How To Pay For College, Wisconsin Whip Cracker

Air Date:
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It’s college application season, which means a new batch of students from across the country will soon be faced with one of today’s biggest questions: how to pay for college. A financial expert talks about tips and tricks students and parents can look into to ease the financial burden. We also meet a Wisconsin man who competes in the sport of whip cracking.

Featured in this Show

  • Author Advises How To Graduate College Debt-Free

    For many students and their parents, getting accepted into a college is only half the battle. After deciding where to attend, the question often remains: How to pay for it?

    Lynnette Khalfani-Cox helps college-bound students manage costs by teaching them to understand the real price tag of a higher education, including hidden fees that surprise students after they enroll.

    In her forthcoming book “College Secrets: How To Save Money, Cut College Costs and Graduate Debt Free,” Khalfani-Cox, who is also the CEO and co-founder of TheMoneyCoach.net, reveals hundreds of money-saving ideas to help make college more affordable.

    Data suggests students need her secrets more than ever. An analysis from the credit bureau Experian shows that more than 40 million Americans now have some form of student loan debt, totalling an estimated $1.2 trillion. Roughly 70 percent of college seniors who graduated last year had student loan debt, with an average of $29,400 per borrower, according to Project on Student Debt, a nonprofit research organization dedicated to making college more affordable. Moreover, about one in three Americans have some form of debt reported in collections, according to a new report from the Urban Institute.

    Those numbers don’t exactly paint a rosy picture for anyone about to step onto campus, but Khalfani-Cox said with careful planning students can graduate debt free.

    “It might sound like a pipe dream, but it is in fact possible,” she said.

    Students should start by seeking a school that not only appeals to their academic and social interests, but also to their wallets.

    “One of the ways you gauge whether a school is appropriate for you is to look at the way in which they demonstrate their interest beyond just giving you a ‘yes,’” said Khalfani-Cox. “Students might love the college or university, but the university, frankly, doesn’t show them a lot of love right back.”

    One way to feel the love is by understanding that, much like the car sales lot, a school’s tuition is a kind of sticker price and can likely be lowered.

    For students that have received multiple offers, Khalfani-Cox suggests making schools compete for tuition dollars. It’s the equivalent of telling the sales person on the car lot that the dealership across town agreed to knock off a few thousand dollars.

    “Sometimes parents feel reluctant to say, ‘This is a good offer but not quite what we need, and we really can’t afford this,” said Khalfani-Cox. “It would not hurt at all to actually fax or email them over a copy of that other reward letter. A lot of times, they may see something in the award and adjust it.”

    The “summer melt” is another strategy to lower school costs, but it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s an expression that refers to what happens over the summer when some children just kind of “melt away” and don’t wind up going to the school that they committed to through deposit each May 1.

    “This is a big problem for schools nation wide because they were counting on that student to kick in some tuition dollars and to be a resident in the dorms,” Khalfani-Cox said. “For students who apply later in the process or who didn’t quite get the reward that they wanted to, they can use summer melt to their advantage because the schools that are frankly a little desperate to fill their seats will typically give a little larger discount.”

  • Secrets To Cut College Costs And Graduate Debt Free

    As high school seniors enter college application season, there’s plenty of worry from students and parents over paying for college. A financial adviser shares some tips to cut college costs…and graduate debt free.

  • Wisconsin Whipcracker

    A Wisconsin man has won international awards and set Guinness records for his skills at whip cracking. He joins the show to explain the art and craft behind the sport.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Chris Malina Producer
  • Lynnette Khalfani-Cox Guest
  • Adam Winrich Guest