College Planning Through a Pandemic

By: Becky Eason, CFP®

It’s hard to believe that it’s the beginning of another school year already. Many colleges have already started their fall semester, whether it’s in person, online, or a hybrid of in person and online classes. We are in a period of uncertainty, especially the education system. Some colleges that opened their doors for in person learning have already switched to online classes, within just a couple of weeks. For future college students what does this mean for your college planning and student loans?

If you’re in the college planning process continue pursuing your planning. What I mean by this is to find a variety of schools you’re interested in attending and schedule a campus visit, but know that this campus visit might be virtual. The college planning process is usually a multi year process, so if you delay planning you could lose out on opportunities, especially considering how rapidly everything is changing with the pandemic. 

According to Business Insider, it’s estimated that college enrollment is down 5% - 20% for the fall 2020 semester and nobody knows what future enrollment is going to look like. However this enrollment decline could help future college students negotiate better grants and scholarships because colleges are going to want higher enrollment numbers. In any college planning circumstance we recommend you apply for as many scholarships and grants as possible and to also ask the schools for additional financial assistance if possible. This can work especially well if you have been accepted into multiple colleges, as you can use the financial assistance packages from one college to negotiate with your top choice school. This does take some additional time but additional financial assistance from scholarships and grants reduces the amount of student loans you need to take out, which will save you money in the long run. 

Many college students enjoy going off to college for the college experience and the “freedom” that comes with it. Something upcoming college students may want to consider is the reality that they may not be able to attend in person college, or if they are able to, will they be sent home shortly after arriving? The reason for bringing up this point is because it’s possible that there might be a local college that a student can attend for a year while the education system figures out how to keep students safe. Attending a local college could allow the student to live at home for a year and greatly reduce their cost of attending college by not needing room and board. If you have a dream school in mind and don’t want to pursue a local college another option would be signing up for online classes from the start. This would also save room and board costs but allow you to be a student of your dream school. 

The college planning process is always complicated and when you add in our current pandemic it only makes the process more complicated and emotional. We love to see students have a wonderful college experience, but we don’t want to see them leave school with lots of student loan debt and regret. That’s why we specialize in the college planning process. Check out this video on how our college planning process works. 

Public versus Private Student Loans

Take out federal student loans before taking out private loans. Federal student loans usually offer lower fixed interest rates, less interest accrues on subsidized loans while you are in school, they offer the ability to access income-driven repayment options and depending on your career and type of repayment option you could also be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness.  Fed Loans also generally have a disability clause.

Tracking Your Student Loans

If you have student loans or expect to, create a spreadsheet to track these loans. It’s likely that every semester you will be taking out loans and it can be very easy to forget how many you took out, especially when they are through different loan providers. Things to include in your spreadsheet would be: what type of loan was taken out, who the loan provider is along with their contact information, when the loan was taken out, the amount the loan is for, what the grace period is, and what the interest rate is.

Automate Your Student Loan Payments and Save!

When your student loans go into repayment get setup with automatic payments. Many loan providers will offer you a lower interest rate for doing this. It will also help ensure you don’t miss a payment, which will have a positive effect on your credit score.

Working in a Public Service Field with Student Loans?

Are you thinking about a career in a public service field? If you are, be sure to check out Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Depending on the types of loans you have and what type of organization you plan on working for you may be eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). If you are eligible, be sure to set up your loan repayments with an eligible repayment plan.