College Facts

It amazes us every year how many parents wait to start the college planning process until the second half of the students Junior year only to find out that if they had started earlier they could have saved thousands of dollars.

The two keys to a successful college planning experience are educating yourself and developing a plan or road map which will guide you to the best possible route.

The earlier you start, the better off you will be.

College for most families will be the number one expense (more than you paid for your first house).

We have listed below several facts regarding the college planning process and hope this information saves you both time and money in finding the “right fit” for your student or students(s).

The average family with a student about to go to college has saved between $20,000 – $40,000 towards their child’s college education.

The average family with a child going to college has approximately $265,000 in debt (which includes the primary mortgage, home equity line of credit or loan, credit card debt and car loans).

The maximum the student can take in dependent undergraduate student loans is $31,000 (no more that $23,000 may be in the form of Subsidized loans; The best fixed rate loan for parents is 6.84%.

4% of FAFSA applicants reported assets of over $150,000;That one million students who started the FAFSA process, never complete it.

Only 70% of entering high school freshman graduate every year.

Every day about 7,000 students decide to drop out of school (1.2 million a year).

The recommended pupil-to-counselor ratio is 250-to-1 and that the national average is 460-to-1 (The Massachusetts average is 426-to-1).

America’s high school graduation rate ranks 21st in the world (Forty years ago, we were first)

That the average family will take out between $80,000 and $120,000 in loans for their child’s education.

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