Parents and Mentors
Yes SICAN
College Myths
You've probably heard, and might believe, some of these common myths about college. Read on for the realities.
MYTH: My teen can make a good living without a college education.
REALITY: There is no doubt that some people have done well without a college degree. However, a college graduate will earn on average about a million dollars more than a high school graduate in his or her lifetime. For most people, college pays.
MYTH: I don’t have the money, and my teen can’t afford to take out loans to pay for college, even if she wanted to go.
REALITY: Almost all students today can get low-rate education loans to help them pay for college, and education loans typically don’t have to be paid back until a student is out of school. The average loan debt of undergraduate students today is roughly $20,000—that’s less than the cost of most new cars!
MYTH: Anyone can get into a public university, but it’s hard to get into a private college.
REALITY: Some public universities are among the most competitive to get into, while other public universities are required to take nearly all applicants. It’s true that some private colleges are very selective, but others take students who wouldn’t be admitted to a public university. Check with the colleges that you are considering to find out more about the average academic credentials of its students and its admission policies.
MYTH: Courses and grades in the spring of senior year aren’t important because students already have been accepted by a college by the time those courses are done.
REALITY: Most colleges make statements in their admissions materials that they will look at a senior’s spring grades. If the student’s academic performance has dropped off substantially, colleges have been known to cancel an offer of admission.
MYTH: To make it in today’s world you need a four-year college degree.
REALITY: Someone with a four-year degree may have more career options, but there are many satisfying and good-paying jobs that are possible with certain technical or two-year degrees. Your teen should start with the fields that are of greatest interest and learn what kind of education is required and what the job opportunities are in those areas.
MYTH: The college with the lowest price will be the most affordable.
REALITY: Some of colleges with an initially high cost have raised significant amounts of money for scholarships from their graduates and friends. As a result, they have more money to give to students in the form of scholarships, which reduces the cost to the student. After taking financial aid into consideration, a more expensive college may be more affordable than a college with a lower list price. Find out what kinds of scholarship options are available at the colleges you are considering.
MYTH: It really doesn’t matter if I wait a year or two after high school to go to college.
REALITY: A majority of students who don’t go to college right after high school never go at all. Others students bring great experience to the college when they enroll because of what they did with the time off from school. It is wise for a student to apply to colleges of interest during senior year. The student can then ask a college to defer enrollment for a year or two, if the student needs the time away. Most colleges will hold the offer of admission, especially if the student has plans that will ultimately make the student even more interesting or valuable as a member of the campus community, such as military service or aid work.
Caution: If the student works during this time away, the income of the student (if substantial) may hinder need-based financial aid eligibility. Because the student will, in many cases, still qualify as a dependent student, only a small amount of income will be protected under the federal formula. Amounts beyond that can hurt financial aid eligibility.
MYTH: You need to start planning for college during your junior year of high school.
REALITY: While some students may wait this late to do certain things like visiting potential colleges or taking the SATs, there are other things that should never wait this long. For example, high school course selections and grades are the single most important consideration in most colleges’ admission decisions, and students sometimes make high school course decisions as early as middle school. Financial planning, saving for college, and finding out which colleges will be affordable also should be done well before the junior year.
MYTH: Graduates today have so much college loan debt that it doesn't make sense to go to college.
REALITY: Most students who have huge loan debt usually have either done a poor job of finding a college where their family’s financial aid works well, or they made a conscious decision to take on that kind of loan debt so that they could attend a particular college. (The average loan debt of undergraduate students today is roughly $20,000.) The goal for most families is to find schools that will be financially reasonable for them, usually by using a published financial aid estimator to understand where they stand under the federal formula for financial aid.
MYTH: There isn’t a lot of financial aid available, and what is available goes to only a few of the very best students.
REALITY: More than $105 billion dollars in financial aid was awarded during the 2002-2003 academic year. The vast majority of this money was awarded by the federal government through grant, loan, and work-study programs, while colleges’ own grants and scholarships accounted for almost 20% of all financial aid. States helped, too, by contributing more than $5.5 billion. That’s a lot of money for a lot of students. In fact, over 70% of students nationally receive some kind of financial aid.
MYTH: No one in my family has gone to college. Why should my teen be the first?
REALITY: After high school, your teen may have 40 or 50 years of employment ahead. Many changes will occur in the job market during that time. Many of today’s jobs that require only a high school diploma may no longer exist a few years from now. The goal of post-secondary education is to prepare your teen for the job market of the future, not that of the present.