Reality Bytes

1
Reality Bytes

• Getting Ready for
• College Early

2
What is College?

• Public and private 4-year colleges and
  universities
• 2-year community or junior colleges
• business schools
• proprietary schools
• vocational-technical schools

3
Keep Your Options Open

• Does that mean your child needs to know now, what
  they want to do when they grow up?
• NO!

4
Then, why worry about college now?

• College can be the key to the kind of life you
  want for your child
• It gives your child choices
• In the kind of jobs they can choose
• How much money they will make
• In helping others

5
Theres money if you need it

• Everyone can afford to go to college
• Everyone is eligible for some kind of financial
  aid

6
Steps to getting you and your child
ready for college
7
Step 1 Helping them make the decision

• Importance of college
• Better utilize technology
• Choose careers based on interests
• More career options
• Increase earning potential
• Opportunity to make better decisions

8
Unemployment rate by education level
9
Step 1 Making the Decision

• Choose the type of college
• 4-year college (university or college offering
  a bachelors degree or above)
• 2-year college (community or junior college
  offering a training program, certificate, or
  associates degree to include transfer options)
• Technical Schools (skill centers and other
  schools offering entry level occupational
  programs)

10
Step 1 Making the Decision

• Explore careers.
• Help your child choose several careers
• Help them find the educational requirements for
  their career interests
• Help them talk with people about their interests
  (job shadowing)
• Find articles of interest about their career
  choices
• On the internet
• In magazines and newspapers

11
Reality Byte

• You can encourage your child to explore careers.
• Changing their mind about
• a career choice is okay,
• Failing to plan ahead is not.

12
Step 2 Getting Ready

• You, your child and their school are working
  together to prepare him or her for a good life
  after graduation
• Taking the right courses for college starts NOW!
• Help them select the right courses to get the
  most out of high school - encourage challenging
  courses

13
Step 2 Getting Ready

• Consider this
• Research shows that if students take algebra and
  geometry early (8th and 9th grade) they are more
  likely to go on to college than students that
  dont
• These courses can also help them get into college

14
Step 2 Getting Ready

• Recommended High School
• Curriculum for College
• English 4 units
• Mathematics 4-6 units
• Social Studies 4-6 units
• Science 3-4 units

15
Step 2 Getting Ready

• Many colleges require additional courses in
• Foreign Language
• Fine Performing Arts
• Computer Science

16
Step 2 Getting Ready

• College credit while in high school
• Advanced Placement (AP) - college level courses
  offered by the high school
• Articulation - occupational courses in H.S.s or
  career centers that transfer to some college
  programs
• Dual Enrollment - taking college courses while in
  H.S. that may apply to both the H.S. degree and
  the college degree

17
Step 2 Getting Ready

• College admissions exams
• Encourage your child to take the ACT or SAT in
  their Junior or Senior year
• Encourage them to take the MEAP early
• to qualify for Dual Enrollment
• to earn the Merit Scholarship (2500)

18
Reality Bytes

• Course selection Easy is not best
• Many times a student will choose their schedule
  based on what is fun and
• which course is easy.
• Its up to you to encourage the challenging
  choices.

19
Step 3 Planning ahead

• What Does College Cost?
• College is probably not as expensive as you think
  it is
• However, parents and students need to begin
  saving NOW!
• Tuition, fees and books are only part of the
  cost. They will need money for transportation,
  food, clothes, entertainment, etc.

20
Step 3 Planning ahead
Pie chart on college costs
21
Reality Bytes

• Dont eliminate any college because of cost
• Even the most expensive college
• may be affordable
• after you look at all your
• options.

22
Step 4 Paying for college

• What you and your child can do
• Save
• Use Federal income-tax credits
• Use Student Financial Aid
• Gift Aid - grants and scholarships that do not
  have to be paid back
• Work Aid - a job during college to earn money
• Loan Aid - money for college that must be paid
  back

23
Step 4 Paying for college

• How financial need is determined
• Cost of Education
• - Expected Family Contribution
• Financial Need

24
Step 4 Paying for college

• Other sources
• Military service scholarships (full-time and
  part-time service)
• Americorps, community service program
• Civic groups and organizations, foundations and
  businesses
• Web services (such as fastweb.com)

25
Step 4 Paying for college

• Cautions
• Scholarship Scams
• Compiling debt
• Excessive student loans
• Credit cards

26
Reality Byte

• Its all about choices
• Boat, cars, snowmobiles, pools or.
• COLLEGE
• for your son or daughter.
• You make the choices

27
Reality Byte - Final

• You can change college from
• a dream into a reality, so
• Make planning for college part of
• your childs daily life.
• Think College Early!