YCBK 206: Is college worth it? - a podcast by Mark Stucker

In this episode you will hear:   (12:28) In this week’s “In the news” segment, a blog article from the Josiah Barlett center of Public Policy entitled, by Andrew Cline “Is College Worth Is: Usually but not always” Dave and Mark discuss the statistics the blog article shares as they debate if college is worth it.   https://jbartlett.org/2021/10/is-college-worth-it-usually-but-not-always-new-study-finds/#:~:text=A%20college%20degree%20is%20a,school%20students%20are%20constantly%20told.&text=Cooper's%20study%20adds%20real%20value,investment%2C%20not%20just%20lifetime%20earnings.     (32:30) Mark and Lisa discuss two questions, one from a dad from Colorado and one from a high school student. Here are the two questions:   First question- How can you evaluate whether a school does better than its peers at looking after First year students-Dave from Colorado   Second question-I attend a small school and two of my peers committed to Duke as athletic recruits, will Duke consider taking 3 students from my small school or will their commitments hurt my chance of admission? Anonymous female student         (58:30) Mark interviews two financial aid experts: Michael Ireland, Associate Director of Financial Aid and Courtney Hatch Blauvett, the Director of College Counseling at Miss Hall’s school and the former financial aid officer at four different colleges. Michael and Courtney answer 13 questions that listeners to YCBK sent in over the last three months on all topics related to paying for college, financial aid, scholarships, etc. This is part 5 of 5.   Preview-Part 5   Courtney and Michael continue their discussion about common mistakes they see a lot on the FAFSA and the PROFILE. Michael finishes up with the FAFSA and then he transitions to the PROFILE Courtney shares the most common mistakes she experiences both when she did financial aid and now that she is a Director of College Counseling Courtney and Michael answer the question, “Are you experiencing more schools requiring the FAFSA for merit aid”? Courtney-If my student will be starting college in the fall of 2022. I have heard that we should pay as we go for the first two years and  use very little of our 529. The reason for this is that the colleges use your prior prior year taxes for FAFSA. Because if we wait for the last two years to use the money for the 529 it will not have any tax impact because he will be completed by then. So basically what I'm saying is we can use a lump sum toward his college and it not be held against us Mark puts Courtney and Michael on the hot seat with some lighthearted non financial aid questions Courtney returns for a 15 minute addendum to really emphasize some things about federal loans, student loans, parent loans and graduate student loans.   (01:12:14) Our recommended resource for episode 206 is a great source for understanding how Federal legislation will impact what students have to pay for college. If you like following the technical aspects of student aid, the NASFAA Off the Cuff podcast may be for you.   No college spotlight this week. Next week we will discuss, Sewanee: The University of the South Follow Mark Stucker on Twitter to get breaking college admission news,  and updates about the podcast before they go live:     To access our transcripts, click: Find the specific episode transcripts for the one you want to search and click the link Find the magnifying glass icon in blue (search feature) and click it Enter whatever word you want to search. I.e. Loans Every word in that episode when the words loans is used, will be highlighted in yellow with a timestamps Click the word highlighted in yellow and the player will play the episode from that starting point You can also download the entire podcast as a transcript   Feel free to pass this podcast on to others who you feel will benefit, even if they are not a YCBK listener.   Don't forget to send your questions related to any and every facet of the college process to: . If you enjoy our podcast, would you please do us a favor and share our podcast both verbally and on social media? We would be most grateful!   If you want to help more people find Your College-Bound Kid, please make sure you subscribe to our podcast. You will also get instant notifications as soon as each episode goes live.   Check out the college admissions books Mark recommends:   Check out the college websites Mark recommends:       If you want a college consultation with Mark or Lisa, just text Mark at 404-664-4340. All they ask is that you review the services on their website before the complimentary session. Their counseling website is: https://schoolmatch4u.com/

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