>> >>PEGGY: THE AVERAGE AMERICAN FAMILY CAN EXPECT TO PAY MORE THAN 40,000 DOLLARS FOR
A FOUR ENOUGH YEAR UNIVERSITY.
OFTENTIMES THAT'S BECAUSE STUDENTS AND PARENTS DON'T KNOW THE TRICKS OF THE TRADE, HOW NOT
TO RACK UP 10S OF THOUSANDS IN STUDENT LOANS.
HERE TO EXPLAIN HOW IS LYNN O'SHAUGNESSY, THE AUTHOR OF THE COLLEGE SOLUTION.
LYNN, THANKS FOR BEING HERE.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO ATTEND A STATE SCHOOL LIKE UCSD RIGHT NOW?
>> >>LYNN O'SHAUGHNESSY: WHEN YOU CONSIDER TUITION, ROOM AND BOARD BOOKS, IT'S PROBABLY
$29,000 RIGHT NOW.
>> >>PEGGY: HOW ABOUT EXPENSIVE SCHOOLS LET'S SAY STANFORD.
>> >>LYNN O'SHAUGHNESSY: YOU CAN GET INTO THE 55, SOME SCHOOLS ARE CRACKING 60,000 DOLLARS,
SHOCKING.
>> >>PEGGY: IN ORDER TO PAY FOR THIS, A LOT OF MIDDLE CLASS PARENTS I'VE HEARD THIS COMPLAINT
A LOT.
THEY SAY I'M NOT POOR ENOUGH TO GET, YOU KNOW, CERTAIN GRANTS BUT I'M NOT RICH ENOUGH TO
PAY FOR THESE ON MY OWN.
WHAT SITUATION ARE THEY IN AND WHAT CAN THEY DO ABOUT IT?
>> >>LYNN O'SHAUGHNESSY: IN THIS STATE, WHAT PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND IS BASICALLY F YOU
MAKE OVER 80,000 DOLLARS A YEAR, A FAMILY OF FOUR, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET HELP FROM
THE STATE SCHOOLS HERE.
THAT'S JUST A REALITY.
BUT YOU CAN MAKE, WELL, YOU KNOW, SIX FIGURES AND GET MONEY FINANCIAL AID FROM PRIVATE SCHOOLS.
SO IT'S NOT TRUE THAT IF YOU'RE MIDDLE CLASS, YOU CAN'T GET MONEY T.DEPENDS ON THE SCHOOLS
YOU'RE APPLYING TO.
THAT'S WHERE YOU HAVE TO BE SMART ABOUT WHICH SCHOOLS ARE YOU AIMING FOR, AND I RECOMMEND
FAMILIES LOOK FOR SCHOOLS THAT GIVE GOOD FINANCIAL AID PACKAGES.
>> >>PEGGY: PA WHEN PARENTSÊ WHERE SHOULD THEY GO TO LOOK FOR THIS INFORMATION?
>> >>LYNN O'SHAUGHNESSY: WELL, YOU KNOW, I THINK ONE OF THE BEST TOOLS IS A NET PRICE
CALCULATOR, WHICH IS BRAND NEW, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT HAS MANDATED EVERY SCHOOL IN THE
COUNTRY HAVE ONE ON THEIR WEBSITE.
YOU CAN GO TO ANY SCHOOL, PRIVATE OR PUBLIC, PUNCH IN INFORMATION FROM YOUR INCOME TAX
RETURN ABOUT YOUR KID'S GPA, SAT SCORES AND IT WILL GIVE YOU A PERSONAL ESTIMATE OF WHAT
THAT SCHOOL'S GOING TO COST.
>> >>PEGGY: YOU SAID THAT MOST PEOPLE DON'T IN YOUR BOOK YOU SAID THAT MOST PEOPLE DON'T
PAY FULL PRICE FOR COLLEGE TUITION.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?
>> >>LYNN O'SHAUGHNESSY: THAT'S RIGHT.
ACTUALLY, ABOUT 85% OF FAMILIES WHO ARE GOINGÊ THEIR KIDS ARE GOING TO PRIVATE SCHOOLS DO
NOT PAY FULL PRICE.
NOW, WHEN YOU CONSIDER ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS, ABOUT 2 THIRDS DO NOT PAY FULL PRICE,
THEY GET SCHOLARSHIPS AND GRANTS.
YOU REALLY NEED THAT.
WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE PRICE OF SCHOOLS TODAY, YOU NEED TO LOOK AT SCHOOLS THAT ARE GOING
TO GIVE YOUR CHILD A DISCOUNT.
>> >>PEGGY: SOMETHING ELSE TO CONSIDER GRADUATION RATES WITHIN A FOUR YEAR PERIOD.
>> >>LYNN O'SHAUGHNESSY: IT'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE MOST FAMILIES ASSUME THEIR CHILDREN ARE GOING
TO GET OUT IN FOUR YEARS.
THIS IS SOMETHING I TALK ABOUT ALL THE TIME IN TALKS AND MY BLOG, THE COLLEGE SOLUTION.COM.
BUT MOST STUDENTS DO NOT GRADUATE IN FOUR YEARS.
AT STATE SCHOOLS LESS THAN 30% GET OUT IN FOUR YEARS.
SAN DIEGO STATE, FOR INSTANCE, IS ONE OF THE BETTER CAL STATE SCHOOLS, THEIR GRAD RATE
IS ABOUT 30%.
CAL STATE SAN MARCOS IS ABOUT 13%.
SO OVERALL, THE CAL STATE SYSTEM, ONLY 15% GRADUATE IN FOUR YEARS.
NOW THE TOP UCS ARE MUCH BETTER.
UCLA, BERKLEY, THEIR GRAD RATES ARE LIKE 68, 69% FOR FOUR YEARS.
SO A LOT OF THESE KIDS ARE GETTING OUT IN FIVE YEARS OR SIX YEARS, AND YOU NEED TO THINK
ABOUT THAT WHEN YOU'RE COMPARING PRICES.
LOOK AT THE GRAD RATES WHICH YOU CAN FIND BY GOING TO COLLEGE RESULTS.ORG.
>> >>PEGGY: WHAT ABOUT STUDENT LOANS VERSUS GRANTS?
>> >>LYNN O'SHAUGHNESSY: OBVIOUSLY, IT'S GOOD TO GET THOSE GRANTS BECAUSE GRANTS ARE FREE
MONEY AND THE BESTÊ THE MOST ELITE SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT FINANCIAL
AID, THEY CAN LOAD THE PACKAGE ENTIRELY WITH GRANTS.
THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT.
YOU, MOST SCHOOLS CANNOT BE AS GENEROUS AS A SCHOOL LIKE THE IEIVEY LEAGUES OR STANFORD,
SOME PLACE LIKE THAT.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO LOOK FOR THE BEST SCHOOLS YOU CAN THAT HAVE THE BEST FINANCIAL AID BASED
ON WHERE YOUR CHILD CAN GET IN.
>> >>PEGGY: FEDERAL OR STATE GRANTS, WHICH IS BETTER?
>> >>LYNN O'SHAUGHNESSY: WELL, THE FEDERAL GRANTS ISÊ THAT IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S
BIG PROGRAM IS PEL GRANTS.
YOU HAVE TO BE REALLY LOW INCOME, IT'S ONLY 5,500 DOLLARS AND YOU HAVE TO MAKE LESS THAN
23,000 TO GET THAT.
THE PEL GRANT PROGRAM COVERS THE TUITION OF THE STATE SCHOOLS, BUT THEY DON'T COVER ROOM
AND BOARD.
AND AS I SAID BEFORE, YOU HAVE TO MAKE FOR A FAMILY OF FOUR, YOU HAVE TO MAKE 80,000
OR LESS TO QUALIFY FOR A CAL GRANT.
AND THEN THE BIG MONEY FOR FAMILIES THAT MAKE OVER THAT, CALIFORNIANS IS GOING TO BE FROM
THE SCHOOLS THEMSELVES.
A LOT OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS GIVE, YOU KNOW, FAR MORE MONEY THAN A STATE SCHOOL POSSIBLY COULD
GIVE.
SO YOU JUST HAVE TO WEIGH YOUR OPTIONS.
>> >>PEGGY: IN A SENTENCE, YOUR TAKE AWAY MESSAGE TO STUDENTS IN HIGH SCHOOL, PARENTS,
WHAT SHOULD THEY DO TO LOOK AT FINANCIAL AID FOR GOING TO COLLEGE.
>> >>LYNN O'SHAUGHNESSY: YOU NEED TO BE AN EMPOWERED CONSUMER AND YOU NEED TO START REALLY
LOOKING AT USING SOME TOOLS LIKE THE NET PRICE CALCULATOR TO MAKE REALLY GOOD, SOUND FINANCIAL
DECISIONS.
>> >>PEGGY: ALL RIGHT, LYNN O'SHAUGNESSY, AUTHOR OF THE COLLEGE SOLUTION.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE.