Life After High School

Life After High School

Planning Ahead For Your Career and Education

Considering all your career and education options after high school can be overwhelming. After all, some of your decisions may open doors to endless opportunities while others may have long-term consequences. The good news is, planning ahead for your career and education will help you find those opportunities. And learning about the dangers of student loans and credit cards will allow you to avoid those long-term consequences of a few bad decisions. Bottom line, you have to beware and be wise.

Video 1.1a: Planning Ahead for Your Career and Education

Wise People Invest in Themselves

• First, you have to read. Leaders are readers!

• Reality TV and video games are great distractions, but they’re just entertainment.

• The average millionaire reads one nonfiction book a month!

• Your net worth as an adult will be the average of the five people you hang out with the most.

• The people you put in your life influence your career, your decisions and how you spend your money.

• Have some mentors who have already had some success.

Pay Cash for College

Not all careers require the same type of post-secondary education. We are going to show you how to come up with the most cost-effective education plan for your career of choice. If a four-year college is the best education option for you, we want to show you how to do it without student loans. Believing that student loans are a "good debt" because they are a path to getting an education is a myth. You can get your education without becoming a slave to debt.

Video: 1.2a: The Truth About Student Loans

Video 1.2b: Student Loan Debt

Student Loan Debt

• When you receive your financial aid award package for college, you'll see a list of all different types of awards like scholarships and grants.

• A student loan is NOT an award! It will take years to pay it back, plus you'll have to pay interest.

• The total estimated student loan debt in our country is one trillion dollars.

Video 1.2C: Debt Free

Video 1.2d: Is College Worth All the Time and Money?

Start College with the End in Mind

• So you've decided that you will continue your education at a four-year college.

• How do you plan to pay for it?

• You can start making decisions right now that will allow you to avoid mounds of debt. One of those choices is to cash-flow (pay as you go) your college education.

• One of those choices is to cash-flow (pay as you go) your college education.

Don't Steal from Your Future

• The total estimated student loan debt outstanding is more than $1 trillion.

• Of the total outstanding student loan debt, approximately $85 billion is past due.

• The percentage of student loan borrowers who paid on time without postponing payments or becoming delinquent? A mere 37%. In other words, 63% of borrowers had a hard time paying back their loans.

• Nearly 30% of student loan borrowers wind up dropping out of school, and more than 50% of borrowers at two-year for-profit colleges never finish

Video 3.1a - Plan Ahead and Get Good Grades

Plan Ahead and Get Good Grades

• You need a plan! Start now. Get help from your parents and school counselor along the way.

• Planning for college involves more than just ACT scores and college applications. You must understand how much it is going to cost (that includes tuition, books and living expenses) and know how you are going to pay for it.

• One thing you can do right now, is get good grades.

Shop Around

• It’s a good idea to narrow your choices down to six schools or less. 

• Consider each school’s degree programs, living expenses and tuition.

• Keep in mind that more expensive doesn’t always mean better quality.

• Your future happiness, success and income will have very little to do with the prestige or name recognition of the college you attend.

Shop Around

• Attending a community college for your first two years is a great way to knock out your freshman and sophomore years at a low cost.

• Consider attending a state school instead of a private or out-of-state school, which will have much higher tuition.