Good bell ringer to get the conversation started about paying for college. Can start the class by asking your students how they think families will pay for college:

• What are the sources that families tap into?
• What are 3 most important categories?

Once they have given their answers, you can move on to the chart below.

Sallie Mae out with their tenth annual study showing how families are covering the cost of college. Lots of interesting graphs, charts, infographics that I will be sharing over next few weeks. Here’s a chart with an answer to the question posed in the title of the post:

Questions: 

• Before diving into the data, what questions would you want to know about the survey itself?
• How has the overall cost that families pay for college changed over the past five years?
• What are the three largest sources that families use to pay for college?
• What were the biggest changes in how American families pay for college in the past year? What category saw the largest increase and which saw the largest decrease?
• Did anything surprise you about this chart?
• Have you ever had a conversation with your parents about paying for college? What do you think your bar chart will look like?

__________

A great way to get your students to engage with their parents/guardians is through this NGPF Activity: Discuss Paying For College With Your Parents

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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