Navigating College Finances

College costs have risen faster than inflation and wage growth. And yet, research shows that the barriers to saving for college are often not just financial. Stanford Initiative for Financial Decision-Making (IFDM) 's Financial Literacy Colloquium today featured Guglielmo Briscese, who presented findings from a landmark analysis of over 900,000 Illinois 529 college savings accounts. The results are striking. Among parents who could save enough to cover half of their child's future college costs, 61% still believed their savings would be meaningless. That is not a resource problem. That is a knowledge and perception problem. Financial literacy emerged as one of the most powerful predictors of whether and how much families save. Parents with higher financial literacy saved more, planned better, and made more effective use of the tools available to them. This is exactly why financial literacy education matters so much, and why it has to start early. The tools exist. The programs exist. What is often missing is the knowledge to use them well. Guglielmo's research is an important contribution to a field that is growing, and a reminder that addressing the college affordability crisis requires more than expanding access to savings vehicles. It requires closing the knowledge gap that prevents families from using them. Read his research:  https://lnkd.in/dxrggdrE

Why Is Financial Education Still Missing from Our Schools? 🏫 📚 💰 🤷♂️ At school, many of us learned how to boil an egg in home economics, how to saw a shape out of wood in design class, and even how to run a 100-meter dash in PE. These were practical, hands-on lessons that felt relevant at the time. But looking back, it’s hard to ignore the glaring gap in our education: the absence of financial literacy. 😕 We left school knowing how to measure ingredients or use a saw, but most of us had no idea how to open a bank account, write a cheque (back when cheques were still widely used), or understand the impact of inflation on our savings. Budgeting, basic accounting, and financial planning? They weren’t on the syllabus. Instead, most of us relied on our parents to teach us how to manage pocket money, if they could. 😔 Fast forward to adulthood, and those gaps in knowledge became real vulnerabilities. Many young people graduate into a world of credit cards, mortgages, taxes, and pensions with no preparation. And while financial literacy campaigns and voluntary initiatives aim to bridge the gap, it’s still perplexing that, in 2025, we don’t have a structured financial education in schools. 🏫 A few days ago during an insightful meeting with the CEO of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), this very issue came up. We reflected on how year after year, government after government, the same question is raised: why don’t we have a financial planning A-level? Why isn’t financial literacy part of the national curriculum? And yet, despite all the discussions and good intentions, the system remains unchanged. 😔 As a financial planner, I see the real life consequences of this omission daily. People struggle to budget, save, and plan for the future. They are unsure how to navigate debt, investment, or insurance. The basics of personal finance which are critical to living a secure and confident life are still not taught in the one place that shapes us all: school. 🏫 🤔 While voluntary efforts like pro bono financial planning days and workshops are commendable, they can only go so far. This issue requires systemic change. We need a curriculum that includes budgeting, saving, investing, understanding inflation, and the importance of long term financial planning. It’s not just about equipping students for adulthood, it’s about empowering them to thrive. 💪 Until then, we’ll keep advocating, volunteering, and mentoring. But isn’t it time for the education system to step up? 🙋🏽♀️ Financial literacy isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. And if we truly want to set the next generation up for success, it’s a lesson we can’t afford to skip any longer. 👍 What do you think please? Should financial education be a core part of the school curriculum? If you’re a financial planner, how are you helping to bridge the gap? 🙋🏾 Thank you 🙏 Rob 👍😊 #school #curriculum #FinancialEducation #FinancialLiteracy #Empowerment

Can I take a minute of your time? Would you have made it without financial support or professional #connections?💭 Young adults from higher #professional class backgrounds are 4 times more likely to enter top professional roles (32%) than those from lower #WorkingClass backgrounds (7%). This is not just about individual effort. The data shows that access to #opportunities - especially in #elite professions like #law, #finance, and #accountancy is often determined long before #talent or hard work come into play. Without financial security, industry #connections, and structured pathways into the #profession, many simply never get through the door. 🚨The Role of Level 7 Apprenticeships🚨 Traditionally, routes into law and other high status professions have favored those who can afford university fees, unpaid internships, and years of professional training. But Level 7 #apprenticeships have started to change this. These apprenticeships offer an #alternative pathway into high-skilled professions, allowing individuals to qualify while earning a salary and avoiding #StudentDebt. For those from lower-income backgrounds, this is often the only viable way to enter the legal, financial, and professional services industries. Yet, there are increasing calls to restrict funding for Level 7 apprenticeships, based on concerns that they primarily benefit existing employees rather than opening doors for new talent. Why This Matters⁉️ If we cut off funding for these apprenticeships, we risk reinforcing the very #barriers that legal and professional firms are working to break down. ❗️ #DiversityAndInclusion efforts will suffer if we remove a key route into the profession for those without financial privilege. ❗️ #Talent pipelines will narrow as fewer people from non-traditional backgrounds can access professional careers. ❗️ Firms will #MissOut on highly capable candidates who simply cannot afford to take on debt to qualify. Instead of cutting funding, we should focus on ensuring Level 7 apprenticeships are used effectively to drive genuine social mobility. The Bigger Picture 🔎 If we want to create a truly #diverse and #meritocratic legal and professional sector, we must protect and expand pathways that remove financial barriers to entry. What are your thoughts? #SocialMobility #LegalProfession #Apprenticeships #DiversityAndInclusion #FairAccess

$𝟕𝟎 𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍 - 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓. Yet 1 in 3 return home with crushing debt and minimal savings to show for it. I just read about a 27-year-old who returned to India from the US with a ₹40 lakh loan. His ₹75,000 monthly salary in India sounds decent until you realize ₹66,000 goes to EMI payments. That leaves just ₹9,000 to survive each month. In a major Indian city. At 27. This isn't an isolated case. The foreign education debt trap is claiming more victims every year as visa restrictions tighten and global job markets prioritize local talent. 𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞-𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧: ✅ 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐑𝐎𝐈: Factor in opportunity cost of 2+ years without income and realistic post-graduation salary. ✅ 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬: Many now offer world-class education at a fraction of the cost. ✅ 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 "𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐀𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞": Exchange programs or 1-year international masters can provide global exposure without six-figure debt. ✅ 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥: Never commit more than 30% of projected income to education loan repayments. (This isn't easy to analyse) ✅ 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬: Focus on capabilities that command premium salaries regardless of location. The right international degree can absolutely transform careers—but the wrong financial decision can derail lives. 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬: What alternative paths have you found to gain global education without the crushing debt?  Education counselors, what advice would you add? #ForeignEducation #StudentDebtCrisis #FinancialLiteracy #CareerPlanning

Too often, conversations about college affordability stop at tuition. But tuition can be as little as 20% of the total cost of attendance. And for many of today’s students who are balancing work, family, and school, it’s those non-tuition costs like housing, food, and transportation that are the real barriers to completion. That’s what I really enjoyed digging through Inside Higher Ed new Deep Dive report on the total cost of attendance and how hidden costs disproportionately impact students from low-income backgrounds.    As the report highlights, inconsistent and opaque living cost estimates can limit the aid students receive and lead to unnecessary debt. That’s why our postsecondary policy and advocacy efforts include: Pushing for clearer, more consistent ways for how colleges calculate and report the full cost of attendance, expanding emergency aid so it reaches students when and how they need it, ensuring financial aid is targeted to students with the greatest need, and using data to better understand where affordability gaps exist and how to close them.   Addressing total cost of attendance is about ensuring more students can stay enrolled, graduate, and realize the full value of their education.   Dive into "Beyond Tuition" https://lnkd.in/gTtFXYpA

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. The rising cost of living in Kenya is having a detrimental effect on the country's education system and access to learning opportunities. With inflation driving up prices, many families are struggling to afford basic necessities, let alone school fees. This is contributing to rising dropout rates, poor learning outcomes, and systemic issues that compromise the quality of education. One of the biggest impacts is that fewer students are able to enroll and remain in school. As parents dedicate more household income to food, housing, medical care, and other basics, less is available for school fees and educational costs. Even small fees can be out of reach. This has led to more students dropping out, especially at the secondary and tertiary levels where fees are higher. Schools are also reporting spikes in student absenteeism. With more students in classrooms, overcrowding is also a major issue. Schools are exceeding healthy teacher-to-student ratios, sometimes drastically, which affects the quality of teaching and attentiveness students receive. Lack of teaching resources from textbooks to basic supplies also compromises learning. These problems are particularly pronounced in lower-income rural areas. The high cost of living also contributes to a shortage of qualified teachers. Low pay and lack of incentives leads to high turnover as teachers seek better opportunities. Many who remain supplement their income with second jobs, affecting their teaching performance. The resulting instability and lack of quality instruction disadvantages students. The government has implemented some supportive initiatives, like eliminating fees for primary schools and providing subsidies for secondary school. An example of a successful initiative is the Elimu kwa Wote bursary program by the Mandera County Government, which provides financial aid to over 22,000 students in 59 government secondary schools, tertiary colleges, and universities. However, the impacts on education access and quality persist. Addressing core economic issues contributing to the high cost of living is crucial for enabling more equitable education opportunities. Increased financial aid, teacher incentives, infrastructure development and more resources are also key to overcoming systemic challenges. With collaborative efforts, Kenya can work to minimize barriers to education imposed by unaffordable living costs.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 2025 𝐂𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭'𝐬 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐨-𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞!   This comprehensive report, conducted by the Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee of the March 2025 (M25) cohort, assesses the financial realities and socio-economic backgrounds of Blue Book trainees to identify barriers to participation and success within the program. By analyzing data on parental education, professional backgrounds, and cost of living, the study provides evidence to help make the traineeship more inclusive and equitable.   𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬:   💸 Allowance Gap: The current living allowance remains inadequately aligned with the real cost of living for many trainees. ⚖️ Inequality: Financial stress disproportionately affects individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds, non-EU countries, ethnic minorities, and women. 🚧 Structural Barriers: While many navigate challenges using savings or family support, this reliance creates barriers for equally qualified candidates from lower-income backgrounds. ⏳ Access Gap: The data suggests that individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds may require a longer period to gain access to the traineeship. 🧠 Well-being: Financial constraints pose significant barriers to social participation and the overall well-being of trainees.   𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐬:   📈 Fair Pay: The traineeship allowance should be reviewed and adjusted to ensure it is adequately aligned with the real cost of living. 🏠 Direct Support: Additional measures such as discounted meals, transport subsidies, and relocation aid should be considered. 🔍 Monitoring: Regular monitoring and transparent reporting of financial well-being, diversity, and access are essential.   ⚠️ A Note on the Data: These findings likely underestimate these inequalities . The survey couldn't capture the experiences of pre-selected candidates who declined the traineeship or individuals who did not apply because the allowance was insufficient.   A huge thank you to the M25 coordination and research team for their dedication: Laura CHEVALIER, Marie-Madeleine Trottmann, Sara A., Norhan Abdelaziz, Alexandrine Mas, Ioana Dragos and José Antonio C.   📎 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘶𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦!

It is tiring hearing about how textbook costs are holding us back from academic success 🥱. Here's how one university cracked the code 👇. New Jersey City University just proved what we at BibliU have been saying for years: when you remove financial barriers to learning materials, everything changes. NJCU launched an institution-funded model where every undergraduate gets Day 1 digital access to all required course materials, at zero additional cost to students. No upfront payments, no waiting for financial aid or student loan, no choosing between food and textbooks. The results are shocking: 📈 Average course grades: 3.02 → 3.15 📊 Term GPA: 2.93 → 3.07  🎯 Students earning C or better: 85.6% → 88.1% But here's what is really important: these gains were consistent across every student population. Black/African American students, Latinx students, first-generation learners, Pell Grant recipients - everyone benefited equally. These are correlations, not proven causations. Even so, these correlations are incredibly powerful, because they serve as leading indicators of student success.  Unlike lagging metrics such as exam results (which often come too late to intervene), these early signals give universities a chance to act proactively. Through our dashboard, university staff can identify at-risk students early, intervene sooner, and ultimately drive up both retention and grades 📊. Having grown up in rural Western Australia where access to educational resources was always a challenge, I know firsthand how barriers compound. When you're already stretching every dollar, a $300 textbook bill can derail a student's entire semester. NJCU's approach flips the script entirely. Instead of students scrambling to afford materials before aid kicks in, the university builds it into their model from day one. Predictable budgeting for the institution, guaranteed access for students. Despite a slight enrolment decline, per-student outcomes improved dramatically. That's the kind of sustainable institutional value we need more of in higher ed 🤝. This isn't just about affordable textbooks, but about recognising that small financial barriers create massive educational inequities. When we remove those barriers, students thrive. More universities need to follow NJCU's lead. Because education 🧑🎓 should never be a luxury good.

We asked 36 first-year graduate students in Científico Latino's First-Year Graduate School Mentorship Program (for our GSMI Alumni) about unexpected expenses in their first year of graduate school. Only 17% had none. Everyone else experienced the following financial burdens: → 47% needed a laptop - a critical expense in graduate school → 28% paid for STEM professional society fees →25% had to pay for specialized software out of pocket they use in their research laboratory → 25% absorbed conference costs → 19% paid for expensive textbooks And these categories don't capture everything as our students also reported health insurance gaps, rising costs of enrollment and student fees they didn't know existed, relocation costs to start graduate school, and waiting weeks for that first stipend check to arrive. This is the financial reality of year one of graduate school. Most of it is invisible until you're in it. And most of it falls on students who have the least financial capacity to absorb these costs. These expenses don't just strain a budget, they close doors to opportunities. For example, conferences are where you present your research, meet collaborators, connect with hiring managers, and position yourself for the next step in your career. Department funding for conferences varies a lot per university and when it does exist, it rarely covers the full cost of travel, lodging, and registration. Students are left covering the gap out of pocket, or not going at all if their academic research advisor can't afford it. In a publish or perish environment, conference attendance isn't optional. One student couldn't attend an alumni program directly tied to industry internship readiness in biotech and biopharma. Not because they weren't serious about their career preparation, but because they couldn't cover the cost. $500–$1,000 is the difference between attending a conference and sitting it out. For students with no financial runway, that's not a small gap, it's a gap in access to opportunity for career preparation. Graduate school was never designed to be financially transparent. But the gap between what students expect and what they actually face in year one is a real barrier, and it falls hardest on students from low-income and first-gen backgrounds who have the least financial runway. This is exactly why supporting first-year graduate students matters. The earlier we reduce the financial burden, the better their chances of making it through graduate school. Thank you to Dennis Octavio Melendez, Ph.D. for working on our analysis and more to come in our upcoming Científico Latino Annual Report.

Over five years of investing in aspiring technology students at Last Mile Education Fund, we've confirmed what we suspected: the pathways to tech careers in the U.S. are designed with the affluent in mind, leaving under-resourced students facing numerous obstacles. Higher education systems assume that students have financial safety nets—access to resources and time to learn, gain experience, and get hired. This is not true for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, a growing segment of the U.S. talent pool. What does this look like in practice? A Longer Journey: Students who attend under-resourced high schools often enter college without adequate math and science preparation, requiring catch-up courses that cost them time and money. No Room For Exploration: Merit-focused scholarship programs require consistently high performance, discouraging financially vulnerable students from taking challenging courses or choosing time and resource-intensive majors, as any drop in GPA may jeopardize funding. A Glaring Advising Gap: First-generation and financially vulnerable students disproportionately attend lower-resourced institutions, at which few tech employers recruit. This results in a lack of advising specific to tech, leaving them at a disadvantage during the job search. Opportunities Come at a Cost: Career-building opportunities--such as internships, conferences, and hackathons--are often inaccessible to financially vulnerable students due to financial and time constraints, restricting their ability to gain experience and compete alongside their affluent peers. Recruiting Systems Conflate Privilege With Potential: Institutional prestige, GPA, awards, hackathon wins, conference attendance, research experiences and internships are often an indication of financial security and access rather than talent. The current system assumes students have family support, when many of our students are their family’s support system.  Last Mile Education Fund students are operating within a structure that benefits those with privilege, while disadvantaging students lacking a financial means. As a result, the system overlooks a significant untapped talent. Fortunately, we've found a simple solution - rapid response, trust-based financial support to ensure basic needs are met and students can prioritize academics and take advantage of career development opportunities. Check out our 5 Year Impact report to learn more: www.lastmile-ed.org/impact