Matters, where we take a closer look at various topics in the world of education and break down how it matters to you.

I'm your host, Kelsey Starks, and this month, we're going to take a closer look at the daunting task of paying for college.

The most recent numbers from U.S.

News and World Report show the average sticker price at a private college is close to $44,000 per year.

A public out-of-state college costs about 75% less, at 25,000 for the same year.

While an in-state public college is the lowest cost, averaging about $11,000 a year.

Now, keep in mind this is tuition only.

So other mandatory expenses like housing, food, textbooks all add an additional thousands of dollars a year.

Now, the good news is that there are many avenues to avoid paying this full sticker price.

In fact, most students will not pay that full sticker price.

A recent study from the National Association of College and University Business Officers found most private colleges and universities reported an average tuition discount of more than 56% for first time students last year.

That's the highest since the 2015 2016 academic year.

But here's the catch you can't get those discounts unless you understand the process of applying for financial aid, which can include a lot of different things.

Need based aid.

Merit based aid loans.

We're going to discuss all of the options with our experts today.

So I'd like to introduce you to our panel of experts now.

Mike Abood is associate director of financial aid at the University of Louisville.

Michelle Labonne is the director of financial aid and military affairs at Sullivan University.

Audrey Price is director of financial aid at Lindsey Wilson University and president elect, that's the Kentucky Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

And Connor Vogt is an outreach counselor at Kia, the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority.

So thank you all so much for being here and sharing your expertise with with us.

We are going to start with Fafsa, because that is the number one thing most parents and students need to know about if they are going to be applying for financial aid.

This is the free application for federal student aid, and this is something that needs to be filled out by Who who fills out the Fafsa.

>> Any student that's going to attend college is going to fill out the Fafsa.

They're also going to need to include any contributors that may be part of their household.

That could be a spouse for some students, or it could be parents for other students.

>> So I think this is one of those things that a lot of people will say, well, I don't know if I qualify for federal aid.

I don't know if I'm going to, you know, do I need to fill out the Fafsa and across the board?

It doesn't hurt, right?

>> Correct.

The Fafsa filling out the Fafsa is the first step to getting financial aid at pretty much any institution in in Kentucky or the US.

>> Yeah.

And how is that financial aid determined?

What what do these colleges look at to determine financial aid?

>> Go ahead.

>> I think that's part of the beauty of the Fafsa is that you're filing information regarding your demographics, your parents income information, and it goes into essentially a mathematical education designed by the Department of Ed.

So that essentially spits out information to the schools that we all treat students pretty fairly and equally with regards to grant funding, loan eligibility.

There's some other factors that go into that, but that's part of the beauty of the mathematical side of that Fafsa application.

>> So as you're getting prepared to fill out the Fafsa, what are some things you need to have handy or with you?

What are they going to ask?

>> So the first thing you'll need is the student is going to create what's called a student aid account, or used to be known as an FSA ID.

One of their contributors will need one of those as well, and they need to have their Social Security numbers ready to go.

And the last year's tax information ready and available.

>> And everything is online now.

It's a lot easier than it used to be, right?

>> A lot easier, yeah.

>> Okay.

And I know a couple years ago there were some bumps with those changes and everything, but it is up and running right now.

And so if you are looking to apply for any type of financial aid you can get online and do this right now.

Right?

>> Yes.

>> Okay.

It's 100% ready to go.

What a lot of people say, what if my family is going to make too much money to qualify for financial aid?

Why do they still need to fill out the Fafsa?

>> So we run into this fairly often going into the high schools, adult education centers, you name it.

I think it's incredibly important to fill out the Fafsa because not only does it unlock that federal aid, but we can access state financial aid as well.

The state of Kentucky offers many different grants based on financial need, and there are a few scholarships that require the Fafsa to be completed.

The Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship, for example.

It's a fantastic program, and it goes into five of the most in need sectors in the state, and that's the Fafsa is needed for that.

And it's a last dollar scholarship that.

That being said, if you're heading into one of these programs and the Fafsa doesn't necessarily cover all of your cost of tuition at that school, the work ready might be available for you as well.

>> Yeah, a lot of different options, and they are only unlocked when you can fill out the Fafsa.

I know one of the biggest mistakes that you had mentioned people make are who is the parent that goes on the Fafsa.

It's going to ask for your your parent.

And that seems simple enough, but it isn't always in every situation, right?

>> It's going to be the biological parents, step parents or adoptive parents.

A lot of students and families get confused and maybe use a grandparent, but that is actually not accurate unless that grandparent has adopted that child.

So there's actually a really helpful resource that Kia has the Fafsa checklist, and it identifies who is the parent.

Are you a dependent student and are you an independent student.

So that's they should definitely reference that.

>> So what happens if somebody somebody financial situation changes after they've filled out or started the Fafsa.

Can they go back and make changes or at what point is it are you able to change anything on it?

>> I would recommend, after you submit the Fafsa, reach out to the financial aid office at the institution you're looking to attend, because sometimes there might not be a change that you need to be making on the Fafsa, but the school can do that on your behalf.

And other times it could be an actual correction that you misfiled it on on accident.

And so we're just making a correction.

So just reach out to the financial aid office.

If there's a question whether or not you should be changing any part of the Fafsa.

>> So what if a student doesn't know exactly what college they want to attend yet?

Do they have to know in order to fill out the Fafsa?

>> You you can list up to 20 schools on the Fafsa, and you can add or subtract as many schools as you want until you start using those funding or the funds that are involved there.

So it's encouraged to list as many schools as you think you might even apply to.

And then that gives you the advantage later on of being able to compare all those different funding plans, because every school is going to present what they can based upon their terms, based upon their costs, based upon their institutional funds.

And if you don't have all those letters next to each other, it's going to be very hard to decide what's going to be the best fit for you financially.

>> And you mentioned you had told me earlier that you just had a child go to college, and so you went through the same thing.

And I thought your advice was great.

A spreadsheet.

>> That we made a spreadsheet.

And as every funding plan came in or every admissions offer offer came in, sometimes the admissions offers merit based scholarships immediately.

Sometimes they add additional grants once the Fafsa is on file.

And so we listed a spreadsheet.

So I put down tuition, I put down what institutional merit scholarships, what institutional grants, any federal grants, any state grants.

So that my kid and he shared it with his high school counselor and was like, this is what my mom put together.

So the counselor was able to see and go, okay, these are great.

And then guide him on the academics at each school as well.

So we found the schools that were the best fit academically, socially, that's also an important thing to look at as well as financially for our household.

And so we were able to look at it holistically.

>> Yeah, that's that's great advice.

But not everybody going to college is a senior in high school.

Right.

So what what does this mean for nontraditional students.

Maybe an adult going back to school or they fill out the Fafsa too.

Everybody fills out the Fafsa.

>> They want money.

You need to file the Fafsa.

Yes.

If you need an aid offer.

>> Yes.

So.

And would you encourage people to put as many schools as possible?

>> Yes.

Especially for if a student is interested in a private college, there's a Kentucky tuition grant through the state, and it's very important that they at least put one private school on the Fafsa to kind of hold their spot for that funding.

We would hate to learn that the money ran out, and all of all that they put was a state school or, you know, a community college where those that grant isn't even available to those schools, it's only available to the private institutions in Kentucky.

>> Right.

And you.

>> Mentioned preparatory and preparatory schools.

>> Yeah.

And you mentioned money running out.

Yes.

That's why it's important to do it.

>> Apply and apply early.

>> Yeah.

>> I had a student actually just a couple of weeks ago called me.

I was telling her it was time to do the Fafsa, and they said, well, I'm planning on transferring out to a different school, so I'm waiting to do my Fafsa.

And I had to explain to them that they weren't going to be eligible for the funding at our school until they put us on the Fafsa.

But it was okay to list a secondary school on the Fafsa so that they could earmark themselves.

That school could then present the funding later on.

And this was a student who knew their career goal, and they were going to do one degree at our school and then transfer to another school.

And that's perfectly fine if you know you're going to do that in a year, don't wait until the last minute, but put them all on there.

>> Yeah, I know a lot of parents who may have already gone through this with one student and but there are some changes this year that we need to talk about.

And I know, Conor, you're familiar with some of those changes that are happening specific to this year.

>> Yeah.

So some of the big changes this year regarding contributor information, what a student needs to fill out that portion.

One of the biggest changes we've seen in the last few years is that the Fafsa is directly involved with the IRS, and they use something called the Direct Data Exchange.

So while I said earlier that they need to keep their tax information handy, it typically pulls a lot of that information over for them.

They've reduced the Fafsa down.

I believe the last I had seen it was about 100 questions had been pulled from that Fafsa.

So it's been a lot more simplified.

I have a lot more parents walk out of Fafsa workshops with their students, relieved and happy that they've they've gotten that finished and happy that it was so quick to do.

Yeah.

>> Any other changes that that they need to know about as far as the parent plus loans and grad plus.

So are some changes.

>> As far as as far as those go, we've seen some of those with the one big beautiful bill that has come out effective in July of 26.

Parent plus loans are going to be limited to 20,000 per dependent per year, and they have a cap at 65,000 per dependent.

So that's one of the biggest things we'll see effective around that time as well.

We're going to see Grad Plus come to an end.

Current borrowers and that are going to see a sunsetting process.

And the whole plan is to go to a one payment solution for every student.

So those are some things we need to get prepared for.

A lot of that will affect more of our graduate students and everything, especially with the Grad Plus loan though.

>> Well, I know parents do have a lot of questions about all of this, and our Laura Rogers spoke with one high school counselor from Russell County who recently had the tables turned much like you did.

She sent her own first child to college last year, and she says there are even some things that she learned in the whole process.

>> Laura Robin Rixon is college and career readiness counselor at Russell County High School.

And Robin, aside from your professional role, you're also the parent of a college freshman, so you know this process very well.

I want to ask how you started planning and saving for those college expenses, because we know how costly it can be.

>> Absolutely.

It's scary for a parent to think about the financial responsibility of having a student in college.

But there are some things that I did early on.

Whenever my child expressed interest in wanting to pursue college someday.

And that was I had him look into merit scholarship opportunities at colleges based on his GPA and his Act.

Score the keys money that students earn while they're in high school.

That has helped tremendously.

And then, of course, filing the Fafsa with that federal aid from the government.

>> This is your background.

So you had a lot of experience and you knew a lot going into the process.

However, is there anything you wished you had known last year that you know now?

>> So when I took my son on college visits his senior year, I realized that there were a couple colleges that he had really focused on and put a lot of attention and effort into researching.

And once we made it on campus, that wasn't the fit for him.

And so if one thing I could have changed was, I think I would have got him on the campuses earlier, possibly his junior year, so we could have eliminated the colleges that were not a fit for him.

>> I want to ask you more about your role there at Russell County High School and how you do help prepare high school seniors for that college admissions process, or whatever they may want to do after they graduate.

>> So I feel like I'm a liaison between the student and the military rep, the partners in our community with businesses, our chamber of commerce, our college reps.

I do a lot of planning to set up meetings between students and those.

Those individuals also have Fafsa workshops for parents and students, so we can have them file their Fafsa in a very relaxed environment with plenty of help.

I host College Application Day.

We just had that on Monday.

It was a success with over 275 applications filled out.

We had people from all over the state here to help us.

I have senior newsletter.

I have correspondence with parents.

I do all the scholarships, the dual credit coordinator.

So I play a role in just making sure that the student feels more prepared and the parent feels better prepared to move that student on to the next step, whatever step, that may be.

>> Pivotal role that you play there at Russell County High School, any common mistakes that you see people make.

>> Possibly some common mistakes that I see students make procrastination when it comes to filing, filling out scholarships, filing the Fafsa, even applying to college when they wait until the last minute.

It just makes it harder for them.

>> And then back to that affordability factor.

What is something that you think every senior needs to know, needs to consider when it does come to paying for college?

>> I feel like that every senior needs to know that there are funds available for college expenses, through scholarships, through military opportunities, through grants, work study options.

There are opportunities out there, and it never hurts for a student to go ask a financial aid office or a scholarship office at the college that they're interested in, and explain their circumstances and ask for any available funding that might be out there.

But I think that students need to exhaust all options out there before they look at taking out a student loan.

>> Yes, can definitely save you money in the long run.

>> Absolutely.

>> Robin Rixon, College and career readiness counselor at Russell County High School, thank you so much for your perspective and your expertise today.

We really appreciate it.

>> Thank you.

>> Thanks, Laura.

Some great advice there.

Start early as we said, and take advantage of those high school counselors.

They are the liaisons and the college admissions offices as well.

Let's talk a little bit about need based aid now.

So this is something that helps families who can't afford full tuition.

So how does what is exactly need based mean.

And then how does somebody know if they will qualify for it or not?

>> I think that goes back to that filing the Fafsa and that mathematical calculation, and that we all treat everybody equally.

The nice thing is from a federal perspective, that's, you know, that calculation is going to output.

Do I get a Pell Grant, as Connor mentioned, that's also going to output.

Do I get a Kentucky cap grant or a Cctg grant that's at the private schools.

But it's also important for families to realize that it's not just about need based with the, you know, stereotype that I'm low income, there's a lot of situations where institutions themselves will recognize that they need to supplement a little bit more to help that low income student out, or potentially even that middle income student who didn't get a Cap grant, a Pell Grant, where we have our own institutional need based funding to ensure that we're helping the student come to college.

There may be some loans involved, but we're trying to ease that burden a little bit.

>> Yeah.

What are some of the types of need based aid?

I mean, you mentioned that there's institutional aid and that is directly from the colleges.

And loans obviously are an option.

What are some other things?

>> There's campus based programs, which would be the federal Supplemental Education Opportunity grant.

Every school gets an allocation of that and it goes to the neediest population of students.

They have to be Pell eligible.

So that's the neediest of the needy.

And then also through campus based programs are the federal work program opportunities work study.

So there's numerous positions on campuses that students can work to earn a wage, and it can go to pay towards their expenses at the college.

And oftentimes the students can also select that that be a paycheck every two weeks or every month to help them with other expenses, other indirect expenses while they're in school.

>> And so you have to qualify for a work study.

>> You do program.

>> What about scholarships?

Need based scholarships.

How do you find those?

>> Scholarships in general is need based aid.

That's kind of considered, need based and grants.

But the Fafsa is really the starting point.

And then once the school receives that and sees what the students need is based off the results from the Fafsa, that's when the aid can be built onto an aid offer and stack that merit aid, the need based aid, the work study, the Seog grant, the federal Pell Grant, and then our state, our two state grants.

>> And this also brings into applying at different schools because it's the cost of attendance at that school, is one of the calculations to determine if that student has need.

The Fafsa gives us the PSI, the student aid index that we then calculate need off of.

But the cost of attendance at the school minus that psi equals the need.

So the more expensive of a school you go to, the higher need you're going to have.

That's why a lot of the private schools give out a lot of institutional scholarships, because we know our students, especially those that are eligible, have a very big need, and they might not be given the opportunity to go to our institutions if we didn't supplement that need as well.

>> Exactly.

And the price, the ticket price of a school, whether it's a community college, a state school, a four year public or private, the the sticker price may just shock people.

But don't ever let that deter you from looking into that college, because again, you have no idea what kind of aid is out there until you explore all of your options.

>> Yeah.

And so it's important to to put a lot of different, different types of Fafsa, even if you don't want or think you want to apply to a smaller private institution.

But really.

>> You've seen that sticker price and you're like, there's no way I can afford $70,000 a year.

You get that funding plan back and you're like, wait, I, I can afford that.

Yeah.

So yeah, even if and some loans, the subsidized loan is considered a need based loan and it has some great benefits where interest isn't doesn't accrue on it while you're in school.

So if you need a little bit of a loan, you can borrow a small subsidized.

You never have to take out everything that the school offers.

They're going to tell you what the maximum amount you're eligible for.

I'll often encourage students to not borrow what they don't need, so bring that loan amount down.

But you can potentially graduate with school with the exact same amount of loan that you originally borrowed, because no interest has accrued as your responsibility, and then you can pay on that later.

If you don't have the cash funds to pay for school.

>> Yeah, yeah.

And I want to get more into loans a little bit later.

You mentioned stacking.

Is there a cap or a limit on how many different types of funding you can stack at a school?

>> It depends on the institution.

So like at my institution, we will allow one merit based aid.

If we have students that might have parents that are alumni.

So we can stack that scholarship on top of their merit aid.

And maybe they're an athlete.

So there's multiple different types of scholarships that the schools will award.

And it's up to the institution.

How many, you know, institutional funds can be on an aid offer.

But the really the max that we can package is up to that need that we're keep referencing from the Fafsa.

So if if you don't learn anything, just file the Fafsa.

It's so important to get that Fafsa to the school so that we can help you get the most the best offer we can possibly build for you.

>> And I want to mention, too, with the Fafsa, we've been talking about how it's important to file early but early and often because it's something that has to be refiled every year, right?

Yep.

>> Yeah.

Every year your your income is going to change.

Your family dynamics are going to change.

So every year that mathematical calculation has to be redone.

So you know a lot of times almost all of us will send out postcards, emails, text messages reminding our continuing students, not just our incoming freshmen or transfer students.

Hey, as a reminder, it's time to do this again.

>> And I will reiterate that the Fafsa changes every year.

And so if you assume, well, we didn't receive grants last year, we don't want to bother with the Fafsa this year.

Please file it because the methodology methodology changes.

You may have two in college this year, whereas last year you only had one.

There's so many different factors that can change the results of the Fafsa.

>> Yeah, okay.

And so when it comes to state aid, I want to talk a little bit about the keys scholarship here in Kentucky.

That is the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship.

And you know, I've, I have a high schooler now.

And so we're getting those letters that say, hey, you have this much money.

What is that?

And what does it mean?

And how do I get it?

>> Yeah.

So the keys Scholarship or the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship is an award that Kentucky high school students receive every year.

They have an opportunity to earn up to $500 towards their their college education.

Now, this is for having above a 2.5 GPA, and that starts out at $125 at that rate.

And then it goes up from there.

On top of that, if they have a good act score, that will help them out tremendously.

If they're in AP classes and qualify for free and reduced lunch, there's an additional bonus that they can get based on those exams.

Students have a five year window after graduating high school that they can use this.

And one thing that I think is really awesome about it is that here recently there have been some changes.

And if a student is looking at going into an apprenticeship program and it's a registered apprenticeship through the state's Cabinet of Education and Workforce Development, they can use that keys money as a reimbursement, whether it be on their work, tools, equipment, certifications, whatever it may be.

So this isn't just something that's for your traditional college student.

Now our students that are heading into trades can utilize this money as well.

We want to make sure if they earned it they can use that.

>> Yeah that's that's great.

Can that be used at any college or just certain ones.

>> Now typically this is used at any college in the state of Kentucky.

There are a few schools in the surrounding area that may have what we call a reciprocity agreement to where students might be able to utilize that.

But typically, if you're in the state of Kentucky, that's where your keys money is eligible at.

>> And then what happens to that money if you choose to go elsewhere?

>> Typically you're not able to access that, unfortunately.

Yeah.

However, I do encourage students every time that we discuss going out of state, you know, you worked really hard all of your high school career to get that keys money, talk with those institutions to see if they have some sort of program where they can match that keys money to to go towards your your college tuition.

>> That's a that's do they do that often.

>> You'll see a lot of them that do that.

Yeah absolutely.

>> Yeah.

>> Especially our border states.

>> Yeah.

At least one school we looked at would do that.

>> So wow.

>> And oftentimes students don't realize it's not just one year of a scholarship.

It's every year up to the four years they can receive that total they earned in high school and use it each year of, of college up to four years or eight semesters.

And like Connor mentioned, there's a five year window to use.

The four years of funding that's available.

>> Wow.

That's that's a great option for students in Kentucky.

Another thing I know is Kentucky's work ready scholarship.

And this is a similar situation where everybody is hopeful to keep those Kentucky students in the state of Kentucky, right.

It's a fairly new and unique scholarship.

It's available to Kentucky students.

It's designed to give students interested in in-demand careers like healthcare or manufacturing a fast track to employment.

Our Christie Dutton sat down with the executive Director of Kia to explain more.

>> Joining us now is Joe Carroll Ellis, the executive director of Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority.

And we're talking today about the Work Ready Kentucky scholarship.

Tell us what that is.

>> So the Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship is a program that allows Kentuckians to pursue short term credentials, meaning a certificate, a diploma, or an Associate of Applied Science degree to fill high demand job areas in Kentucky's top five sectors.

>> Okay, so who would do this?

Who who is the audience for this type of program?

>> Sure.

The audience is really any Kentuckian, a traditional student fresh out of high school, or nontraditional adult student who's who's looking to either reskill or upskill to fulfill some of these high demand areas with a program that they can complete in two years or less.

>> Okay, so what kind of programs are they?

What might they learn?

>> Okay, so the top five sectors in Kentucky are healthcare, professional, scientific and technical services, manufacturing and logistics, construction and education.

So there are many occupations that fall under those headings.

Many fall in healthcare like nursing, phlebotomists, medical coding, medical assistant.

There's plumbing, HVAC, welding, many IT fields like cybersecurity or web design.

So many opportunities.

>> Yeah.

So all of these are in high demand.

How did this scholarship even come about.

>> So it was actually created in 2019 by the state legislature through Senate Bill 98.

And Senator Mike Wilson was the sponsor.

And it was created to address workforce shortages in Kentucky to provide affordable access to Kentuckians to fill these needs, but to also help Kentucky's industry and economy by providing the workforce needed to fill these jobs.

>> Okay.

And for somebody interested, maybe a senior in high school who's about to graduate, who may be interested in learning some of these skills, these trades, how is this program going to benefit them?

>> Okay, so the great thing about Work ready is it is is available to students who apply on a first come, first served basis.

But it has eligibility requirements that often qualify students who may not qualify for other need based grants.

So many middle income students will be able to get these funds to help further their education.

>> Okay, and how do you apply for this scholarship?

>> So visit our website which is k e.com.

And then you would select the Work Ready scholarship under the scholarship heading.

And that has all the information, including a link to the list of all of the eligible programs and the institutions where those programs are offered.

>> Okay.

And this is for the Kentuckians, Kentucky students and adults.

So how many of these scholarships are offered each year?

Is it competitive?

>> It's not competitive.

It is first come, first serve.

There are some financial requirements you do need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which is the Fafsa.

And you would do that at Studentaid.gov and then you would complete the Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship application, which is available on our website.

Last year for the 2425 school year, we awarded over $12.7 million to over 4600 students to attend these programs.

>> Oh, wow.

Okay.

Well, how does this program, this scholarship, benefit Kentucky?

>> So it's great because it serves two purposes while helping Kentuckians obtain post-secondary credentials that make them ready to enter the workforce.

It also addresses the workforce shortage needs in certain industries and helps Kentucky say here business ABC.

Come into Kentucky because we can prepare the workers to fulfill those needs that you have.

>> Okay.

And so for somebody interested in this and you mentioned that they may qualify even in that middle income area, what are some of the financial aspects of this.

>> So work ready pays for the average or pays the kctcs tuition rate.

So if you go to Kctcs then it would cover the tuition and fees there.

If you go to a more expensive institution, it would cover the amount up to the kctcs rate.

>> Okay.

For somebody interested, maybe a senior in high school interested in one of these trades, what is the benefit of them going through this work ready Kentucky scholarship rather than a different path?

What benefits will they gain.

>> So there's there's a few.

So first of all is the financial, like I said, because these funds are available and available to a large pool of applicants, and the financial eligibility restrictions aren't as tight as they are for some of the need based programs.

So you have more people that are eligible for them, but also it provides a short term pathway.

So if for students who are looking to to get some high demand skills and get into the workforce quickly, these programs have to be two years or less.

And they are specifically for those areas that are in high demand in the state so they can get in, get out, get a job, start their careers.

>> Oh wow.

They can really hit the ground running.

>> The ground running.

Yes.

That's right.

>> Well, that may answer my next question, but I'll ask it anyway.

What do you wish people knew about the work ready Kentucky scholarship?

>> Actually, what I just said that this program is, is not designed for those who are pursuing a career that require like a four year bachelor's degree or higher credential.

This program is really designed for those that want a shorter term path to hit the ground running and really get these middle skill jobs that that employers are needing today.

>> Are there any other scholarships like this?

>> Work ready is unique in how it's designed and in its purpose.

And, you know, it's it's very popular, as you can tell from the numbers that I shared.

>> Okay.

All this is great information.

Joe Carroll, thank you so much for being here and sharing your expertise with us.

>> Thank you so much for having me.

>> And by the way, we're going to have all of those resources for you.

Linked online at ket.org.

Education matters.

But one thing that we were talking about with those scholarships and things that come in, some of those need to be renewed each year and you have to maintain a certain GPA to, to keep those.

>> Yeah.

It's really important to make sure that as the school presents the scholarship, a lot of times we will include some form of a terms of agreement to make sure that the student understands that if we're giving you X amount of dollars, there's an expectation that you're going to maintain a certain GPA.

How often is that GPA going to be checked?

Is that scholarship for until you earn the degree, or is it only going to be good for, you know, four years, eight semesters?

In some cases?

It's also important to make sure to understand that.

Is that scholarship just for year number one, or is it going to be renewed as long as you meet those criteria.

So it's really, you know, it's really important.

Just as we were talking about earlier about, you know, comparing the prices and comparing the financial aid, but also to read those careful notes that fine print.

>> Yeah.

Yeah.

That goes on the spreadsheet.

Right.

So you can try to compare apples with oranges because a lot of times that's what it sounds like.

It is trying to decipher that.

Now when we're talking about merit based aid, what determines a merit scholarship is that GPA test scores a combination of everything.

>> Typically it's GPA and Act or SAT scores.

Some schools are test optional, so if the student chooses not to send that score in, then it's going to go off of a GPA.

Sometimes it's weighted, sometimes it's unweighted.

So those are questions to make sure you ask when you are applying for the for to the college.

>> There's a couple different types of scholarships have read academic competitive selective.

What do all of these terms mean.

What's the difference.

>> It's basically who they're looking at.

There are free scholarship searches out there online.

Sallie Mae has one fastweb is another one.

I think scholarships.com is one site you can go to.

I always tell people never, ever, ever pay for a scholarship.

People want to give you money, they should give you money.

But those competitive ones you're going to probably I can think of there's some that are just a raffle.

You enter a raffle and you can get a $2,000 scholarship.

If your name gets pulled out of the hat that month, some are going to be highly competitive where you have to write essays and they're going to be judged, and some of them are going to be, you know, at an institution, they get your application, they look at your GPA, your Act, SAT scores, they look at you as holistically, and you fit into it and they just hand you a scholarship.

We give competition scholarships because we have a culinary program.

So that's a type of a competitive scholarship where there's a contest and if you win, then you get a scholarship.

And so there's a lot out there.

It could be a full time job looking for that money, but the more effort you put in, the more money you get and you get to the returns.

>> Yeah.

>> I think it's important to whether it's the financial aid office or the admissions office, because other different schools route that application process to make sure that you're reading the deadline application, because some schools may say that our competitive scholarships close out on December 1st, January 1st, February 1st.

So you don't want to.

Oh, I'm comparing both schools, but one school has a deadline and the other one have a different one and make the wrong mistake.

But it's also important that as you're submitting that information to kind of have a little check box to say, okay, I submitted my essay, I submitted, or I asked my professor or my favorite high school counselor to submit a letter of recommendation.

Did they follow up and do that?

Because that's that's an easy way for a school to say, I'm sorry, your application was incomplete.

So we were not able to holistically review you.

>> Oh, gosh.

Wow.

Yeah.

It's it's a lot to take and take on.

Right.

Which is where you all come in.

So do these types of scholarships I'm assuming like we mentioned you can stack these.

Is there a limit to what you can stack together when it comes to merit based?

>> Some schools will actually have a policy on their website that outlines that.

We're going to give you the maximum institutional scholarship you can stack, you know, outside scholarships on top of what we give you.

But if we have a and I'm just going to make numbers up a $5,000 competitive scholarship and a $7,000 one, and you qualified for the seven, you don't get to also get the five.

You just get the maximum one.

But every school is going to be unique in that policy.

>> I agree.

>> Yeah.

So back to the keys money as well.

This falls into this because you are getting money based on your GPA and merit.

What what are some things students need to know about how to find out how much they have?

>> Well, first thing they can go to KET.

Com and they can sign into their what we call a Michea account.

These are set up for every student.

They're just waiting on them to register.

And that's where their keys money will be located.

Other than that, they get a letter in the summer every year that lets them know about their keys money award that they've received.

And just like our institutional scholarships come around where some of them may have those GPA requirements, I want everybody to keep in mind that your keys money does have a GPA requirement as well.

You get this all four years of college.

However, if you keep below, let's say, a 2.5 GPA, you may not receive that keys money for that year.

So it's important to keep those grades up while you're in school.

>> It's a often asked, how do I get this money to your school?

I've chosen, you know, this college, how do I get the keys?

Money.

And that part we handle at the institutions.

We actually report that you are enrolled at this college, and we request the keys money and the state grants from Kia.

So the student doesn't have to worry about how do I get my money to XYZ College?

>> You just report for what they owe and it is minus that.

Yes.

Right now.

What is is what's the difference between a grant and a scholarship?

>> Typically, scholarships are based off of something that you have worked towards.

A grant is usually based off of need or some kind of other criteria.

Scholarships would be your efforts, whether it be athletic, your band efforts, your your classroom efforts, your academics.

That's that's kind of the differentiation of a scholarship versus a grant.

Even Michelle mentioned the scholarships that you have to go apply for.

You have written an essay.

You have put forth effort to get some of those scholarships in place.

>> And there's a lot of aid available for military veterans.

And I know, Michelle, you're that's your expertise.

>> Active duty members of the military, while some of them might not, you know, you might think, well, they're active duty.

They're serving, they get a small amount of money, but most schools will discount tuition for that as well.

They get tuition assistance, kind of like company pay.

The National Guard here in Kentucky has a wonderful tuition assistance program for state schools, where they will cover quite a bit of money for tuition.

And then veterans benefits.

If you are a dependent of a veteran, there's certain programs.

The state of Kentucky actually does a tuition waiver for state institutions, and then there's benefits through the VA as well.

Dependent Educational Assistance Program, chapter 33, which is the post 911 GI Bill, which can cover up to 100% of tuition at schools.

So I often tell veterans that it's never too late to come to school and also to fill out your Fafsa because you get your tuition covered by the VA.

You can use that Pell Grant to help cover some living expenses.

You.

Those two benefits are not double dipping.

I have a lot of military students that freak out.

They think they can't double dip from the government.

And I said, you're not.

You're using the benefits that you earned through your military service.

And then based upon your income, you qualify for these grants and we work them together.

>> Yeah, that's money that's there for you.

Now, you like we mentioned earlier too, you want to exhaust all of these options we've talked about before.

You look into student loans, right.

What are some of the pitfalls?

I can guess the biggest one when it comes to student loans.

>> I think in some ways we try to make the Fafsa so easy and the award notification easy to read that some students who maybe don't have, you know, proper parental guidance or awareness or high school counselor helping them through the process.

Oh, I just click a button, I accept, and I get the loan and, you know, it shows up.

It's really important for students, parents, for everybody to be on that same page that we see the bill, we subtract the scholarship, the grant.

And then as a last opportunity, how much loan do we need?

And it's also really important for that student to understand that this is not just a one year journey, but a four year journey, making sure that, okay, if I have to take loans for year number one, is this possibly for years and have an awareness, use some of those online calculators that the government offers of how much is that repayment going to look like once I graduate?

>> And so what?

What are some other options for students?

I know there's some confusion with subsidized unsubsidized loans.

What's the difference?

>> Well, the results from the Fafsa will drive whether a student is eligible for the need based loan, which is subsidized loans, or if they are eligible for the only the unsubsidized loans.

But students will need to make sure they are reading their aid offers.

And just because they see a $0 balance doesn't mean they don't have loans built into that offer.

So they need to really read through the offers.

>> How?

Go ahead.

>> I also want to point out that sometimes students get excited because the amount of money below is bigger than the money up top, and they think that they get that money in their pocket.

And yes, they can, but if those that extra money is only from loans you are living on borrowed money and it can add up, especially as you understand that the interest on that unsubsidized loan is going to accrue while you're in school.

You don't have to pay it.

It's easy to just say, I don't have to pay this right now.

I'm not going to worry about it.

I'll deal with it later.

And then that second year adds on.

That third year adds on and you come out of school and students will say, I didn't realize how much.

>> Yeah.

And there are ways to avoid loans like the work study program.

A lot of students will opt out of the loan option and work for their funding to help pay their balance.

Oftentimes, there's alternative loans out there that might have a better interest rate and different terms and fees that are better than the federal government's offer to the students and parents.

>> What do you advise students between a federal student loan versus a private loan?

>> I think it's really important for the student to and the parent to make sure they're doing their research.

Just like we've been talking about comparing apples to oranges, they need to make sure that they're looking at that interest rate.

They're looking at that that repayment policy to make sure that they're making the best decision for them.

It also sometimes depends on what career they're going into.

There may be opportunities whereby a organization, if it's, you know, not necessarily for profit, we'll say, okay, well, if you're part of our company, we will repay part of the loan for you.

So I just think it's it's all about research.

>> So is there a time when somebody should consider a private loan versus a federal student loan?

>> Sure.

If the credit score of the parent or the cosigner is is better than is on the higher end of a good credit score, then yes, there might be better alternative loan options out there.

And every school typically has that list of lenders on our website so they can look there.

And that doesn't hold you to to those loans at all.

It's just to see what you're eligible for.

>> What do you have to do in order to accept a student loan?

>> Typically you're simply going on to some form of a school online platform.

And, you know, going through a method of I want to edit it, I want to accept the loan I'm going to submit.

Usually there's some.

Are you sure you want to do this?

Yes, I am, but it's not just that.

You also have to eventually go back to that studentaid.gov website and typically complete the master promissory note, which is the contract that you're saying you're going to pay that back, as well as essentially what's called an entrance counseling interview, which is a 30 minute PowerPoint, you know, interactive opportunity to say, here's your rights and responsibilities.

And one of the things I always push upon parents is, yes, we want to help our kids through this process, but this is one of those things that you don't want to do this for your student because the loan is in their name.

They need to make sure that they're going through that process.

And if they have questions about mom, dad, what what does it mean for interest to accrue?

That parent already has their own student loans, a mortgage, a car loan.

They they're the experts in that area.

I know students don't always want to say mom and dad are the expert, but they are when it comes to loan repayment.

>> So yeah, yeah.

When do you have to start repaying those student loans?

>> Typically, it's six months after a student graduates or drops below part time or leave school without graduating.

Maybe they just take a break six months after there's a grace period, and then they have to start making those loan repayments.

>> Yeah.

>> But there's no penalty on paying it off early.

I always try to coach students.

Hey, if you have that on campus job, try to take 25, $50 a month and chip away at that principal balance so that you're getting in the good habit of realizing, oh, this is going to add up over four years.

>> Yeah, yeah, welcome to adulthood.

And often.

>> Oftentimes people want to stay away from loans altogether.

And most colleges do have payment plans that most of the time are interest free, that you can set up a payment plan every month.

Here's the X amount of dollars you're paying and then your loan free for your education.

So that's an option too.

>> And you can mix and match too.

So maybe you know that you've budgeted for a certain amount of annual amount of tuition.

Maybe you've saved up, you've got a 529 plan or a prepaid tuition plan.

You've got the money there, but it's just not quite making it.

Or, you know, you can't spread it out over four years.

That's when maybe you calculate what the payments are and then calculate how much loans you're going to need afterwards.

>> Yeah.

As you mentioned too, that a lot of these conversations are directed at parents.

But it's so important to get your student involved because this is a process and it's an excellent way to start preparing your high school student or college student for the real world.

And this financial world.

So it's it's really a master class on finance and research and all of those things.

The students at Brown, the Brown School in Jefferson County, in fact, are taking charge of their own futures in a class called Senior Seminar.

And Christie Dutton paid them a visit.

>> If you have applied and have a transcript.

>> Transcripts, scholarships, SATs and GPAs for many high school seniors, the road to college can be a complicated one.

But at Jay Graham Brown School, there's a class that turns the chaos into clarity.

>> But then that last link you have to link 502 to your Fafsa.

>> A senior seminar class taught by Nora Wakefield that guides students through the college application process and helps them find scholarships.

>> Also, lock in your tuition rate at a lower level.

>> To bring down the cost of higher learning.

>> They will pick their school and hopefully have it paid for.

>> The process starts in their junior year, optimizing Act and SAT scores and exploring colleges in junior seminar.

We'll do.

>> Quite a few college visits and we bring in college reps, because I really think that if you start looking senior year, it's too late.

>> And once senior year begins, Nora Wakefield's class concentrates on applying to colleges.

>> She's always on college applications.

Always.

It's our main focus as soon as we come and sit down.

>> Honestly, the process to application, I thought it was a lot easier than it was, but like it's a lot more and but it's like, I think the class, if I wasn't in that class, I think I'd be struggling very hard.

>> And the demands of applying for college can be stressful.

>> Because it's a lot more than just applying.

It's being personable.

In your essay, it's ensuring that you get the proper amount of scholarships and just ensuring that you keep your life balanced while you're going through the college process.

>> The Senior Seminar class serves as a guide to make this process as smooth as possible.

>> Of all 502 you go to their link and you fill out the application.

It's very quick.

Then we help them apply, but we help them meet those deadlines for things like Fafsa, early applications versus early decision.

>> If you are eligible and you complete these three steps, you will get the scholarship.

It's a guarantee.

>> It can be intimidating, and asking for help is intimidating, and we need to take every obstacle away.

>> But there's one more big obstacle left paying for college.

Senior seminar helps students with that too.

With lots and lots of.

>> Scholarships.

>> Scholarship programs, grants.

>> A ton of scholarships.

>> We help kids with their questbridge applications.

We help them with their Jack Kent Cooke applications.

Coach scholars, doctor Pepper.

Nowhere else are students going to have somebody that's hand feeding them.

These lists of scholarships to apply for.

>> Nora is always on it.

>> She always has a scholarship for us to apply to.

>> Every little bit of scholarship money you get helps.

>> And a little bit can add up to a lot.

>> We have a whole row of million dollar scholars.

Students apply for scholarships and they apply to different institutions.

And that total amount is $1 million.

But that's not $1 million to one institution.

>> More than scholarships or even college.

Nora Wakefield wants her students to author their own destinies and live lives that are authentically and joyfully their own.

>> My success is my students success, and I cannot express to you how much I love them.

And having known some of them, you know, for 13 years, almost all their life, it is so important to me that they are number one happy with when they leave.

I want them to be happy individuals and successful individuals.

However they define that.

>> For KET.

I'm Christie Dutton.

>> Great to see those students taking charge there.

Okay, so I want to get your final thoughts.

Best advice you all have when it comes to applying for college.

Paying for college, I.

>> I would say don't wait.

We've said it before, don't procrastinate.

Don't wait until August of your, you know, the fall of your term to say, oh, how am I going to pay for this?

Make sure that you're having those family dinner table conversations now.

And as you're going through the spring term and before orientation.

>> Yeah, get started early.

Audrey.

>> Yeah, I would say go on the college tours, go to schools that you don't really think are a great option for you because they may end up being the best option for you.

Just like Robin mentioned.

You know, her son did all of this work, but then at the end of the road, he decided on a school that he hadn't really looked at it first.

>> So yeah, you get a real vibe from.

>> Yeah, it's a it's a really good fit.

>> Yeah.

You can tell when you're there.

Michelle, your advice.

>> I would say meet the financial aid office.

I mean admissions is going to spend so much time with you and your child.

They're going to talk to you.

They're going to tell you all the great things about their school.

They're going to really allow you to see if that's a good fit.

But the financial aid office is going to be there until you graduate.

So learn who they are, talk to them, ask questions, build that relationship.

Because when something's a little bit off, they can look at it closer and see if maybe you made a mistake.

Or maybe there's a special circumstance involved and they can help you with it.

>> Yeah, they're there for you.

I mean, your personal assistant right there.

Yeah.

That's great.

Connor.

>> Well, if there's one thing I could say to any of my seniors is we're all extremely proud of them.

For one, for making it to this year.

But if there's one thing that I had learned while I was in the military, I had a leader tell me once that a marathon runner goes through the finish line and not just to it.

That being said, make sure you're doing your best research on all of your schools that you're choosing.

Get that Fafsa done as soon as possible, research scholarships and find the best option for you.

>> Yeah.

Great advice.

Thank you all so much.

We appreciate your expertise so much.

And thank you for joining us for this edition of Education Matters, focused on paying for college for the 20 2627 school year.

I hope you've learned something new this evening.

To help you navigate some of those topics we discussed.

We have linked to this program, as well as all of those resources we mentioned, and many more online at ket.org.

Education matters.

You can view and share this program from there as well.

I'm your host, Kelsey Starks, and from myself and all of us here at KET.

Have a great night.