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 taking a closer look at the cost of college.

For the first time in history, the price tag for some colleges and universities is six figures per year.

In fact, new numbers from the Department of Labor and Statistics show the cost of college is rising at twice the rate of inflation.

So that's the bad news.

Now, the good news is the majority of families do not pay the full sticker price for college.

The trick here is to be one of those families who knows how to navigate the resources that are available to help offset the cost.

So for the next hour, we are going to break it all down from you, for you from need based aid to merit based aid and everything in between.

We have a panel of experts here to help you make what may be one of the most important financial decisions for your family.

I'd like you to meet Connor Vogt, who is an outreach counselor for the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority.

Bob Fultz is the associate director of compliance and training at the University of Kentucky.

Audrey Price is the director of Financial Aid at Lindsey Wilson and Rosa Gogel is the director of Financial Aid at Owensboro Community and Technical College.

Thank you all so much for being here and sharing your expertise.

So let's start with those numbers.

College costs more than ever in the last 20 years, the average cost of tuition has doubled.

So Bob, I'll start with you.

Why are these numbers skyrocketing?

>> Well, unfortunately, the costs across the nation, everything is going up from from your groceries.

And so it now trickles down to the college universities because we want to pay for faculty and staff to provide that service to or to your students new facilities need to be renovated.

So that's always a draw for to get students to come to your college technology.

Those are just a few things that really causes that cost to increase.

>> Now, like we mentioned, the sticker price is different from the actual price.

It varies from student to student, depending on their situation.

Audrey, if you can explain sort of the financial model here.

>> Yeah.

So the sticker price is not necessarily what students will pay specifically the Department of Education requires every institution to publish our cost of attendance on our website.

So that would be what we call the sticker price.

But no student ever pays the sticker price.

And so the direct cost is what students need to be looking at, which is tuition fees, food and housing.

If they're going to be residents on campus.

The indirect cost would be transportation, personal, miscellaneous books.

Those are not things that you pay towards the college balance, but it has to be listed online for the cost of attendance.

>> So all of that is included there.

But we are going to talk about all the financial aid that is available to help with that.

Connor, I'm curious, when you talk to families as an outreach counselor and they see that sticker price, what do you tell them about approaching where they're going to go?

Looking at those prices?

>> Absolutely.

Because those prices can be kind of scary when you first look.

Yes.

And so with that, I kind of piggyback off of what Audrey said.

It's it's a generalized estimate to start out.

We have those direct costs that are your baseline tuition, housing, meal plans, you name it.

But that's not even considering financial aid that gets brought in any scholarships, grants that that student might bring in those those all get added in later on into the picture.

So take all of that into consideration when you do this application that that sticker price that we've talked about is not going to be the actual price when you walk out the door.

>> And you're not always comparing apples to apples, right?

When it comes to what you're looking at for different colleges.

>> Right?

Yes.

And I would say that your a good resource is every college on their website has a net price calculator, which then gives you an estimate of what that financial aid is going to look like.

So let that student look at any college that they want to look at.

Look, look at the dream schools to see what that financial aid package might look like.

Be as honest as possible.

It's nothing that the university is going to police.

So it's going to be based on how realistic your numbers are.

So it's going to ask for the academics for that student, as well as the financial information for the student and family.

>> And you might be surprised at what you find there, even from some of those big dream schools, right?

So what are some of the differences when you're looking at public versus private four year or two year community college?

Rosa, what do you tell students looking at the community college?

>> So of course, at a community college, some of our programs are shorter, so they don't take as long and they cost less because of that.

Some of the public four year and the private four year they have, they might cost more.

Yes, but they have additional scholarship opportunities that they give out as well.

So just because, you know, it might look on paper more expensive to go to a four year than a two year, you're going to have a lot more opportunities as far as scholarships and aid was.

Yeah, it might not be that different.

>> Yeah.

So it's a lot to take into consideration.

And I have a high school senior right now, and there is a spreadsheet, as I'm sure you guys have seen, about trying to figure all of this out.

And there's a lot going on, but a lot of things, like a lot of things you don't know what you don't know until you go through the process.

So we're going to talk about filling out the Fafsa, what you need to know about all of that.

But first, I had a chance to sit down with a few parents who recently went through this process.

And hopefully you can learn something from their experiences.

Well, we have three parents from different parts of the state who have recently been through this process.

And as I told you all, I have a high school senior, so it is a daunting process.

I'm really excited to hear your thoughts, but we have Nate, Melissa, and Candace who are joining us.

Thank you so much.

Now, you guys all have students in college, correct?

I do, yes, and then you two have high school students as well.

Yes.

Okay.

So I want to just get a quick raise of hands.

Who paid sticker price for college?

None of you.

Okay.

This is a great start.

So how do we do it is, you know, I want to hear each of your experiences.

So, Nate, let's start with you.

>> Any job I've ever done.

I've always found the smartest people in the room.

And I've been told to say, duplicate and replicate what they do.

I used to say, I just steal what they do.

So about a year ago, two years ago, I started.

I'm in outreach counselor for Kia started kind of just talking to people around me.

What are you doing?

You know, because I had a year before I had to be worried about it.

So I really just started listening, taking notes and doing what they told me to.

And, you know, we fill out Fafsa last year around October, and then everything started rolling in.

And I mean, it just if you listen to people that know what they're talking about, everything just starts falling in place.

And, you know, we did apply for every scholarship we could.

We took advantage of, you know, keys, money, you know, just take advantage of everything that's there.

And it just kind of fell into place for us.

>> Yeah, yeah.

Melissa, what was your experience like.

>> Finding extra funds for my daughter, going to an out-of-state school was the hardest part.

And I guess for, for us, it was just finding the right loan and making sure she had great scholarships.

And those were all on her own because she had great test scores and great grades, and those fell into place for her.

But just finding that little extra to get us through the.

Just that last little stretch was the hardest part for us.

>> Yeah, yeah.

And Candace.

>> Yeah.

So with my daughter and I, it was important that she knew and she knew early on our financial situation.

So we were having conversations about it's not just going to be one way that we're paying for college.

We need to look at the multiple ways that are available.

And so she knew about keys money and was doing well enough to receive from that pot.

And then we also knew, of course, going to fill out the Fafsa and see what she would be eligible for for state grants, federal grants.

And she was blessed to be able to receive some of those.

And then we were, I was we were both big.

I'll say we in finding those other additional scholarship funds to help make up the difference.

So community scholarships, private scholarships from local organizations here we're in the Louisville area was so important.

And she was blessed to be able to receive a few of those funds.

So it was a it was a it was a pot pot of various forms of aid.

>> That's what I hear from a lot of different people that it's they're coming from a lot of different places.

And Nate, you said something before we got started that it's like buying a car.

>> It's.

Yes, it's like.

>> Buying a car.

Nobody should pay sticker price for a car.

But if you don't ask the questions, they will.

As a car salesmen will.

Absolutely.

Absolutely let you pay sticker price.

>> Yeah, but but the options are out there.

And Melissa, specifically because your daughter went out of state.

Yes, there were some ways that you found that she could pay less using like keys money or matching.

How did all of that work?

>> If you ask your college out of state, say, hey, if I stayed in my state, I would have gotten $2,500 per year in keys.

Money.

Is there any way that you can match that?

You know, my kid's a great student and would have, you know, it's giving this up to come to your school, you know, will you match that for me?

And most of the colleges that are in surrounding states to Kentucky will do that.

If you ask.

>> So, yeah.

And you had similar experience, right.

>> Well, my daughter is in-state, but we just you have to remember to ask especially, you know, border state colleges, they love kind of grabbing our kids from those river communities.

So they will be a lot more friendly with the in-state tuition, but they're not going to tell you that up front.

You're going to have to sit down with a counselor and ask, you know, hey, I really like you.

Instead of, you know, Kentucky Wesleyan, but Kentucky Wesleyan, I get my keys money and I get my state grants and da, they'll, they'll find if you ask the right questions, they've, they've got a little pile of money for the people who ask questions usually.

>> So how does it like when you get accepted, does your financial aid offer come with that at that time, or does it come separate?

I'm I'm just waiting.

>> For my daughter's experience because she applied to several schools her senior year.

Some schools would give an estimate and they can only give estimate, I believe, at that time, because it was still early.

Right.

They're still figuring out budgeting and how many students they're going to be accepting and who will eventually say, yes, I'm coming here.

So she got a few schools and letters back with the admission that said, you may be eligible for this, but then it was in the springtime when she received her official financial aid award notification, which came in an email that said, go and then check your portal to see that information.

Then some schools did send letters in the mail as a follow up.

So it was her hearing, her acceptance in the fall, right before Christmas time, which I guess you could say is like winter time, but then hearing the official financial, excuse me, financial aid award notification in the spring.

>> Okay, okay.

Gotcha.

>> With us, it was, you know, much like that, we got the acceptance letter.

And then in the spring, you kind of get the real.

And then what we did is we went to the admitted student kickoff.

You know, they've all got orientation.

They call them different things.

But that thing when you're actually committed to going there and they know they've got you.

We went to that and there was a session meet with the financial aid officer.

And this is a big school.

It's smaller schools.

You can just call them and usually get them on the phone.

But at a big school, this was meet with your financial aid team.

And we sit down and we just laid out, you know, all the grits and gravy.

We told them exactly who we are, where we're from, our specific financial situation.

And when we left that room, you know, as the person paying the bills, it was like weight off my shoulder.

They they had a plan and it took a few more months to fix the plan because in financial aid with the government, nothing moves real fast.

But they definitely change the game for us.

We were going to go there, but after meeting with the financial aid team, it became much cheaper.

>> So even after you've accepted, even committed, there's still wiggle room.

>> You're saying.

>> Depending on your situation, our situation, some things had changed.

Yeah.

And we just needed a lot of help.

And I mean, we just sat down with the financial aid officer and told them, you know, no secrets between us.

>> Yeah.

>> I kind of told them where we are, how much, you know, all the good information.

And they really, really took care of us.

>> Well, I think people also feel don't realize that those financial aid officers are there to help.

Right.

Did you all feel like that?

>> I feel that and I have this mindset and I shared it with my daughter.

Even other families I may come in contact with that.

The colleges want to see students succeed.

They don't they really don't want financial aid to be a barrier.

And like I said, that's their that's their role.

And so ask, ask again, send an email, get to know the financial aid counselors.

A lot of the schools, like you mentioned, the bigger schools have the financial aid counselor designated by students.

Last name, I kind of compare it to if you were in high school, you have your school counselor that works with you based on your last name or maybe your program.

And so they should become like your bestie.

Yeah.

You know, share with my daughter.

>> Close.

>> Yeah.

Get close.

The information is on the website.

Send an email.

They'll get back to you when they can.

Or maybe you can go in person and have a meeting, but they're there to help.

>> You also mentioned your you discovered a new loan this time that's different from last time.

>> Yes.

We were.

We used a federal loan our first time, and we didn't know that there was another loan in the state of Kentucky that we could use.

And we.

That was brought to our attention from our key outreach counselor and.

>> Another person to make friends with.

>> Yes, absolutely.

And when our counselor told us about that, I said, well, okay, well, we'll look into it.

And it was actually about, oh, way lower, much, much lower, even much lower than advertised.

So it was a wonderful tool for us.

And the fact that, you know, it was for an out-of-state school, we thought maybe it wasn't going to apply, but we live in the state of Kentucky, so we could still apply for that loan.

And it's it was been a it's been wonderful this year.

>> Wow.

Well, thank you all so much for your expertise.

I really appreciate it.

Thanks so much.

Some interesting takeaways there.

I think the overarching theme is ask the questions.

Would you all agree?

>> Yes, yes, yes.

>> So you guys get that I guess in your offices, right?

>> We do.

>> What do you tell parents about how to reach you or how to figure out who to talk to?

>> Yeah.

I mean, we have students and parents call, they walk in, they drive to town and just show up.

But usually financial aid offices are open, normal business hours, walk ins, emails, phone calls.

And they do.

They ask, they share their story.

Similar to what Nate had shared.

And we are here to help the students and the families try to make it work.

And the extra pot of money that they were discussing, you know, those that pot of money usually comes from endowed scholarships.

And a lot of the endowed funds are very specific.

The donors might be from a certain area of the state, or they might be from out of state, and they want to help out of state students afford the, the, the cost.

So those are very important to ask about, right?

>> So it's not just a pot of money that they're going to give away to anybody.

Just to clarify.

Correct.

But that's why it's important to know those specific things.

And the key outreach counselors are a way to find that too.

How do people find out about their outreach counselor?

>> Yeah.

So you can go to ga.com.

It's khea.com.

Down at the bottom of the page, you'll find an area to find your outreach counselor.

No matter where you are in Kentucky, there are 13 outreach counselors serving every county across the state waiting to help families out like this.

And we we like to be liaisons.

So to speak, in helping connect you and bridge that gap between the family and the college as well.

So if you ever have questions, whether it's about financial aid, whether you have admissions questions, if we don't know the answer, chances are we know somebody that does know the answer and will help you get connected to them.

>> Yeah, that's a great place to start.

The other place that everybody needs to start is the Fafsa.

Okay, so let's get into this.

This is kind of a daunting form for a lot of people, but it, it is really simple.

I just did ours.

And it is, you know, they say it takes less than 12 minutes to complete.

People get a little nervous about it.

I think.

But as they go through it, tell them, tell everybody what they need to kind of have in place before they log in to do this.

>> Yeah.

So first thing, one of the bigger changes that we've seen this year over the the most recent years, Fafsa is that families have to have an FSA ID created on the spot.

This is something that usually we would have to create those two weeks in advance.

However, you can create those and get access to your student aid account instantaneously.

That's one of the major changes that we've seen out of the Fafsa this year.

For sure.

Having those accounts created one for the student and one for the parent or contributor.

If you ever have dependency questions on that as to who qualifies as a contributor, please always reach out to your key outreach counselor or your school counselor.

They can help you with those answers.

And I always encourage families to have their Social Security cards with them, have their IDs in the event of any sort of verification concerns, and to keep the previous year's tax >> Yeah, we're looking right now at what it looks like you're tutorial.

And website there.

So you can see exactly what you're going to go through as you do this.

But people still run into issues.

What are some of the common most common mistakes or questions you think people have about the Fafsa?

>> I would say some of the big concerns are about what money gets placed on their Fafsa form when it when it comes to financial contributions, how do we.

Place that money on there, whether it's savings accounts, retirements, you name it, if they are business owners or own farms, anything like that, the Fafsa asks questions about real estate and a lot of families don't know initially that this doesn't include the property you live in.

This is if you own other homes outside of your own personal property.

So those are some of the major concerns that that at least I see out of it.

>> And there are a lot of changes this year.

Audrey, tell us about some of the changes.

>> Yeah, some of the changes is at the very beginning of the Fafsa where it's asking some students to identify and, and use their government issued ID and hold it up at the very beginning of logging into the Fafsa.

And it won't select every student to do that.

So that's one of the changes, but it's just to protect real taxpayers dollars by trying to eliminate identity theft and fraud across nationwide.

I was going to mention that some of the common misconceptions that parents and students have is I don't need to file the Fafsa.

I won't qualify for anything.

And that's a huge assumption.

A lot of families do qualify and they don't claim that funding because they simply just assume they wouldn't be eligible for the Pell Grant or other funds that the Fafsa provides.

And so it's very, very important to file the Fafsa, even if you don't think you're going to qualify, because that's the first step to getting financial aid at most schools in the state, is to file the Fafsa.

Then it enables us to give them other aid once they get to our institution.

>> And that includes merit based aid as well, right.

You have to fill out the Fafsa for most of that.

Is that right?

>> Yes.

So the Fafsa is going to be required for some institutions to award any, any aid for that student.

Yes.

So but but if you need a student loan as well, the federal direct loan is going to be the best option for that student.

It has a low interest rate and that does require the Fafsa to be completed.

So I would suggest to any family to apply to to excuse me, to complete the Fafsa for the first year.

See what you qualify for.

If you're going to only qualify for loans and you know you're not going to need to take out loans, then that's the only time you should need to file it.

>> But but most people do fill it out every year.

And that's another thing that people get tripped up.

>> On, right?

I would encourage students to always fill out the Fafsa, even if they think they're not going to qualify, because everything changes like this year.

The methodology for the Fafsa has changed.

So now more than ever, people have been eligible for the Pell Grant.

And a lot of our students get eligible for the state grants and scholarships.

And I know at Octc specifically, we require a Fafsa to be on file for anybody that fills out a scholarship application.

So and a lot of colleges do the same thing.

>> And you mentioned two more people, Pell eligible, but that also means that the state aid is running out sooner.

So that means it's important to.

File early.

Yes.

So tell us about that.

>> Right.

So this past year, the Cap grant, which is the Kentucky State grant, ran out in July.

And it's probably expected to run out in around March of next year.

So it is extremely important for students to fill out that Fafsa ASAP if they even think that they're going to go to college anywhere, go ahead and fill it out.

>> And a lot of people do have questions about you have to name colleges on that.

So how does that work?

How many can you put on there?

And can you change that if you haven't quite decided where you're going to, where you're interested in yet.

>> You should always put at least a private college in Kentucky just to earmark the Kentucky tuition grant from the state aid agency.

Always.

We would always encourage students to apply for a two year school, put a four year public school and a four year private school on there.

You can put up to 20 colleges now if they have 22 >> It down to.

>> 20 or go back in and remove two of the colleges on their on the Fafsa.

>> And let me emphasize that the listing of private college may get you in line for what's called the Kentucky Tuition grant, and that grant is a need based grant from the state of Kentucky.

But you do not need to be eligible in order to receive that grant.

So many students who attend a private college end up being eligible for that Kentucky tuition grant.

>> And they're going to find things that they didn't even know.

>> That they were eligible for.

>> They were.

>> Eligible.

But without.

>> The Fafsa, no.

>> Ktg grant.

That's right.

>> So what is the CSS profile and is that something students need to be filling out?

Also.

>> That is a more detailed application for a lot of scholarships.

I don't believe any schools in the state of Kentucky offer or use the CSS profile.

I had one one of my children went to was applying to a college that required that it just asked for a little bit more detailed information about your debt to asset ratio, and it's going to get more details.

The value of your home, how many cars, your credit card debt it's going to just ask a little bit more detailed information.

But a lot of schools are are doing away with that CSS profile.

>> Yeah.

So when it comes to need based aid and merit based aid, there, they're separate entities but can be used together.

>> Correct?

>> Yeah.

So whenever we're packaging a student's financial aid, we have to look at the cost of attendance.

And then minus their result from the Fafsa, which is their student aid index.

And then that equals their need.

And so there's need based aid.

And then there's, like you said, merit aid.

As long as there's room to receive all of the above, the need based and merit, it can stack.

So there's a lot of schools and institutions that will award a student a merit based scholarship.

And then maybe a need based, endowed fund, and then perhaps an athletic fund or a band scholarship.

And so those can stack on top of keys, money and the state grants and the, and the Pell Grant from the Fafsa.

>> And for people who don't know what keys money is, let's explain that, because that is a great resource for Kentucky students.

>> Yeah, absolutely.

So keys money is the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship.

It's something that Kentucky students can earn while they're in high school.

Every year, they have a chance to get up to $500 based on their GPA.

Now they need to have above a 2.75 in order to achieve or to earn any sort of money whatsoever, but to get that $500, we're shooting for a 4.0 every year.

On top of that, if they take the Act or the SAT, they can get an additional bonus of up to $500.

And then those students who qualify for free and reduced lunch, if they take AP exams, they can get another bonus on there.

So ultimately, students can walk away from high school with around $2,500 in additional financial aid just for having good grades.

>> Yeah, I was shocked to see the amount of money that builds up over four years with good grades.

>> And.

>> They could get that each year of college up to eight semesters or four years.

So it's 2500 each year.

>> Absolutely.

>> And so there are other things to think about.

There's a lot of free money out there.

In fact, there's over $7 billion that are given away in scholarships and grants every year.

When it comes to a lot of that merit aid, though, a lot of it does depend on GPA test scores.

Now, there's something called test optional, a trend in schools right now.

So what does all that mean?

Well, I checked in with the national test prep expert Doctor Sean Patel, to get some answers to some of those questions.

Doctor Sean Patel is CEO and founder of College admissions and Test prep company prep Expert.

Thanks so much for joining us here.

When we're talking about college admissions and merit based aid, usually things people think of standardized testing SATACT right now, though, more than 90% of schools are some sort of test optional.

So a lot of parents say, what the heck is that?

They don't require test scores at all.

So tell us about this trend and how that affects college admissions.

>> Yeah, the test optional trend really started in 2020 with the Covid pandemic, when students could not be in a testing center.

So colleges went test optional.

However, after 2020 and into 2020 one, 22, 23.

And as you mentioned, even now, you know, 80, 90% of colleges are test optional.

However, that does not mean that your student should not take these tests first.

We're seeing a huge reversal in that trend in 2026 and 2027, with dozens and dozens of colleges reinstating standardized test scores, including the entire Ivy League.

On top of that, even if a college is test optional, they may be test optional for college admissions.

But for their merit based full tuition or half tuition or quarter tuition scholarships, it's not only helpful, but it's actually mandatory to have test scores.

And so you're actually shooting yourself in the foot if you don't take these tests, because you may not be eligible for billions of dollars in merit based scholarship aid by forgoing the SAT or the Act.

>> And there's also a difference between test optional and test blind.

So explain that.

>> Yeah.

So some universities have taken it a step further from test optional to test blind.

For example, the University of California system famously is test blind.

Currently, which means they will not even accept your test score for admissions though they still accept test scores for things like class placement, honors, colleges, and of course, merit based scholarships, which we talked about.

But again, we're seeing a reversal of that trend.

Over 1000 University of California professors just signed a petition asking for the SAT and the Act to be reinstated as an admissions requirement across the UC system.

>> So we'll see sort of seeing a reversal in that trend.

And like you mentioned, when it comes to getting any type of merit aid, it really makes a difference.

So how do students know when they should submit those test scores and when they should opt out?

>> It really depends, obviously, on the test score of the university.

So what I would do is look up in the US news rankings, the median test score.

If the college or university are applying to as a median, for example, SAT score of 1300 and your student has a 1320 and you're above the median.

Of course, you should submit your test score.

You'll stand out.

In addition, there was a study done by the Compass Education Group, which showed that over 100 universities that are test optional actually have higher acceptance rates for students who submit their test scores, often 2 to 3 times higher acceptance rates.

So even at test optional universities, you can significantly increase your opportunities of getting in.

When you submit a test score.

>> Yeah.

So it kind of depends on the school too.

So it makes it makes sense to do your research.

There are some other admissions requirements that are changing.

So what are some of those trends that you're seeing right now?

>> The biggest trend and change that I'm seeing in college admissions right now is actually due to artificial intelligence.

So AI is writing more students personal statements for college essays than ever before.

So admissions committees are making some tweaks in how they admit students.

First, they are using AI detectors.

So you have to be very careful about submitting an essay that has been fully written by AI, because it may be flagged, and that could throw out your entire application, which would be devastating to their increasing interviews.

Not only interviews, but video submissions of students to see how they can communicate in their applications without any AI assistance.

And three, they, as we already have mentioned, there's been a huge reversal in standardized test score requirements.

And the reason for that is actually AI based, because now AI can do all of your homework.

So, you know, more than half of high school seniors are graduating with an a average.

But AI cannot take your S.A.T.

although a lot of students would love to get a perfect score with ChatGPT.

Not possible in today's environment.

>> It is an interesting time.

So how does all of that impact the merit aid that's out there and available?

>> There are over $7 billion in merit scholarships and merit grants offered to undergraduate students every single year.

These are through the universities themselves, through private companies like Coca-Cola, Toyota, and McDonald's, as well as local scholarships, local businesses, local foundations.

So it's really important that students maximize every opportunity they have.

Search your local, you know, businesses in your area to see who's offering merit based scholarships.

Ask your college counselor who in the local area is offering local scholarships.

Talk to different universities to see if they offer merit based scholarship aid.

And if you're, you know, an academically competitive student or you're the parent of a a high achieving student, then this is the best time to maximize those scholarship opportunities and get college either fully or partially paid >> There is a lot of money to be had out there.

And then on the other side, I want to know your advice or the mistakes that you see.

Most people make when they're applying to college.

>> As it relates to financial aid, I would say, you know, thinking that the sticker price of a college university tuition and attendance is the net price that you pay, you know, there are so many ways to lower your cost of college through scholarships, grants, work study programs, etc.

that, you know, a college that looks like it's $30,000 a year may only cost you $10,000 a year.

And so not to rule out universities based on sticker price, but you really have to take into account all of the aid that's available to you to get down to a net price.

That will make it much more affordable for you and your family.

>> Great.

Thanks so much for your advice.

We appreciate your expertise, doctor.

Shawn Patel, thanks so much.

Okay, so his advice there is to do your research, right?

So but that means that you've got to narrow things down.

Pretty pretty soon, right?

To be able to go to each of these different schools and figure out what that price would be.

How do you suggest students do that?

>> Well, yeah.

So to go back on something we had said earlier, I always encourage families when we fill out the Fafsa to put that public, that private and community college on their Fafsa, by the time that their Fafsa is fully processed and they get those scholarships, they start to really compare that financial aid.

I always encourage families to get scholarships done as early as possible to.

That's incredibly important.

Schools will even put out their deadlines.

There.

Make sure your students are filling those out.

That's key.

>> So once you put those schools on the Fafsa, the schools listed there will figure out where you may qualify for that aid.

Right?

So that helps that way too.

One thing I do want to mention is when it comes to the Fafsa, it is your tax situation from, in this case, 2025.

Yes.

Right.

So so how does that work?

And what if things change between then and now?

>> So the, the, the Fafsa for this year is going to be based on the 2025 tax return.

When you fill out the Fafsa, if everything is imported directly from the IRS flawlessly, you will not even see the the numbers.

You will not see the adjusted gross income, the US taxes paid.

It is a seamless process, but a lot can happen between 2025 and today.

So if there could be situations where there is a divorce, a job loss, a reduction in pay, us something unique to that student that is not ongoing.

And therefore I would have that conversation with the financial aid counselor.

And the school can do what's called a professional judgment.

Now, then they can take into account what's currently going on with that family and make adjustments to the Fafsa to hopefully qualify for that student.

For additional need based aid.

>> Another thing that was mentioned was work study programs and other options that are out there.

So tell us about some of those I know at the community college.

>> Yeah, yeah.

So work study is a really great opportunity for students.

It is a part time job opportunity for students so they can work either on campus or off campus.

In most cases, at Octc, we typically pay students about $12 an hour.

They work about 20 hours a week, and they get an actual paycheck.

Some colleges will give the students money towards their tuition and stuff like that.

It really just depends on that specific college.

But work study is a really great opportunity for students.

I actually started off as a work study before I became a financial aid counselor.

So it's a really great opportunity for students and just to earn some extra income while you're going to school.

>> Yeah, that's a great program.

And there's a lot of different apprenticeships, industry certifications, a lot of different ways that that you can get prepared for the career that you want to do, right?

While also making money to pay for college, right?

>> There's a lot of employers now will help sponsor students tuition.

So they, they will essentially pay sometimes all of their tuition for their >> Wow.

Yeah.

That's great.

What else do you think people need to know when it comes to scholarships, grants, how to find those?

There's so many out there.

>> I would suggest never giving your private information on a website if they're asking for a credit card number to look for scholarships, immediately close that website down.

There's always there's a lot of free, very vetted websites and resources.

And the institution, financial aid offices have a list of those.

Key outreach has a list of those.

There's a lot of people out there wanting to give away money, but don't ever pay to look for money.

>> Yeah, that's a, that's a great tip.

Anything else?

>> Also start with your local community.

Start the local YMCA or your, your church that you're affiliated to.

They may offer a scholarship check with just the local community organizations.

That's a great start.

And usually small numbers applying for those scholarships.

And so you might have a great chance of getting one of those.

>> Absolutely.

Yeah.

There's tons of scholarship.

I mean, I've sent student scholarships that were involving skateboarding.

I've seen some through McDonald's, Taco Bell, you name it.

I found one that I sent to a student that was a 500 word essay over how you would survive a zombie apocalypse.

And if you won that, it was $2,500.

So wow.

I mean, the money's out there.

It's just waiting on these students to grab at it.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah.

And why it matters to be there early because it runs out.

If you're not first come, first serve for a lot of these, right?

>> Some of your bigger schools offer a search engine.

We have what's called scholarship universe, which allows students to go out and apply for different scholarships out there.

They put out a profile and it populates information for them.

The key word is never pay for those scholarships, right?

We're wanting to get >> Yeah.

Well, on the other side of free money is money that costs you to borrow.

And we're talking about loans.

So let's get into what what loans are available out there.

We heard from one of those parents who said there's loans that they had not even heard about.

So where do you find the best loan for your situation?

>> So when a student files the Fafsa, every freshman is going to be offered that federal direct student loan, $5,500 as a freshman, 6500 as a sophomore, and then 7500 as a junior and a senior.

There are other alternative loans or private loans out there.

Every school typically has a list of those, either a historical list of who has borrowed private loans before from that school, and they have a list.

And it's going to be based on a credit score.

Sometimes the students will need a cosigner if it's based on credit, but there are some that have really a lot lower interest rates than what a student can get through the federal government, especially what they can get lower than the parent plus loan from the federal government.

So it's very important to look into those.

And you can really compare there's tools on everybody's website that you can compare your credit, credit score and your situation and find the best loan.

>> For yourself.

>> But you have to be careful because you have to pay them back.

>> Correct.

>> And they accrue interest.

Some of the fees are different.

So it's very important to look at all, all the spreadsheet that you mentioned.

>> You need a spreadsheet.

>> For loans.

>> As well.

>> But there's actually institution loans that are in house as well.

So always ask about those.

But loans are, you know, there to help you through school.

And so sometimes people are loan adverse.

But if it's going to help you reach the degree that you want to earn and the places you want to go alone is not necessarily a bad thing, you just need to be very informed and make an educated decision on the student loan that you're borrowing.

>> And only borrow what you need, right?

If you need, just cover those costs and you can supplement your books or your just rent that you may be having if you're living off campus, then only borrow those direct costs.

But if you do need to supplement that, other expenses, then you can but just be mindful that what you're doing, you are going to pay back.

So you only have to borrow 10,000.

That's better than borrowing 20,000.

>> That's right.

>> And we've we've heard talk about student loan forgiveness.

Is that a thing.

>> For public student loan forgiveness in the public sector?

If you have specific jobs and you pay, I think it's 120 payments.

And in ten years, yes, but you have to sign up for that.

It's just not a free for all of sign up for these loans.

And they'll be forgiven if you get a certain job.

So but don't borrow loans, you know, based off of just knowing that loan forgiveness is out there, right?

>> Yes.

Good.

Good point is that is that what you tell students when they ask about loans?

Or what's the biggest mistake?

You see them?

>> Well, we've started to shift the conversation with our families as far as loans go, you know, with with the rising costs of education, it's it's kind of inevitable for some.

And if we we've realized that if we go around and say all the time, you know, make sure you get all the grants and scholarships that you can, don't ever pull student loans.

Whatever you do, don't pull student loans.

Who's the last person that they want to come talk to whenever the time comes and they have to pull student loan, it's one of us, right?

So I want families to make an informed decision.

And if I, if I could add, there are a few loan options here in State at Kia, our our sister agency Kieslich, the Student loan Corporation, they have the advantage education loan.

And that's an opportunity for students to pull up to the full cost of tuition.

It's a fixed interest rate.

They have different payment options that you can have for your your repayment, whether that's in school after you graduate, you name it.

It's something worth looking at and considering outside of those federal loans as well.

>> And one of the things that one of those parents mentioned too, is that some of the Kentucky based loans even work if your student is going out of state.

>> Absolutely.

>> Absolutely.

>> If you have a connection somehow to Kentucky, you can borrow that loan, that specific loan.

>> Yeah.

>> Yeah.

All very interesting things to think about.

Well, our Laura Rogers talked to a current college student about his experience navigating this process.

And he has some pretty good advice and things you can start doing even before your senior year of high school.

Take a look.

>> Wiley Stratton is a senior at Bluegrass community and Technical College, and I know you have to be getting excited, as you'll be graduating in May.

>> Yes, yes, yes I will.

>> You have almost made it.

Congratulations.

>> Thank you.

Thank you so much.

>> When you were first looking into where you wanted to pursue post-secondary education, how did finances come into play in making that decision?

>> I mean, that's the number one thing you look at.

You know, some schools, you look at the brand name, and then you look at the price, you know, and with housing these days, prices, they're rough.

>> Right?

And so it's not even just tuition, like you say, housing and other materials.

>> Groceries.

>> Absolutely.

Are you able to commute to be CTC?

>> Yes, I do commute.

>> When you were first looking into college and the pricing, did you get sticker shock at what you saw?

>> It's surprising, you know, being on your own for the first time in your life, you're like, oh, this is how much this costs.

Oh, okay.

You know, and I worked a job in the summer at the pool.

I worked every day, saved up money.

Still not enough for some of these bigger schools, you know, and it's so amazing to have a a college close to you, a community close to you that you can commute to.

You know, you can, you can keep the life that you have now, you know, and you can pursue the dreams that you want.

And it's >> You say you're studying film.

>> I am, yes.

>> You're able to pursue that, that line.

>> Of dream.

Yeah, exactly.

>> And that's such an exciting field of study.

So let's talk about how you found the financial aid sources that worked for you and going to CTC.

>> Oh yeah, definitely.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it.

I was a little lost going in the senior year.

I got senioritis.

This is high school and high school.

Yeah, high school and the school kind of implemented this new policy where they had a college coach come in and help the students.

Brittany Foley was one of those people that came in.

She helped me.

She guided me and she she said, you know, invest in yourself.

You know, college is like an investment for the business.

The business is yourself.

And I feel that's the best decision I could have made.

>> Do you recall who Brittany Foley, the agency that she worked with?

>> Oh, yes.

KHEAA perfect.

They were invaluable.

>> What would you say was some advice that you received that really proved helpful in this process?

>> When you're young, you're always looking for somebody to tell you the right path.

You know, there really is no right path.

You have to find it for yourself.

But it's so helpful having someone show you the map, you know, at least, or actually point you in a direction that you think you could go.

And I think just the most important lesson, the most important would be staying true to where do you want to go?

What do you want to do?

You know, doing what you do every single day is what you should be doing.

And I think BK, TCKHEA they've helped me understand and navigate that.

>> Looking back over your the college planning process and the affordability, where would you say the majority of your financial aid did come from?

It's my understanding you were able to piece together various sources and kind of it all came together to help you afford it.

But where would you say the majority came from?

>> Probably keys.

Money.

Yeah.

AP classes that I've taken over the course of high school and dual credit classes.

You put a lot of hard work in those classes, and it does pay off.

You know, keys, money.

It helps seeing that $2,500 and support past work that you did do in high school actually helps for the future.

And that is so relieving as a college student.

>> And that helps when you have good academics in high school.

Oh yeah.

Right.

You needed good >> Oh yes.

Yes, definitely.

>> So what would be some of the advice that you would share with families who are navigating this process right now?

>> Keep up on the grades, the grades matter.

The Kentucky scholarship was not a waste of time.

I, I think back to school and I am so grateful that I, I put my time in academics and instead of some other things, you know, go see the places, go tour the colleges, be invested in in the environment and the environment will invest in you.

That's what I believe.

And I've had that come back to me almost tenfold.

I feel like the community at Bctc is very strong.

It's very personable and I love it there.

>> Well, we appreciate getting a student's perspective on all of this.

Thank you so much, Wylie Stratton.

He is a senior.

That will be graduating in May, and we wish you the very best on your future plans.

>> Thank you, thank you.

>> I love that because he's talking about how important it is to prepare.

You know, we we kind of focus this on parents of juniors, seniors, but it really starts far before that, right.

To prepare for college.

You're going to get the keys money when you make the grades.

And those AP classes and dual credit classes really transfer.

And that makes a big difference.

So going back to the loan conversation, if you cannot get one of those alternative loans, what are their other options because of credit issues.

>> Then definitely I would apply for the parent plus loan.

It is a federal direct loan.

So you will have to have the Fafsa on file.

And then the parent applies for that bloom.

If the parent is approved, they can get a maximum up to 25,000 per year.

But there's an aggregate limit of 65,000.

So when that fourth year, there's going to be a shortfall on what that family can qualify for.

So they may have to make other arrangements at that time.

If the parent is does not qualify for the for the loan, for any other reason, then that student qualifies for additional $4,000 at an unsub loan for their freshman and sophomore year, an additional $5,000 for their junior and senior year.

And that is something that they do have to apply for every year, just like the Fafsa.

>> And then there's an option to set up payment plans.

>> Yeah.

If you want to avoid loans.

And grandma gives you a check for your birthday, maybe you pay that towards the the balance with your student accounts office, you can actually make payments, or you could just set up a payment plan.

And typically the, the business office or the bursar's office will set up for equal payments for the semester.

And, you know, there's, there's different ways of paying for school.

And it might not look the same from semester to semester or year to year.

So communication and asking questions and getting something set in place before classes start is ideal.

>> Yeah.

>> And if you know, you're going to have to borrow, if you can pay something ahead of time, if you can pay 2000, then that's 2000 less.

You have to borrow, right?

So whatever you can pay out of pocket will help you in the long run.

>> Okay.

>> So for someone like myself who has a high school senior, we're applying for colleges now.

What is when do you get these financial aid offers?

When will I see that?

And then what?

What's the next step after that?

>> So the aid offers will come usually in December starting in December.

So once the file a Fafsa is filed, it arrives at the institution.

But we can't do anything with it immediately.

We can give you an offer, an estimate, but it can't be official until later on in the semester.

But typically you'll start seeing the eight offers in December.

Most of them might be January, February.

So don't immediately make an offer choice based off the first offer that you get.

You know, check the deadlines of when your institutions are requiring you to make a decision based on the aid offer they're giving you.

But it's okay to wait.

National Decision Day is like May 1st.

>> So yeah.

>> You know, you've got some time, but pay attention to the deadlines.

You don't want to miss those deadlines.

If if you can help it.

>> Yeah.

>> What's something that I should be looking at during that time?

When you're comparing some of these offers.

>> Student emails.

>> Their students, the.

>> Students are going to be the one receiving the communication from the financial aid office.

It's not going to be the contributor or the parent.

It's so important because that's how schools communicate with students.

It's either through the admissions counselor and or the financial aid office or financial aid counselor via email.

Most often.

So please don't use your high school email address on the Fafsa, because that's how we communicate with you.

And that's cut off in May.

So if we need to reach you over the summer, it's impossible to do.

>> That's a great point.

Yeah, I've even heard suggestions of setting up a separate.

>> Oh, you need to email.

Yes.

Just for the college.

>> Yes.

>> Communication communications.

Yes.

>> Yes.

So as you're comparing two, how do you tell, you know, one college may have a much higher tuition and a lower financial aid offer and how to kind of compare apples to oranges, you know what I mean?

>> Well, one, you need to always make sure it's a good fit for you.

That would be my one suggestion to make sure that you visit the school, because this is a lot of effort putting into planning.

And it's a year process.

And then if you don't visit your, your school, you're not going to make the best decision.

>> Yeah.

>> But yeah, it's important to look at all the offers.

>> Yeah.

And the bottom of that.

>> Price.

>> Yeah.

Right.

>> That net price is going to show you what you're going to pay out of pocket with the merit aid.

And also can add the layer for loans as well to see what that net price is.

>> Yeah.

Okay.

Real quick, I want to get your best advice for families going through this right now.

I'm going to start with you, Rosa.

>> Yeah, I would say communication is the biggest thing.

And check your email.

You know, as a financial aid advisor, we we don't know what you're going through.

We don't know it.

You know, what credit union you go to?

We can't find those opportunities to help you without you telling us.

So communication would be my biggest thing.

>> Okay.

>> I want to piggyback on that.

I like it when the student is being is initiating the conversation.

The student is reaching out to the financial aid office.

Doesn't mean that the parent can't be there guiding or coaching them, but it's the student needs to start taking on that initiative because they're starting to do a change of life.

They're starting to become young adults.

And this is one of the avenues they can do is by reaching out and speaking to that stranger for the first time.

>> Yeah, great advice, great learning experience.

>> I would say make make time for the visits and make time to actually sit down with someone at the financial aid office.

>> Yeah.

>> I would say I'm a marathon runner, goes through the finish line.

They don't just get to it and stop there.

Don't let senioritis kick in.

>> Make.

>> Sure you're putting in for those scholarships and making the best decision for you by the end of the year.

>> It makes a difference.

Well, thanks so much for joining us for this edition of Education Matters, focused on paying for college for the 2020 728 school year.

I hope you've learned something tonight from everyone at KET.

I'm Kelsey Starks.

[MUSIC] Have a great night.