Merit and Need
Another important factor in comprehensive college planning is the merit and need of the student. Through College Pre-Approval™ the need of student can be determined. A family can see how much money they have available and how much they might need.
Merit, how the student has done academically, can impact acceptance to college, available financial aid, and scholarships.
Looking at merit and need together, a student will find themselves in one of four situations. Each one will require a different strategy to pay for college.
- Some students will have high merit and low need. These students have done well academically and their parents have resources to pay for their education.
- Other students will have low merit and low need. These are students who have not done well academically, but their parents have resources to pay for their education.
- Another group of students will find that they have high merit and high need. These are students that have done well academically, but their parents do not have the resources to pay for their education.
- Lastly, some students will find that they have low merit and high need. These are students that have not done well academically and whose parents do not have the resources to pay for their education.
Each of these different situations requires a different plan to pay for college and different expectation for what can be attained. In every situation though, a plan can be made to meet an achievable education goal.
