My parental help consisted of helping with housing the first year, little help for the rent payment after that and I believe there was one semester where the college I was at lost my FAFSA application (hurray for online applications now!) where my dad helped out. But the rest... well, let's just say I've got a fair amount of student loan debt now.

A close friend of mine had the option of going to the ONE college that her parents would pay for entirely, or financing the whole thing on her own which she didn't know how to do at age 18. (I told her it was do-able, but frankly at that age it's a little scary.) Her parents would not listen to any argument of not wanting to go there, not fitting in, etc. That is where they went and it is a well respected school in the area, therefore, that is where she would go too. They chose her major too which again was not what she was happy doing.

And...

She hated every minute of it. Hated the classes, hated her classmates, hated her roommates, and the eventual outcome of this was one semester in she dropped out entirely and had a massive falling out with her parents that lasted close to five years. Now, ten years later her husband has supported her return to college in a field she is interested in and where she was able to have a more choice (though was somewhat confined to staying in the town they are settled in) AND is much, much happier.

So I do think parents should have input into the college choice, definitely talk and have a conversation with them as a student about what you would like to do and where to go because they will have good feedback... but I believe if they are choosing to support you in college they are also choosing to support your decisions as to where to go and what major fits you best. Otherwise both parents and children are risking major relationship consequences and major life changers if things go wrong. And sometimes things change in college. You grow up a lot as you attend college and maybe what you wanted when you were 17 and made your college choice is not what suits you anymore at age 20. I can certainly vouch for this happening.

Put yourself in that situation. What happens when you are forced into something you don't really like? Most people I know do a pretty crappy job of it. While I have enjoyed about 99% of my college classes (maybe that's why I just kept going and going...) I couldn't imagine having a computer science major. Sure I could probably do it, but for me it would be miserable! And while sometimes parents can know best in situations, something as intensely personal as a college decision and major can't be made by anyone other than the student.

The other thing that can happen is a lot of deception. The FERPA rules and regulations limit the parents from having access to grades, schedules, etc. of their student regardless of if they are paying for it unless the student chooses to sign something allowing their parents or guardians to see it. (They are adults after all, and this is personal information.) I've spoken with more than a few angry parents who wanted academic and attendance information that I couldn't release at the college. Given that, a student could switch from the pre-med major to the English major and the parents would never know it. Just think what kind of ugliness in the family THAT would set up when mom and dad find out...

Finally, what I think some of this might come down to is a personal definition of success. What the parents might consider successful is not what the student might consider as success. It's kind of one of those moments (only on a much grander scale) when you make something you're really proud of and you go to show it to someone else and they say "Why on earth are you proud of that piece of junk?"

My goodness this blog got much longer than I intended, and again wasn't about the chosen topic of the day. Well, you'll just have to wait on the fascinating and exciting blog about "data use and privacy policies" tomorrow.

FERPA- Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

As you are going off to college this is something that you and your parents should be aware of.

FERPA is a law that is put in place to protect student information. However, when the student reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level these rights transfer completely to the student. Students must sign a waiver to allow anyone other than themselves access to their administrative, academic or financial aid records after the rights have been transferred to them.

This means that if a parent calls the college and requests information about financial aid, grades or attendance this information cannot be disclosed to the parent unless the student has signed the waiver agreement specifically allowing that parent to access the requested information. I spoke with quite a few very irate parents who were not happy that I could not disclose this information to them despite the fact that the parent was paying for the student's education.

If you have any type of agreement with your child/parent when starting college it is best to have a plan for this in place. If there is an agreement about grades that are to be maintained to remain eligible for private scholarships, familial contributions, etc. where a parent needs to independently view the academic information the student must sign a waiver allowing the parent to do so.

So, before heading off to college I encourage you (and your parents or child) to be aware of the FERPA laws that will be in place at the college: http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

Entering the world of the blog...

Welcome!

This is a new venture for Anycollege.com; we hope to use this as a way to get a little more info out there in the webisphere (how's that for a technical sounding word?? :)) for kids getting ready to start looking for colleges or actually go to college. That being said, if you want to ask anything to us please feel free!

I would like to share a recent story of something I experienced while doing some research for our website. While at a local high school conducting a focus group with some juniors and seniors I asked the kids how many had chosen a college already. About half raised their hands. When I asked them how they found their colleges the answer was mainly "I heard about them from other people" or "I just knew about them". Upon further prodding I learned that many of them were attending school either within the same city as the high school or within a state away.

There certainly is nothing wrong with this. However when I asked the group if any ever considered looking at a small school on the East Coast or checking out info for a music school in California they all looked at me with a baffled expression. Finally one asked me (with that tone of voice that only high school students can do that clearly shows what is being thought about my intelligence level) "WHY would we do that?"

"Well" I replied "To see what else is out there. You never know, maybe there is a really cool school in Vermont or Oregon that is everything you've ever wanted in a college. You'll never know until you look!"

But, with a shake of a head (again, which clearly said "This woman is crazy") that far-fetched idea was dismissed.

However, I'd like to bring it up again in this blog. Expand your horizons! Check out schools you've never heard of! See what is being offered. When I began working at Anycollege I was amazed at the schools that are out there. Some have some really innovative academic programs, some have some really neat layouts (tell me putting all the art majors together in one dorm with studios available in the building isn't brilliant!) , some have activities that even now I would love to get involved with. While I am proud of the schools I attended seeing some of these other options made me wish I had really looked around a little more before making my decision. Who knows, maybe I would have gone for that degree in Cross Country Ski Coaching from the University of Maine!

If you know what you'd like to do take a look at all the schools that offer that program, not just schools that your friends are going to attend, that your sister went to or that are within 200 miles. Many of these schools are also actively recruiting students from out of state, so is a good possibility of some scholarships to make up for the possibility of out of state tuition.

Even if you don't go to one you can at least say you looked for something out of the ordinary!