As a single mother with two children, Eileen approached us with uncertainty around how she would approach funding college for her daughters. Eileen had some dedicated college savings that was funded by life insurance when her spouse died. While Eileen had high earnings as a physician, her need to fully fund her own retirement savings did not allow for much additional college savings. Eileen was hopeful that her daughters could graduate from college without debt. The was approximately $400,000 of total savings for both daughters, which might fall short of the costs depending on the colleges attended. Need-based aid was not available due to Eileen’s income. Thus we worked with Eileen and her daughters to identify a college selection process that would target schools of interest but that also demonstrated a high probability of awarding merit-based aid. Ultimately both daughters enrolled in colleges that offered merit-based awards the brought the total cost down to a level that could be covered by the existing savings. The total of the merit-based awards was over $150,000 over the eight years of college. Getting involved early in the college selection process allowed us to guide the daughters to schools that they were likely to get merit-aid from so they could graduate without the burden of student debt.*

*The above client story involves a current or former Pathway Client. Personal details, including names, have been modified to protect client confidentiality.