The Hidden College Credit Strategy That Could Save Your Family Thousands with Josh See

Parents, is your teen college ready? Are you feeling overwhelmed, stressed out, or excited about your teen applying to college? Do you know what colleges are looking for? And if your kid gets in, do you know what you'll pay for it? College admission has never been so competitive or expensive. Shellee Howard will take you on a journey to help you and your teen get college ready. Now here's your host, Shellee.

Well, hello again, parents. Is your teen college ready? This is Shellee Howard, the founder and CEO of CollegeReady. And today I have an incredible guest, Josh See. Welcome to the show.

Thanks so much for having me, Shellee Howard.

Outstanding. So can you share a little bit about yourself, your background, and what the listener may get today on our podcast?

Yeah, absolutely. I went a very non-traditional college route. I went into college thinking I was gonna be the next great sports broadcaster, and I went to journalism school, the whole thing, until about halfway where I just started working with kids in inner city Memphis, Tennessee, once spring break and fell in love with it. Came back and told my advisor, said, I don't know what it is, but I need to be able to work with kids. I have this passion and this just desire to do that. What do I need to do? She's like, well, you can major in social sciences. I didn't know what that was. I was like, fine, done. Let's do it. I needed a teaching credential of some sort. So I went through that, went to school, graduated when I was 26. So I was a little bit older than a traditional student and got my first teaching job at a K-8 charter school. And I'm here in Northern Colorado and, and it was teaching 7th and 8th 5th graders that were very, very low reading level, math level. Many of them were on a specialized learning plan, special education, what have you. So I cut my teeth fast, learned a lot about it. I took a— as funny, Shellee Howard— I took a pay cut my first job in 2008, making $23,000 as a teacher. And I was previously an assistant manager at a clothing store in a mall. So if that tells you anything in the passion I had to be able to do this, I was all in or not. Did that for a while. And found a unique high school, was called an early college high school. I had no idea what that even meant. I, I went to a traditional high school as a lot of my friends and peers, and like so many people we know, but I was fascinated by it and worked in there as a teacher for about 3 years. And the whole model behind an early college, and where I have the vast majority of my experience and what I'll talk about today, is an early college high school is designed to do more than just high school, to give students the opportunity to graduate with a college credential, whether that be an associate's degree or some sort of certification, but something beyond the high school diploma, because the high school diploma was not even the minimum. It wasn't even the standard at this school. And I just, I fell in love with the model to the point where I helped open a new campus. This is back in 2012, Early College High School in Northern Colorado, and we started with 200 students. I was the director of academic and career advising, and I don't have a counseling background nor a counseling credential, but I knew how to walk students through path and, and to get innovative and creative with. We're not just going to check a box so we can meet the requirements because this is what the district says or this is what the state says. We're going to help you do something more because this is what we believe in and we're going to break down barriers. And we grew that school from 200 students to about 1,000 students in 7 years, helped walk 3,000+ students across the stage. And this is one of my favorite parts, Shellee. We, we, they technically graduated from college before they graduated from high school.. So it was really fun to see that moment. And importantly, most importantly, perhaps they were graduating debt-free, a debt-free degree to have 2 years of college under their belt or to have multiple certifications in a trade. We had a lot of students go down that path. I became a head of that school for several years and now I run my own college consulting business, but it's very different than a traditional college consulting business. I call it college and high school, but it's more of reimagine college. And that's really the moniker we use on a daily basis is What if you could reimagine college? It's, it's my professional opinion and my opinion in general that our high schools spend way too much time simply preparing students for college to get them in the door, to apply, to get the high GPA, to get the high SAT score. And then it's okay, best of luck, all to find out their students are getting into college and they are just— they're not only utterly lost, but they're spending that first year and sometimes even second year repeating high school because that's how the system is designed in so many ways, to the tune of thousands and then eventually tens of thousands of dollars to the student loan debt epidemic we have. And families just feel stuck. So really what I try to do is flip the script. If you can reimagine college and you can earn college credit and not just some college credit, credit, but strategic college credit before you even step foot on campus, you not only have that confidence built, you've built serious momentum. You've saved thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars in college costs and potentially even time depending on your path. And so many families, they don't know these options exist. They don't understand that they do not need, for several of these options, they do not need permission of their high school to do any of it. And I'm not out to bypass the high school and wave the flag and things like this. It's more of if you're, you're not dependent on your high school to do some of these things, you can do them on your own. Here's how you do it. It's, it's all information that is readily available. It's just not discussed about enough. So that is our prime mission. And we work with not only traditional families at the middle school and high school level, but moms, dads, adults. I worked with a 65-year-old grandmother the other day that basically said, it's my turn. It's my kids. I've raised them, helped raise my grandkids. I'm ready. Let's go.

So good. So parents, hopefully you understand what we're talking about. We'll dive into some, some deeper questions. It's really, Josh is offering another path to what it looks like to get a college degree and be debt-free. And we talk about it all the time on this show that it is possible and there's many ways of doing it. So Josh, maybe you can speak about the how. This is a great idea, great concept. But how would one do this?

Absolutely. First and foremost, it's assessing where you're at. I talk to families on a weekly basis that have participated in CP. Advanced Placement courses have been around for decades and decades. Everybody, if you say AP, the vast majority of folks that have kids are gonna know what that is in a sense, at even a surface level. But a question I always ask is, do you know what your AP can do for you? And a common response is, well, it helps me get into a good college. And I'm like, well, what else does it do? And they're like, I don't really No. And I say, this AP, let's look at this college you're looking at. You took AP Biology. If you go to this college, they're going to give you 12 college credits for one AP class. And they're like, wait, what? That's 12 fewer credits you have to take. That's 12 fewer credits of college expenses, of time, of perhaps you can take a less intense semester. You may be able to graduate early. You can explore. It opens up the world. In so many ways. Once that carrot is there, that's when I say, how about you want to earn some more? And we start talking about things like the CLEP exams, things like dual enrollment and dual credit, using your community college as your high school, using these opportunities that your high school may want to offer you, but there are budget constraints, there are time constraints, there are faculty, all this sort of red tape that unfortunately, you know, just beleaguers public education, where if they know the path and they know what questions to ask, they can do this too.

So good. So what about the teenager who doesn't know what they want to do and doesn't have a clue what the career or the path to get there looks like? Will this work for them?

Absolutely. And initially, like that really for any student, it's a way to explore. That's one of the most important things is to explore and to explore something that is of an area of interest to them, not necessarily that checks a box because you can check a box in college and you take these courses and you do it these this semester and you have to meet these prerequisites and things like that. But it's more of how can we build that confidence in that area of interest and that momentum? And I spoke with a parent earlier that they had tried a couple college classes to check a box because that's what they were told to do. And the student did not do well at all. And their confidence is basically at zero. So before we really dive into anything, it's important to look at what's in— what's a subject area that just interests them? Is it history? Is it psychology? Is it math? Is it science? And let's look at an area to explore, to try that, to use it as sort of an entry-level college class, so to speak, where the college credit, the college savings, that's going to be a byproduct. It's so important. Let's build the confidence and build momentum. All my years of experience, almost 20 years doing this, I've discovered 99 times out of 100, if we can build that confidence first, that momentum is going to go through the roof. And then we, it allows them to be on a fast track to be able to pivot, to be able to shift, whatever that might look like.

Now, does every college allow students to bring in these credits with them?

Not every college. No. If we look at just, say, your Ivy Leagues. Your Ivy League colleges or even some of your T20 schools, they're going to have their own policies, their own rules on what they accept, what they don't. So that's another thing that's so important, to do the homework and do the research ahead of time to know what you're getting into. I've talked to so many people and so many families that they have all this college credit and their high school paid for it and this, that, and the other, and they get to college and month or two in and all the credits are evaluated and they discover they didn't get anything, or they got very little, and a lot was thrown out. And they're mad and they're upset and they're frustrated, as they should be, but it's, I always ask you, do your homework and research ahead of time? Well, no, not really. This is just what we were told to do. Um, so if you're able to do that homework and research ahead of time to determine, because not all colleges accept this, right? Um, but the colleges that do can be very, very friendly with, with these outside credits for sure.

So important. I'm losing my voice. So parents, this all comes down to being proactive, not reactive. When my son. Hold on one sec. When my son— boy, this is going to be interesting. It's still not there. Let's go on with my next question. Oh, it came back. So when my son was heading off to Harvard and he had taken several college classes and several dual enrollment and several APs and scored 3s, 4s, and 5s, and he was thinking, yahoo, I'm not going to have to do all 4 years. And Harvard said, nope, that's not how we work it here.

Yeah.

So super important, families, that you ask these questions ahead of time. So Josh, that's super important, right? Now let's talk about the CLEP. What is that? And why should parents care?

Yeah, well, if I had a dollar for every time I was asked what CLEP is, I could retire 10 times over. CLEP is a hidden gem. It's a hidden hack that's been around 50 years. It's the College Level Examination Program. Here's the crazy part, Shellee. This thing's been around 50 years. It's administered by the College Board, who also oversees AP. They oversee the SAT and a slew of other items as well. This is the random cousin that's just hanging back there. They're there. They've been around for a while. What do they do? How can they help? But what it is, these are 34 different exams. Each exam takes 90 minutes. The material is very similar to what you might see on an AP exam, on an SAT. It's not exact, of course, but really what this is, this is where you can earn significant college credit from a 90-minute exam. And the best part, Shellee Howard, you don't need your permission of your high school to do it. You can, you can do this completely on your own. You can register for an exam today and take the exam tomorrow and earn college credit and essentially covers, take for example, an American government. It's going to cover our US history class. It's going to cover the material that you would essentially get in that college-level American government or college-level history class. A hidden part of this, normally the exams are $97 to take, and that can be a barrier for a lot of families, and that can get expensive very fast. But there's an organization that I absolutely love. It's called modernstates.org. This is a nonprofit that's backed by a lot of— it's got a lot of financing behind it, a lot of investment behind it, in which they have free CLEP exam study courses that you can go go through that are set up like a PowerPoint interactive presentation. They're created by renowned professors from around the country. And you can go through these modules that can take anywhere from a couple hours to up to 10 hours start to finish. You get through that, you prepare for a CLEP exam, number one. And number two, at the end, they will give you a voucher to go register for the exam for free. $97 savings, and you can do it over and over. So I have folks I've worked with, parents, they identify 10 different CLEP exams and they get 10 vouchers. And the nice thing is, is is like AP where there are AP tables on college websites and you can see if I take AP, AP Gov, I get a 3, I'm gonna get this college credit, right? You can do the same thing for CLEP as well and see the colleges that accept CLEP. Almost 3,000 colleges around the country accept it. There are colleges, it is not uncommon for them to accept 60 college credits simply from a CLEP exam, from the CLEP exam. So hypothetically, a student could take 60 credits worth of CLEP exams and have 2 years of college credit for free that they never had to sit in a class for. That covers a lot of their gen eds, the English and the math and the science and the social studies, and there's even world languages and then elective areas as well. Of course, there's a strategy and a path, and you want to be strategic about it, but it's a hidden hack that too few people talk about that you can use as a viable way to earn college credit free and very quickly.

So good. Who does this really well is the homeschool environment.

Yes. 100%.

I was speaking at a homeschool convention and we started to have this conversation. I mean, this has been around so very long and so a lot of times—

50+ years.

And so a lot of times people just don't know about it. It's not new. It's not high-tech. It's just been there. And I was presenting with a lady who represented the CLEP, and together we were like, this is genius, but do your homework.

Yes.

Be proactive. Understand, because college is a business. And so I want to make sure listeners understand college. The more credit you come with, the more— the less money you spend at the university, which, right, that's what we want as a consumer, but that's not what they want as a college. And so transfer students have some other challenges, right? Not good, not bad, just some other things they need to consider. And having this as an opportunity, especially for families who may not be able to afford college, is so incredibly powerful. And for those students who are like, is it for me? The best advice, right, is to get educated in this area because it's not perfect for everybody. Is it perfect for you? It very much could be. It wasn't for my firstborn, but it was for my secondborn. So even within my own house, right? And so it's important to realize that it's not a myth. And that's why I wanted Josh on the show. He is a CLEP expert guy, and I wanted to be— you to hear from his words that this This does work and it can save your family 60 units at NYU. That's thousands and thousands and thousands, right? But will NYU take 'em? That's the part that we want you to really look at. And that is why now you— it's available. Now you need to know, does this work for your family? So let's talk about a scholarship side of it. Is it true that These college credits will disqualify me from some scholarships.

I get this question every day and I have to constantly put it out there that it's a misnomer. What colleges will look at, they're looking at two tracks. They're looking at really the, the most important thing is your official high school graduation date. That is the main thing any college admissions representative is going to look at to determine your initial status, to determine your admissions status, right? You can earn as many college credits as you want in any way imaginable, whether it's AP, whether it's CLEP, whether it's dual credit, dual enrollment, concurrent enrollment, whatever, community college credit on your own, university credit on your own, it doesn't matter. And as long as you are earning that credit prior to your official high school graduation date, you are always considered a freshman or a first-time student when you apply to college. So because of that, you are eligible for any college scholarship, Pell Grant, financial aid, you name it, that you're— that you eligible for, just like a peer of yours that has zero college credit. It doesn't change anything. What the difference is, and this is where a lot of families get confused, is it's a twofold process. The first process, the first step is that admission step. Second process is you are accepted to a college. You commit to that college. You show up on campus, you register for classes within 30 to sometimes even 60 days. That's when the college will evaluate all your college credit. All your AP credit, all your dual credit, dual enrollment, CLEP, whatever you're bringing them, and they reclassify you as based on your standing. So if you have 60 credits coming in, they're gonna reclassify you as a junior. Shellee, you know this too. It's so much of it's semantics though. It, it truly doesn't matter like it does in high school. Oh, I'm a freshman, I'm a junior. It's more of what's your finish line? How long is it gonna take you to get there? You need 120, 128 credits. You have 60, you're about halfway there.

So I'm gonna have you slow down in one section, cuz it's so normal for us to talk about this, but our listeners may be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. When you spoke about the fact of they have to do it before they graduate, I think that's a part that many families get very confused because if they do it after, they're a transfer student, the units that they're collecting after graduation date. So that part down for families and get a little bit into the weeds a little bit. What does that mean? Because many families are thinking, well, wait, if they're taking— I'm gonna let you say it. I'm gonna let you say it.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. It can be, it can be really confusing. So that official high school graduation date, you earn your college credits before that, because a college, they're only looking at what's on your high school transcript, what your, say your counselor sends them. So even if you have. College credit, AP, dual enrollment, what have you on that high school transcript, they're only looking at that for admissions purposes, right? Once you commit to that college and you show up, then they evaluate all the credits. So it doesn't disqualify you. In your example of a transfer student, this is also can be confusing for families too. If you start taking college classes or earning college credit through CLEP through your community college because you don't have a lot going on in the summertime, or any, any, you want to earn some credit. That can be good, except you've officially graduated high school. So you have to be careful. And that's why I always encourage every family, reach out to your admissions representative that you've been dealing with the entire time and ask them the question, can I take college credits this summer before I go? If so, What's my threshold? How many credits can I take? How many classes? A lot of times colleges will also advertise this on their, their website. As a rule of thumb, it's about 12 to 24 credits. Now, I'm not saying take 12 or 24 credits in between high school and college, but that's what can then turn you into a transfer student. Now, there again, it doesn't matter in the sense of if you still get into your college, you still get in and that's great. But what can happen is it changes your status as far as what you're eligible for in terms of scholarships. In terms of financial aid, potentially various grants. And I've seen it to where a student tries to get a head start and they take too many college credits that summer after high school graduation, before they go to college, and a scholarship they had earned, they are now ineligible for because their status changes. So it's so important. Another piece is, uh, gap years are becoming more and more popular. I'm a fan of a gap year, as long as you have a certain pat— plan and goal and things like that. And that's another conversation for another day, but it's, it's doubly important. Important to make sure whatever that gap year looks like, you are not disqualifying yourself and taking too many credits because it can impact you.

That is so important. So for parents who don't know what a gap year is, that is if your child feels like they're not ready to go straight off to college, they need a little break in between. And what most families don't realize is if they take a college-level class, after they've graduated from high school, you just muddied the waters.

Yes. Yes.

And it can get really, really complex. So just doing something is not the best bet. You want to have a plan and a strategy. And so Josh, I so appreciate what you're saying, and that's why I asked you to slow it down because I get parents all the time who are like, well, this happened. And they're not my client. And I'm like, I am so sorry nobody told you. And that is a hard story to deliver. So there are so many opportunities for families to graduate without debt. And we talk about it through College Ready. Last year, our students earned over $11.8 million in scholarships.

Oh, amazing.

Attach that to this additional path of getting rid of 2 years, it's, it's a beautiful opportunity. And so like you, I'm out there trying to help people understand that it is possible and every child has their own strategy. If people have questions about this CLEP or, or what we've been discussing today, what is the best way for them to contact you?

Yeah, I'm on all the platforms and they may be in the show notes, but you can, they can also email me at @collegeinhighschool.com, just like it sounds. I'm on TikTok and Facebook and Instagram @collegeinhighschool1 as well. So those are the best ways to reach me.

Outstanding. So again, parents, just thinking there's money. Josh is telling there's money. Every guest I, I bring on here has a unique way of helping your family graduate without debt. We want you to know you've got this. And so Josh, is there any last words of encouragement or anything that you would share with a parent listening?

Yeah, I would say, and we touched on a little bit, Shellee, but there is so much noise out there. College, the landscape of college looks so different than it did 20, 30, 40, even 50 years ago. And because of that, there is so much noise and it's very difficult. It can be difficult for a student and a parent to cut through that. Your high school counselors are fantastic, but they are inundated. They, they have so many students in their caseload that they can barely touch on these things. Um, why you've likely never heard of them. So know that the information is out there. There are folks out there that will talk to you about it and tell you about it for free on social media and things like that. Take a breath, try to cut through the noise, focus on building that confidence. Know that you're gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay. And as long as you can go to college with minimal debt to no debt, That's always so, so powerful.

And listeners, it is possible. We wanna help support your students. So until next time, you've got this.