Going to college used to be the “no-brainer” path to middle-class, or better, financial success. However, in the last twenty years, this paradigm has self-destructed. Tuition has gone up 200%. The job market has undergone a dramatic transformation, i.e. there are nowhere near enough suitable jobs given the number of sheepskins being churned out by those institutions of higher learning.

Making a “success” out of college today has become extremely difficult. Only one in four who matriculate, graduate and get a good job. Seventy percent leave college with student loan debt—for some, financially crippling.

Here are three websites that describe a traditional timeline for choosing a college:

www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2013/09/23/create-a-to-do-list-for-your-college-search

www.petersons.com/college-search/planning-list-students-parents.aspx

www.khanacademy.org/college-careers-more/college-admissions/get-started/introduction-ca/a/master-timeline-college-admissions

I could probably find a dozen more, but these three should make my point:

The “traditional” method of choosing a college is seriously flawed.

In the traditional process the three biggest weaknesses are that it:

• Ignores “affordability,” and leaves the “financial moment of truth” much too late in the process.
• Doesn’t address the need for a “whole degree” financial plan.
• Accepts the premise that college is about exploring and “finding yourself.”

Affordability

Five out of eight young people think their parents will pay for any college they choose regardless of cost. Studies show that most of them are in for a big, unpleasant surprise. The current methodology leads to many parents and students “meeting their Waterloo” on, or about, April 1^st of the senior year when those financial-aid award letters arrive. At that point, they have one month to make an emotion filled, life-defining decision. In my opinion, this is one of the major drivers of the student loan crisis. Parents don’t want to see their kids disappointed, and they think, “We’ll deal with that “loan business” down the road. How bad can it be?”

That April “crunch time” is also indicative of parents not managing their student’s expectations. The time to do the preliminary planning and start the conversation about post-secondary education options is middle-school when there is still “plenty of runway” to work with.

Financial Planning

If you read, The Boys In the Boat, you will hear the story of how nine sons of working-class families achieved glory in the 1936 Olympics. You will also learn what it was like to work your way through college during The Great Depression. I can attest that the picture hadn’t changed thirty years later. Today working your way through college with a minimum wage job is almost impossible.

For many families, post-secondary education expenses for their offspring represent their second biggest financial challenge. However, it is common to see families send their teenagers off to college without a “whole degree” financial plan, or without much of any kind of financial plan, for that matter. A good plan lays out a timeline to the desired degree, projects line-by-line costs for each year, and the source of the funds to meet those costs.

There is an old Yiddish saying, “Man plans. God laughs.” Even with a detailed plan, execution is difficult. More and more often those four-year degrees end up requiring five, or even, six years. Running out of funds is a major cause of students dropping out.

Finding Yourself

Very few families can afford the luxury of sending “little Joanie” off to college to “find herself” these days. When you show up at the ivy covered gates you need to be ready to go to work.

Fifty percent show up at their new dorm room with no inkling of a major. (One wonders about how much serious thought the other fifty percent have given the idea.) Eighty percent will change majors, many, multiple times. When tuition was $500 a year this wasn’t such a serious problem. At $10,000 this can be a “game breaker.”

The second issue regarding majors is how do you make an intelligent financial planning decision on student loans without having a “targeted starting salary?”

Dr. Kevin Fleming in his book, (RE)Defining the Goal: The True Path to Career Readiness in the 21st Century, describes “Flip the College Decision-Making Paradigm.” Choose a career. Determine your major. Pick your school. Most kids do the exact opposite. What if you decide that Computer Science is the key to your future career, but the school you choose doesn’t have a strong program?

Just like “affordability” the time to begin this conversation is middle-school. Start exploring. Have your parents take you to “Career Night” at your local hospital. Go to “STEM Camp” at a nearby college. Join a club. Volunteer. With your parents help arrange some “shadow days.” (I know that feels a little weird. The person you are going to be shadowing is going to be thrilled. Their spouse and kids have no interest in their job at all. Your hanging around is going to be the highlight of their week.) The idea is to expose yourself to a lot of different fields.

Summary

Your high school guidance counselor is probably going to be following a form of the tradition “choose your college” game plan. I suggest that parents and their student develop their own game plan that addresses the issues discussed in this post.