In this solo presentation, Shellee Howard, founder and CEO of College Ready, introduces a forthcoming webinar that will teach parents how to send their students to college without incurring debt. She establishes credibility by sharing her family’s recent college graduations, her media appearances, and her mission to help a million families. Howard outlines a five‑step framework for securing scholarships and reducing college costs: (1) create a detailed college‑planning roadmap and seek professional help; (2) choose the right college and major based on academic, social, and financial fit; (3) determine the Expected Family Contribution (EFC) before applying; (4) master the FAFSA and CSS Profile processes; and (5) develop a scholarship strategy that balances time investment versus monetary gain and leverages scholarships to achieve a debt‑free graduation. Throughout, she emphasizes the pitfalls of relying on high‑school counselors, the importance of family discussions, and the need to understand loan and debt implications. The talk concludes with a call to join the evening webinar and an offer to obtain her best‑selling book, “How to Send Your Student to College Without Losing Your Mind or Your Money.”
Chapters
Hello, this is Shellee Howard with College Ready, and I wanted to share with you a little glimpse into what I'll be sharing with our clients today. So as we get into this, I wanted to let you know that today we're going to speak about— Hello, this is Shellee Howard with College Ready, and I wanted to share with you a little glimpse into what I'll be sharing. Hello, this is Shellee Howard, the founder and owner of College Ready, and I would like to share with you how to get the best scholarships. I'm hosting a webinar tonight, so if you are listening right now, please know to join us, and we would love the opportunity to help you get a college degree and graduate debt-free. I'm gonna go ahead and share my screen right now, and let's go ahead and get started. So when you think about what's important for college and how you're going to prepare, here's some things that you want to consider. So this is me, Shellee Howard, the founder and CEO of College Ready. And like I said, I will be doing a whole presentation this evening, but I wanted to give you a glimpse of what we'll be covering. So there's a ton of information. This information was created for you if you have a student in 8th grade or higher, you are overwhelmed and do not know where to start, you do not want to pay full price for college, you would like to find out how to get financial help for college, you are ready to take the emotion out of college and look at it as an investment. How to send your student to college without going into debt? That's what I'm here to help you with today. On today's agenda, or the webinar this evening, I will be discussing 5 things you must do to receive a college scholarship or multiple scholarships. I will also share how your student can find and earn the best scholarships and how to stay organized and not get overwhelmed. If you stay to the end, I will be sharing how you can get a copy of my best-selling book, How to Send Your Student to College Without Losing Your Mind or Your Money. This is about your student's future. Please carve out some time. It won't be a long webinar, but it's full of great information. First, who am I? I am a parent just like you. This is my crazy family. These are my two oldest, my son and daughter, during their graduation. Oh, I jumped, um, I jumped way ahead. Sorry about that. Oh, I'm now going in the wrong direction. Okay, so they have just recently graduated. My son just graduated from medical school and is now an orthopedic surgeon in UCLA, and my daughter graduated from nursing school and she's She's a pediatric registered nurse at Loma Linda. I have 2 stepchildren as well, and this year I have the honor of, uh, being an exchange host to Francesca from Italy. So my family is definitely made up of teenagers. I have been featured on Fox 5 News. I've been on other networks as well. I'm all over social media, and my mission is to help a million families understand their options to get a debt-free degree. Imagine what it will be like to see your student graduate from college completely debt-free, to rest easy knowing that you and your student are prepared for the college admissions process that lies ahead of you, seeing your student earn scholarships regardless of how much your family makes. Let's get started. The first secret I'm going to share is Having a plan and getting help are critical to your success. The 5 things you must do to receive a college scholarship or scholarships is to number 1, first, create a plan, pick the correct college. Second, know your expected family contribution before you apply to college. Third, understand the FAFSA and the CSS Profile. 4. Scholarship strategy. Do you have more time or do you have more money? And then how to use scholarships to graduate debt-free. Stay to the end and I will show you how. Number 1: Planning. So here's the problem. If this sounds like you, you may resonate. Parents assume that the high school will help in the college admissions process. High school counselors have hundreds of thousands of students they must help. They do not know your teen's social needs or financial needs. Solution: Have a family discussion and expectation meeting. It is unrealistic to think your teen can do this on their own. Either they need your help or they need to hire a professional. It is like expecting them to do their own taxes, buy their own car, or buy a home. The second thing: finding the correct college. The problem: teenagers pick colleges based on the media, sports teams, Greek life, Google rankings. Solution: get a clear picture of what is most important to your family— academic fit, social fit, or financial fit. The next one, picking the correct major and college. Here's the problem. Most teenagers do not know what they want to major in or what career they want to pursue. So the solution, get a clear vision of their core values, gifts, and talents. Test them with a Passion with Purpose project, internship, or research project. Not planning equals debt. The problem: do not assume your teenager understands debt. They cannot get a loan without you co-signing, and now it's your debt. Solution: teach them the consequences of what happens if they pick incorrectly. College debt will not be forgiven. Ask them how they would spend $1 million or the return on investment of a college degree they want. These are all new concepts. Number 2: Know your expected family contribution before you apply. Problem: Families apply to college without knowing the cost of attendance. Solution: Calculate your expected family contribution at every college before you apply. Knowing your EFC before you apply. Families do not often look at the return on investment. So now the solution: consider the graduation stats and job placement. Will they need to get an additional degree? Then map out a strategy to get their desired career. Knowing before you apply to college. Problem: students pick a college based on the name of the college. Families listen to other families as if they are the expert. Solution: make sure the college offers the student, the student's top 3 majors. Have a Plan A, a B, and a C. Make sure the college you choose will help your student map and plan out for their future. Know your EFC before you apply. Problem: People assume they must pay the sticker price for college. Families have no idea how to lower their expected family contribution, and families are simply overwhelmed with the whole process. Here's the solution: Consider how generous a college is. Know what percent of their students get aid. You can hire a CPA for your taxes, and you can hire a professional to help you lower your expected family contribution. Learn how to navigate this process or hire somebody to help you. The FAFSA in the CSS Profile. The problem: parents assume they make too much money. The solution: parents do not assume you make too much money. Complete the FAFSA. The FAFSA in the CSS Profile. Parents have their students complete the FAFSA. And CSS Profile. Solution: if the FAFSA is not completed properly, you will not get any money. These are all super critical. That is just a taste of what you will see this evening, and I hope you will join us.
