Have you ever pondered the possibility of a debt-free college education for yourself or maybe your child? Join us on this enlightening journey with seasoned academic strategist Jeannie Burlowski, author of "Launch: How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt-Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward." Together, we'll investigate the staggering realities of student loan debt and celebrate some astounding success stories of students who've attained that coveted university degree without a penny of debt. Get ready to rethink college financing as we explore the invaluable role of an academic strategist in helping students achieve their dreams without a financial nightmare.
We spare no detail in our pursuit of comprehensive financial planning. We'll take a deep dive into the impact of a child's college education on parents' retirement savings. Let us equip you with tips on choosing the right college, starting to save early, and even using non-saving methods like UPromise.com - all while steering clear of debt pitfalls. Our mission is to prove that with careful planning and a dash of resourcefulness, it's entirely feasible to financially prepare for a college education.
We cap off our discussion with a thorough guide on the scholarship application process, offering practical advice on where to scout for them and how to write successful essays. We underscore the importance of understanding the financial aid system's evaluation period and how to strategically manage your assets during that time. Moreover, we'll explore abundant alternatives to student loans. From scholarships, grants, part-time work, employer tuition assistance to joining the military for education benefits - the options are plentiful. So, tune in, and let's rewrite the story of your child's college journey together!
Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that focuses on how to use the money you have, make the money you need and save the money you want – brought to you by Neighbors Federal Credit Union.
The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice.
Have you ever pondered the possibility of a debt-free college education for yourself or maybe your child? Join us on this enlightening journey with seasoned academic strategist Jeannie Burlowski, author of "Launch: How to Get Your Kids Through College Debt-Free and Into Jobs They Love Afterward." Together, we'll investigate the staggering realities of student loan debt and celebrate some astounding success stories of students who've attained that coveted university degree without a penny of debt. Get ready to rethink college financing as we explore the invaluable role of an academic strategist in helping students achieve their dreams without a financial nightmare.
We spare no detail in our pursuit of comprehensive financial planning. We'll take a deep dive into the impact of a child's college education on parents' retirement savings. Let us equip you with tips on choosing the right college, starting to save early, and even using non-saving methods like UPromise.com - all while steering clear of debt pitfalls. Our mission is to prove that with careful planning and a dash of resourcefulness, it's entirely feasible to financially prepare for a college education.
We cap off our discussion with a thorough guide on the scholarship application process, offering practical advice on where to scout for them and how to write successful essays. We underscore the importance of understanding the financial aid system's evaluation period and how to strategically manage your assets during that time. Moreover, we'll explore abundant alternatives to student loans. From scholarships, grants, part-time work, employer tuition assistance to joining the military for education benefits - the options are plentiful. So, tune in, and let's rewrite the story of your child's college journey together!
Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that focuses on how to use the money you have, make the money you need and save the money you want – brought to you by Neighbors Federal Credit Union.
The information, opinions, and recommendations presented in this Podcast are for general information only and any reliance on the information provided in this Podcast is done at your own risk. This Podcast should not be considered professional advice.
Welcome to Money Matters, the podcast that focuses on how to use the money you have, make the money you need and save the money you want. Now here is your host, ms Kim Chapman.
Speaker 2:Welcome to another edition of Money Matters. I am your host, kim Chapman. Did you know that the average college graduate in the US carries tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt? Imagine if there was a way to change that narrative for your child. Imagine if they could walk across that graduation stage and not only have a degree in hand but also be free of debt throughout their adult life. Well, whether your child is just entering high school or getting ready to don that cap and gown, it's never too early or too late to start this journey. So, parents, students, future grads, get ready, take notes, because this could change your future. Today joining me is full-time academic strategist and podcast host, jeannie Burlowski. Good morning, jeannie, and thank you for joining me.
Speaker 1:Good morning Kim.
Speaker 3:A lot of privilege to be with you and your listeners today.
Speaker 2:I tell you, student loans is, I think, will forever be a hot topic until we can get rid of them all. So I think this is going to be a very timely subject, because we all know somebody that has student loan debt. If it's not, you know ourselves and so I'm really eager to get started with this.
Speaker 1:But before we do, give us a little information about who Jeannie is, Well, I have been an academic strategist for 25 years and for many years almost all my work was helping students apply to very competitive law schools, medical schools, graduate schools and business schools. And part of what I have to do in that process is I have to talk to these students about their debt. Because if you want to go to medical school and you already have $180,000 from undergraduate education, sometimes I would have to say to these students you actually can't go to medical school now because you add $300,000 worth of medical school debt on top of what you already have. You could never pay all that off on a doctor's salary. You would have to work in the emergency room during the day and deliver pizzas at night just to make ends meet. And sometimes I would have to say to these students who dream of medical school we actually need to find a different career for you now where you can still be patient, but you don't have to have the MB degree.
Speaker 1:And I didn't sign up for this to be breaking people's hearts.
Speaker 1:That's not why I sit in the chair, that I sit in, so that really, that you know.
Speaker 1:It's one of the things to read about student loans that in the newspaper, but it's another thing to see it in the faces of people that you genuinely care about. So that's the sad part of my story. But the happy part of my story is that in the years I've been doing this, I have had some of the most brilliant strategic kids in the country coming through my office and sometimes I would say how much student loan debt do you have right now, if you're looking at the cumulative, and they would say I have zero. And I would say you have zero, how did you do that? And then they would tell me all kinds of brilliant ideas that had nothing to do with getting scholarships or getting financial aid from the government or saving up money in advance Other, more clever, easier strategies for getting through college debt free. So I took all those ideas from my clients and I stuffed them into a book and it's titled launch how to get your kids through college debt free and into jobs they love afterward. And I think that's how you found me Absolutely.
Speaker 2:I have two kids in college, so I need all the advice on how to get them through college debt free. So I'm a little curious what exactly is an academic strategist?
Speaker 1:An academic strategist is a person who focuses on the academic and career world and looks at what is ultimate goal. And for some people, ultimate goal is medical school or it's law school, or. But for some people ultimate goal is I want to get through college and then at the end I want to be able to train to become a financial advisor, or I want to be a special ed teacher, or I want to be an electrical engineer. So a strategist clarifies the bull's eye on the target and then figures out the fastest, least expensive way to get there. And for many, many years a lot of my work has been helping people with the applications to get into medical school and law school and graduate school, and I still do that.
Speaker 1:This whole idea of getting kids through college debt free and then, really importantly, directly into jobs they love afterwards, that has become more and more and more a part of my life over the last six years because, just like you said, this is so important to students and family. So this is the Money Matters Podcast. You care that parents are able to save for their retirement and we know that college education Pinker College is the number one block to a confident retirement. So if I can lift that problem out of the way. We can make life not only better for students, but for kids. Not only for kids, but for parents as well.
Speaker 2:So at what point in a student's academic career should they seek out academic strategies? As I mentioned mine already in college, Is it too late for us?
Speaker 1:Oh, wow, that is just such a great question. My answer is, oh, it is never too late, and especially so many of the resources I have are free and we're going to talk about that at the end of today when kids are in college or they're in graduate school. At that point there are two main strategies for getting through debt free. And at that point you're kind of stuck with applying for scholarships, and I have some strategies about that. And then the second thing is tuition reimbursement, jobs, and we can talk about that if you want to.
Speaker 1:But the number one best thing to do is for parents to start when their kids are young. Like some parents start following me when their kids are in seventh or eighth grade and they just, bit by bit, learn a little bit from me. Every Monday morning they just learn a little bit and go through, and those are the parents that have access to all the greatest, easiest, most low hanging fruit strategies. But at that point of your parents who say I didn't hear about you until my kid was in ninth grade or eleventh or twelfth, or I didn't hear about you until my kid was in graduate school and there's still help that I can provide, but if you were my sister, I would say the best thing to do is start really early, like seventh or eighth grade, and just learn about this tiny bit by tiny bit.
Speaker 2:So how do parents assess how much their children would need for college? I mean you have everything from the affordable community college up to your Ivy League schools.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so do I hear you correctly? You're asking me how much? How do parents assess how much money they're gonna need for college? And are you thinking saving? Yes, saving.
Speaker 1:A lot of the parents who follow me are just not able to save very much money. Some people are living paycheck to paycheck or they're not getting their child support payments like they're supposed to be, and so some parents are just feeling awash in guilt and sadness, but they're not able to save Much to help pay for college. Now, for parents who can afford to save, it's wonderful to open a 529 college savings plan and just try to just put a little bit of money in there each month. But for parents who cannot think for college, there is Absolutely hope by using other strategies that are non-saving. And my main message to parents is, as far as choosing schools like, do we have to go? Do we have to go to a fancy college or is community college Okay? My huge message is you know, it doesn't really matter too much where you go, as long as you don't go to a for-profit Institution. I'll talk in a second about how you can find out if a school is a for-profit Institution, but we have students who've gone to community college who end up to go on and have master's degrees and PhDs and they have wonderful careers.
Speaker 1:We have some students who go to big, fancy, brand name Ivy League schools and they get out and they Don't have jobs when they graduate and sometimes they're working as nannies or they're working as Coffee shop baristas after they graduate with their big, expensive degree. What really matters for choosing schools is Choosing a school that's going to be strategically, strategically, the place that's going to get this kid to their ultimate, to their career goal. What do they want to do? If the child wants to be a middle school math teacher, you don't necessarily have to go to Stanford for that, and Even if you want to be a highly paid Consultant in finance, you don't necessarily have to go to Yale or Harvard for that. So just to come back to your question about how do we assess how much we need what? I tell parents to say what you can and then just Don't feel guilty or bad, just save as you can and then use other easier, more low-hanging fruit strategies for getting college paid for.
Speaker 2:I've even read that you have debt-free college strategies for parents who have kids in diapers. Can you give us some ideas or examples of how that works?
Speaker 1:Oh, oh yeah, you know there is a program. I don't get anything for telling you this, I am not associated with this organization at all, but it is called you promise calm, and it's just the letter you and then the word promise calm, and you know you're. You know your little drugstore loyalty card that you have they. Would you like to put your card in so you can get 15% off of your magnesium and so you get your little rewards at the drugstore? Or you have the same thing at the grocery store, right, you want to send your car? Now that you mentioned it sounds familiar.
Speaker 1:Okay, you can hook up your drugstore loyalty card and your grocery store loyalty card and and you hook them up to you promise, calm and without even thinking about it, every time you scan that card, a little bit of money goes into a college savings account that you can use for your own kid, or you can use it for some kid that you just met at church. You can use it for anybody that you want to. And if you just think, if all portion of all the diaper purchases Could go into college savings. Every time you're scanning that card You're like, oh boy, we're looking forward to a bright future there.
Speaker 1:And and parents who have done this have told me they were shocked at how much ended up in there After they just kept scanning the card throughout elementary school, middle school, high school. But one thing I want to warn against they're gonna offer you a credit card. Don't take the credit card. I am here to help people stay out of debt, not get into deeper debt, and this this way to do it with the, with the scanning the grocery and the drugstore card. This is really probably the easiest way to use this strategy.
Speaker 2:Wow, that that is some really good information, because I have seen that little. You promise, never paid attention to what it is, and here it is. I could be paying for my kids college.
Speaker 1:Well, it won't pay for the whole thing, but this is an idea. When people have Are pregnant and you're going to the drugstore to buy products like prenatal vitamins, you might as well have those things starting to build towards a future. And I like this because it makes people think about college savings very early on.
Speaker 2:So look, a lot of parents like to think that, of course, local state university is going to Be the great bargain option for their kids. They believe that there's all types of opportunities. Why, you know? Why, do you think parents believe that?
Speaker 1:Oh well, when you look at the sticker price, at first glance the sticker price of the local state university looks cheap. And that's why some people say, oh, jenny Burlowski, we're not going to bother following you or listening to you, we're just going to send our kids to the local state university. It's the cheapest option. We already looked at it. There's even a national radio host that just tells people to do that. But the problem is and this is coming from an academic strategy perspective the problem is that a state university can be extremely expensive if it takes your child more than four years to get through. And at many of these colleges, local state universities, the four-year graduation rate is so low that you're able to just look at those statistics and say kids are not able to get through this school in four years. Why is it? And it's not just that the kids are sloppy, or they're working too much, or they're not trying or they're not diligent. The problem with a state university can be that they're so crowded that kids need certain classes to graduate, and then they sign up for them and they can't get in because the class is full. So it's like buying a plane ticket and walking down to the gate and then getting bumped over and over and over and over again, and this is why at many state universities kids are taking six years to get through. And, wow, two extra years in college can cost a family $300,000 by the time you calculate in stunted retirement savings and lost income and extra tuition payment and extra room and board payments for those two years. So we don't look at state universities as necessarily being a bargain option.
Speaker 1:And the question people might have in their minds as they listen to me here is how do we figure out what is the four-year graduation rate of a college or university?
Speaker 1:Or how do we figure out if a college we're considering is a for-profit college? And Gene Burlowski says we should run far away from that. The best, the cool website for this is collegedatacom, and I have no affiliation with these collegedatacom people. It's just a wonderful resource where they take numbers and statistics about colleges and universities all across the United States and they lay out the numbers in a standardized form so you'll be able to put in any college or university into their little search bar and then you'll be able to get all this data all laid out in a standardized way and it'll tell you if it's a for-profit school and Gene Burlowski says you should run away fast and not look back, or it'll tell you what is the four-year graduation rate and if it's very, very low, you can expect that looks cheap at first glance, but actually the least expensive school might be a four-year college that is, a private school that looks only at the FAFSA financial aid form, the free application for federal student aid. That may end up to be a glorious bargain.
Speaker 2:So you've mentioned a couple times that we should run from for-profit schools. Can you elaborate a little bit more on that?
Speaker 1:Well, statistically for-profit schools, which exist to make profit for their shareholders. We're seeing that students are coming out of those schools and they don't have the skills to succeed in the workplace, and sometimes they have run up massive amounts of student loan debt and then they've had nothing to show for it. So we want to just stay away from the things that say that they are for-profit. That's not the kind of educational institution that we want. We want something that's for students.
Speaker 2:All right. So your main focus is getting kids through college debt-free, without scholarships, but you also say that applying for scholarships is a great idea. You have a rather radical idea when it comes to scholarships. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so many parents start following me because they're very interested in these low-hanging fruit, easier, debt-free college strategies that don't have anything to do with scholarships or applying for financial aid or saving up money in advance. And the parents start walking through this step-by-step process that I provide. It's just very easy, little bit by little bit, and they start talking about it around the dinner table or standing up stirring something at the stove and the kids start to catch this fire in their belly about we might be able to do college debt-free. And what would that feel like for me to be out of college and I'm a young adult in the working world and I don't have a $900 a month student loan payment and my friends do. How would that feel for me? And so sometimes parents get excited and then the catches and the kids start to get excited. So families who follow me. Sometimes the kids say I think I actually could apply for a few scholarships. Even though you say we don't have to, I think I could, and so I provide a couple of resources for this One, and this is a strategy I tell all students, parents who are listening to this. You might want to just get this podcast episode out. Listen to it a second time and share it with the kids in your life who are between the ages of 12 and 26.
Speaker 1:So I suggest the students apply for just $10 a year, just 10. That's all. You can do that on a Saturday for a cent. So just apply for 10. And why don't you give yourself a deadline and say I'm going to apply for 10 scholarships a year and I'm going to have them done before my summer vacation starts? So I can wait till my finals are over if I want to, and just sit down at the dining room table and fill out 10 scholarship applications. Or I can knock them out in February when the weather is bad, and then I'm done and I don't have to worry about them for even a year. When students who adopt this philosophy, I'm going to apply for 10 every year. Some of these students are starting to do it in eighth grade. You can apply for scholarships in eighth grade, ninth, tenth, eleventh I suggest people not apply for scholarships in twelfth grade because kids are just too busy. But you can apply for scholarships in your freshman year at college, sophomore, junior, senior year of college, all the way through graduate school, you can apply for scholarships, and so students are applying for 10 each year and there's some kids that say I've applied for 80 scholarships and just from a numerical perspective, that is going to start to pay off.
Speaker 1:And I'm a big advocate of telling students you don't have to have perfect grades and test scores to get scholarships. There are scholarships available for people who have 2.5 grade point averages. Now don't take that as license to not study, but just know that wherever you are, it's OK and there's resources that are available for you. And for people who follow me closely, I have a strategy where I teach students how to write one scholarship application essay and then tweak it and use it over and over and over and over again. So they're applying for these 10 scholarships a year using the same essay, essentially over and over and over.
Speaker 1:And the students say this is so easy. Now that I know how to do it, I might just apply for 20. And I love this because the kids feel like they have skin in the game. Right, you're going to get up and go to class and you're going to study when you realize that other people have given their harder and money to help pay for your college. So one of the questions parents who are listening to this are going to have is where do we find scholarships to apply for? And I have a free article that's available online. It's available, anybody can access it for free and it's called 1.5 million places to look for scholarship.
Speaker 1:And I'll just say that again 1.5 million places to look for scholarship. And it's an article that it just points you to all the best, safest places to look for scholarship. And this article is constantly evolving. I'm updating it every time I hear about a new resource that actually works. And anyone can find that by Googling my last name, which is Burlowski B-U-R-L-O-W-S, like Sam K-I, and the word's 1.5 million, and you get straight to that. It'll be your top response on Google. So the best strategy and you've got kids in college, kim. So the best idea is for parents to look for the scholarship and then say to the kid hey, here's two that I found that I think might work for you. And there it's like 90% of the work is done for the kids. They're like oh, I got the application right here, I can see how it works out. And then people who follow me closely, I give them this strategy for one scholarship application essay that can be used over and over again.
Speaker 2:So you tell parents that there is one key point in time when it's really important to sit up and take notice. What is that important time? Yeah, that's a really good question.
Speaker 1:And for anyone who's got kids that are in 10th grade or older right now, just hold on. I'm going to help you in just a second. For parents, people who are listening and they've got kids that care about who are not yet reached January of 10th grade, there is a window of time when the federal financial aid system this is the government system that presents students with some free money to help pay for college they're going to examine parent income and assets for a period of one year and they're going to look closely at just this one year snapshot in time, and that's all, and they're going to evaluate how much this family can probably afford to pay for college and then a financial aid, which is free money, to help pay for college will be handed to that family based on this one year snapshot. Well, that one year snapshot starts January 1st of 10th grade and then that one year snapshot ends December 31st of 11th grade. So just picture that timeframe in your mind. Well, there are some strategies that a family can use so they don't look accidentally overly wealthy during that year that they're being examined for potential to pay for college. But some people don't pay any attention to this because they don't even know that that year is happening and, let's say, when the year is again January 1st of 10th grade to December 31st of 11th grade you really want to sit up, pay attention and be aware, prior to January 1st of 10th grade, of some things that you can do that are going to help yourself.
Speaker 1:And in the book that I wrote launch how to get your kids through college debt-free and into jobs they love after work it's all laid out according to your kids' current month and year in school. So there's a whole chapter called May of 9th grade. You know, if you get a hold of my resources after your kids are older, it's completely okay to kind of jump in at any time, but the greatest benefits go to people who start early. But chapter 10 is titled May of 9th grade and it kind of pulls back a curtain and it tells parents hey, here we are, may of 9th grade. Let me take you through a point in time December or January 1st of 10th grade not that far away, right? How many months do you have? This is May, june, july, august, september, october, november, december. You've got seven months until somebody's going to take this snapshot of you. So here are some things to think about before that snapshot occurs.
Speaker 1:And parents who read this, they just say, wow, there are some really easy things I can do here. But it requires careful timing and if I miss the timing I miss a great, I miss a benefit. So this is why I just love it when parents start to follow me when their kids are in 7th or 8th grade, because then I've got their attention. I'm communicating to them once a week. They're following me. They know what they should be doing and when they should be doing it. And Ken, this is boy, especially so powerful for low income families who are thinking can't save anything, we're living paycheck to paycheck. I'm worried about putting food on the table. We want these people to have access to every single strategy that they can use for getting their kids not just through college debt free but into jobs they love afterward, and that's a big part of it.
Speaker 2:How can you help parents with students that have graduating seniors for this year, or maybe they're already in their first year of college?
Speaker 1:So if a family has a senior in high school right now and they are going to be graduating in, let's say, may or June of 2024, this is one of the most pivotal critical years for figuring out about how to keep college costs low. And there are so. There's so many pieces to the puzzle, and if I had to pick one to talk to parents about, it would be this you're going to apply for financial aid. I want everybody to do it. I don't care if you have $2 million in the bank. Apply for the government financial aid.
Speaker 1:And this year the FAFSA financial aid form called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. It's changed and so, instead of being coming available October 1st, like it usually does, it's going to be available in December of 2023. I want parents to fill that out. Don't let anybody tell you you make too much money. You're not going to get anything anyway. You never know. And the filling out the FAFSA form is the right route to getting the least expensive loans if those become necessary. It's the route to student loan forgiveness, if that's ever a part of the student's future. So fill out that form and then this coming spring you're going to get financial aid award packages, and this is where the school communicates and says hey, here's how much free money will give you if you'll come here, and here's how much we expect you to give out loans. Kim, you remember this from going through with your kids.
Speaker 2:The year of the year.
Speaker 1:And one of the key things I want families to know is that you can appeal your financial aid award, which essentially means you can go back to a school and knock on the door. Now you call or email them or use a form on their website. You're physically not on the door, but you go to them and say we didn't get enough money. We need more money to help pay more. Can you do better? Can you give us more? Some studies say that 30% of students who go back and try to get more money from the school actually succeed.
Speaker 1:One kid went and by himself, without his parents.
Speaker 1:He was just convinced he wasn't going to get anything and he walked out with $30,000 extra to help pay his college bills just because of asking and I talk about this on pages 272 to 273 of launch how to get your kids through college debt free and into jobs they love. After I give parents the script, they need to walk in there and say we didn't get enough, we need more. I give parents the courage to say we have high medical bills and here they are. We struggled during COVID and here's our situation right now we have an elderly parent that had to move in with us. This is affecting our finances. You should take this into consideration. And so there's so much that we can do for parents who've got kids who are in 12th grade right now, but I just can't emphasize enough, I don't want parents to wait anyone who's got pink kids or grandkids right now. The easiest way is just tiny, tiny bit by bit, little bitty to Monday, starting when your kids are seven straight, going all the way through.
Speaker 2:So earlier you mentioned talking about students graduating especially from these high price colleges and then ending up working as a barista. So not only do you have strategies to help students go through college and get through college debt free, you also have strategies that can help them with their jobs, have jobs and careers that they love. How in the world can you help them accomplish this?
Speaker 1:Yes, I consider this to be the most important thing I do Now as a strategist. Here's what a strategist does they envision the goal and then they figure out the fastest, least expensive way to get there. So the key thing I do for families is help them to clarify career goal for this kid, and the best time to do it is in 10th grade or as soon as possible after that. So parents who follow me closely take class from me and in that class session two of that class I talk about we're going to have we want your kid to take three career assessments. These are gold standard, world class career assessments. They are not the same as the ones offered for free at the high school, but we want your child to take these. So as early as 10th grade they can know. Here's my personality type. Here are my top five strengths based on Gallup research. Here are my natural interests, all laid out on a big graph. I can see what I'm naturally interested in and it's almost unbelievable.
Speaker 1:But students ages 10th grade or older can look at these results and figure wow. I think I might be an amazing fit for a career as a construction engineer, or I might be a CEO of a company or I might be a middle school math teacher and students who kind of get this sense based on data, not based on guessing. They choose college programs and they choose strategies based on where they're actually going. And students who do this avoid this bad outcome that we don't want. What we don't want is for kids to not know what they want to do and they go through college and they get a very expensive political science degree, let's say. And then they get out and they find they don't even like it, they can't get a job in it, and they come back and ask their parents could I go back to college please, and would you pay for me to get a nursing degree? Oh, that's where you see people racking up the massive amount of student loan debt.
Speaker 1:So we can clarify the bullseye on the target for kids when they're younger and 10th grade is the earliest bird you got right. Take, clarify the bullseye before they take aim and shoot man. Kids can be like an arrow straight toward a bullseye, and these are the ones. These are the kids who are senior in college in this October and they already have a job offer in hand and they're not even graduating until May. And that's what I want to see for the kids whose parents and grandparents and Professionals listen to this podcast. I want to see them in that very, very desirable position.
Speaker 2:And so you talk about kids going back to college. Do you have strategies for those students that are going back for masters or PhDs, for graduating graduate school?
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, you know, for 25 years I've been helping students apply to graduate school and medical school and PhD programs and Law school, and I do that from my website, which is get into medschoolcom. But what I think you might be asking me about is how can they pay for it?
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because money matters, and so I have a free article that anybody can access online and it's called 12 ways to get your grad school paid for. And these are exactly the advice as I give my own clients when they get into the programs I help them apply to. I help a kid apply to grad school. He gets in. I go. Here's the link to my article on 12 ways to get your grad school paid for. So Go and look at this and I'll give you an example.
Speaker 1:I helped a man, a very young man, apply to nine PhD program and he got into all nine of them and I said Now I want you to be able to get a master's in biomedical engineering.
Speaker 1:And I said I want you to get through this as close to Debt-free as possible, and so I want you to get a tuition reimbursement job while you're going through these programs.
Speaker 1:This is where you work for a company and they give you a paycheck, and then they also chip in more than five thousand dollars a year to help pay for your school Called tuition reimbursement and you can do it working part-time. So this guy worked 24 hours a week at the Apple Genius bar and they chipped in and paid for all his graduate school and you know, in the end he said I'm proud that I got in the nine PhD programs, but I'm really proud that I got so much of my college paid for because I worked at the Apple and I have in the launch how to get your kids through college debt-free and in the jobs they love afterwards. I talk about this in pursuing tuition reimbursement. I've got a list of possible companies that offer tuition reimbursement as an employee benefit, even for very part-time employees, and I call this a low-hanging fruit strategy. This is something that doesn't involve scholarships or saving up money in advance or applying for financial aid from the government.
Speaker 2:Well, it sounds like you've got the attention from all the way, from Expectant moms all the way to the parents that still have those college students living in their basement. So tell us how can they find the book and how can they follow you if they want to learn more about getting their kids through college debt-free.
Speaker 1:Well, I've got just one place for people to go and it's very easy to memorize. It is just go to debt free college dot us. And I'll say that again. It's debt free college, dot us. And you go right there and there, in 13 seconds, you can see every single thing I do to help people.
Speaker 1:And Probably for your listeners, the most important thing as they look at debt free college, dot us Is go straight to where it says sign up for my free weekly email newsletter. It's free, and some parents in school sign their whole. They tell all the people in the school to sign up for the free weekly email newsletter because it's free, and then every Monday morning I'll just tap you on the shoulder and say let's learn something this Monday morning. Let's learn something about debt free college and people who start this early. They start hearing from me every Monday morning. They gain a huge wealth of knowledge as the months go by and as the years go by, and there's always a helpful article in there, and if I'm teaching a class or something like that, that's always listed in there.
Speaker 1:So I'm gonna say that again. I got one place for people to go. This is parents, school administrators, teachers, professionals who serve parents and students. Go straight to debt free college dot us, spend 13 seconds there to see what I've got and the most important thing is that email newsletter, or? Kim? I don't want to just be like a meteor across the horizon for your listeners. I'd love to be a friendly, kind, helpful guide on the journey, and this is how we do it debt free college, dot us and get that newsletter so I can be with you every Monday.
Speaker 2:I think you've given hope to a lot of parents that have been wondering how are they gonna pay for college. They can go to that website, connect with you and learn a lot of information. Thank you so much, jenny.
Speaker 1:Oh boy, it's been great to be with you and I appreciate so much what the what you're doing to help people in your community. I'm hoping that maybe we've got some school staff that are listening today and they might, but they can put this podcast, a link to the podcast, in the school newsletter. And Some schools are thinking we don't have a lot of money to spend on guidance counseling, we don't have a lot of money to be able to walk people through this process, but we can direct them to a free resource.
Speaker 2:So I hope this spreads far and wide Kim before we wrap up in close, jenny, can you go ahead and give us a little information about your podcast?
Speaker 1:Yes, my podcast is right. There's a tab right at the top of my website which is debt free college dot us and, especially, some people are wondering what is Jeannie Burlowski's Credential for being able to talk to us about all these things and my podcast, episode one. I really talk about my unique background and my credential for being able to guide families and financial advisors and professionals On this journey. So, as I always say, there's only one place to go to find out about Jeannie and that is that free college dot us and there's some interesting tabs at the top, but I really want people to go straight to when you sign up for that free weekly email newsletter so I can be a guide and a friend on the journey.
Speaker 2:Well, it's been a pleasure having you with us today. It's been great to be here. Thank you.
Speaker 2:Paying for college without relying on student loans can be challenging, but it's certainly possible with careful planning and resourcefulness. Here are a couple of additional tips to help you finance your education without accumulating student loan debt. As mentioned before, take advantage of Scholarships and grants. Don't overlook those local opportunities which often have smaller pool of students competing for money as compared to national scholarships. Part-time work or work study programs can be a great source to help cover college expenses as well. Employer tuition assistance if you're already working. Check with your employer to see if they offer tuition assistance Reimbursements. And finally, maybe consider the military. Joining the military may provide access to education benefits such as the GI bill in exchange for your service. And, as always, check out neighbors FCU org for financial education to learn more on how to use the money you have, make the money you need and save the money you want.