Your Path To Debt-Free College

SELF LKNW HALL PASS:

your inside guide to education

with SHAWN HALL

LKNEXPERT Welcome to our new column LKNW Hall Pass: Your Inside Guide to Education With Shawn Hall. Shawn resides in Mooresville and is a former Education Specialist with the U.S. Dept. of Education. She is a mom of four girls, an author, and a college admissions/scholarship coach. Shawn will be giving us her advice and insights on a variety of topics in the education arena, and we look forward to having her as a regular contributor and LKNW expert. For more information, visit allroadseducation.com.

your path to debt-free college

AHHH SEPTEMBER! Can’t you smell the turning of the season? The apples from the trees? The fear in the air from parents with high school students preparing for college? Yep! The scramble is on to figure out the schools, the application process, and yes, the money to pay for it all. Grab your highlighter, a cup of something to sip, and allow me to map out the path to debt-free college.

First stop, course selection for high school.

Can I just be real? You need to be involved in the course selection process every step of the way. Make sure you know what courses are needed to graduate AND allow your child to be accepted into the University of North Carolina College System. e Career and College Promise is o ered at every community college. e built-in scholarship comes in the form of a student taking college courses while in high school, the state picking up the tab for the courses, and the student can transfer that course to their college! My daughter graduated in May and was able to earn 24 college credits and transfer them to her

university. She had already earned a full-ride academic scholarship so college credits she knocked down in high school? ose will result in a free year towards her master’s degree! Are you getting the picture?

Second stop, standardized test scores.

Now before you roll your eyes, this is the part where I need you to come close and listen. It is true that many colleges and universities are dispensing with requiring the ACT or SAT for college admissions. Quiet as it is kept, many of the institutional and portable (ones that go wherever you go) scholarships, still require those tests! e higher the test scores, the greater the levels of funding your student is eligible to receive. So what to do? Have your child take BOTH practice tests the summer before 10th grade. Laser-in on the one they felt they performed the best on and prep for the real test using an in-person or virtual service to guide them through the mechanics of the test. EVERY college accepts both tests and one isn’t better than the other.

Third stop, scholarships.

I know this is where you wanted me to start but you don’t get here without doing the other steps. Scholarships can be earned as early as kindergarten so start your search engines NOW! Is your child a great photographer or speaker? ere’s money for that even if they don’t want to pursue that path in college. Use this formula: interests + academics + community service. Manage your time and write down your goals. e early bird can get plenty of worms depending on how EARLY she starts hunting. Our hunt led to a $100k college degree that my oldest paid less than $15k for and the middle child earned over $500k in scholarships (two were full-ride merit o ers). Need a boost of con dence and a shot of reality? You know where to nd me! w