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College Disrupted

Need to know changes from the One Big Bill Act

Cozy Wittman, Education & Partnership Manager

612-850-5729

cwittman@collegeinsidetrack.com

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Helping families successfully navigate college search for nearly 20 years!

Help students identify right fit schools – Academic, Social, Financial

Reduce the stress between parents and kids during this journey

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*In-state costs

USC $99,139

Vanderbilt $96,899

Northwestern University $93,333

Northeastern $87,450

University of Dayton $67,340

Drake University $52,998

University of South Carolina $35K/$64K

University of Oregon $38K/$69K

University of CA -Berkeley $51K/$76K

Cost of

Attendance

Purpose:

How expensive the commonly named schools actually are especially if you won’t get financial aid

Public flagship schools are no longer in the “inexpensive” realm

https://www.vanderbilt.edu/stuaccts/fees/tuition_fees_2025-26_ugrd.php

https://financialaid.usc.edu/undergraduate-financial-aid/cost-of-attendance/

https://undergradaid.northwestern.edu/aid-basics-eligibility/cost-of-attendance.html

https://udayton.edu/affordability/undergraduate/tuition-approach/tuition-cost.php

https://admission.ucla.edu/tuition-aid/tuition-fees UCLA 2025-26

https://www.collegedata.com/college-search/University-of-Colorado-Boulder

what is the coa for university of Georgia 2025-26

https://cost.illinois.edu/Home/Cost/R/U/Compare/15/120258/120258

https://financialaid.berkeley.edu/how-aid-works/student-budgets-cost-of-attendance/

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Quiz

What is the average amount of undergrad debt today?(public + private)

$20,000
$42,000
$66,000
$81,000

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Debt Facts!

1.66 Trillion in Federal and Private Loans

1 in 7 Americans have student loan debt

Only 7.9% are private loans

15% default on their loans – 1/3 are senior citizens

Class of 2025:

62% going to college

65% expected to take on debt

Expected to borrow $42,000 w/ private debt

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Paying off the debt!

Public school payoff: 5 years 4 mos
Private Non-profit: 5 years 10 mos
ROI on a bachelor’s is the lowest of all the post secondary degrees

Assumptions for above –

Starting salary $50,600
Undergraduate federal student debt:

$37,718

*educationdata.org

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FAFSA Facts!

Most parents cannot remove themselves from the FAFSA!

Do not include qualified retirement accounts, don’t include your home!

Divorced parents – parent providing financial support fills out the FAFSA

Multiple kids don’t impact need

Revision- back to excluding farms and small business assets

Don’t include other sibling 529 amounts as an asset

Can be used to demonstrate ability to pay

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Can be parent or student owned
Requires parent co-signature for the most part
Rates vary widely are common based on credit
https://www.nerdwallet.com/best/loans/student-loans/private-student-loans

Interest – 8.94% - Credit check required-4.2% origination
Available for full amount minus other financial aid
Can be used for all educational expenses
Payments begin immediately
Owned by the parent

http://www.gocollege.com/financial-aid/student-loans/states/
Vary by state significantly
MN Self Loan 5.95% fixed. Variable also available

Requires co-signature
Limited to $40K total

Subsidized- 6.39%

Interest does NOT accrue while in school

Unsubsidized- 6.39%

Interest DOES accrue while in school

Payment

Begins 6 months after graduation on both

Loan Forgiveness available

Public service jobs (teacher, nonprofit, etc.)

Federal Direct (Stafford)*

State

Private

Federal Parent Plus

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LOAN Limits

Federal Student loan – maximal set amount

Freshman - $5500
Sophomore - $6500
Junior - $7500
Senior - $7500

Full amount does not have to be taken

ONLY loan the student owns alone

Parent Plus vs HELOC

Be clear about the terms of both federal, state and private loans!

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Notable Changes to Federal Programs

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Only 2 options instead of 8
Standard Repayment Plan – fixed payments for 10-25 years – equal monthly payments
Income Driven Repayment Plan

Interest – 8.94% - Credit check required-4.2% origination
$65k lifetime cap/$20K annual cap/ per student
Can be used for all educational expenses
Payments begin immediately – no more IDR plans
Owned by the parent

Masters - $20,500 cap annually/$100K lifetime
Doctoral – Medical/Professional programs - $50K annual limit/$200K lifetime
Elimination of the Grad Plus program
Some states have additional programs available

MN Self loan, MEFA, etc

Subsidized- 6.39%

Interest does NOT accrue while in school

Unsubsidized- 6.39%

Interest DOES accrue while in school

Payment

Begins 6 months after graduation on both

Loan Forgiveness available

Public service jobs (teacher, nonprofit, etc.)

Federal Direct (Stafford)*

Grad School

Repayment

Federal Parent Plus

No Changes!!

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Repayment Plans broken down

Standard Repayment Plan

Less than $25K = 10 years

$25K-$49K = 15 years

$50K - $99K = 20 years

$100K or more = 25 years

Equal payments over the lifetime of the loan

Income Driven Repayment

Income up to $10K = $10/month

$10K-$20K = 1% of AGI

$20K-$30K = 2% of AGI

$30K-$40K = 3% of AGI

Monthly payment percentage based on AGI and not discretionary income

Any remaining balance is forgiven after 30 years, which is longer than the 20-25 yrs from previous plans
Unlike the older plans, RAP eliminates the potential for a $0 monthly payment, requiring a minimum payment of $10 per month, even for the lowest-income borrowers
RAP waives any interest not covered by the monthly payment, similar to the SAVE plan, but also uniquely reduces the principal balance by up to $50 if the payment is insufficient to cover interest.

If their monthly payment is $50 but they owe $75 a month in interest, the government will waive the remaining $25.
The result: Borrowers will no longer see their loans grow, which was a common downside to previous income-driven repayment plans.
Borrowers on RAP will also see their balances go down every month.
The government will pitch in up to $50 to make sure lower-income borrowers see their principal balances shrink.
For example, a borrower whose monthly payment makes only a $30 dent in their principal would see the government knocking off an extra $20 a month, a form of monthly loan forgiveness

Monthly payments for many middle-income borrowers on RAP will be lower compared with earlier plans, according to multiple experts. But RAP is not as generous as the Biden-era SAVE plan, which is being phased out.

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Ramifications!

Cap on Parent PLUS – drive people to the private market where there is no PSLF

Total lifetime cap on Federal Loan = $257K/person

Elimination of the Grad PLUS loan along with limits on Grad DIRECT loan drives more private market loans

Income to debt ratio – younger students/degree completion

People on SAVE, ICR and PAYE plans will need to transition by July 1, 2028

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Previous Secure Act Changes

$10K Lifetime limit to pay back loans - beneficiary and siblings
Excess rollover to IRA - Beneficiary only - IRA income rules do not apply
K-12 $10K limit per beneficiary

New Uses

K-12 expansion $20,000 per beneficiary
Tutoring
Accrediting programs, trades, nursing,
Dual enrollment
ABLE accounts

Strategic Use

Lower amounts - spread across all 4 years
Higher amounts - do they want to save some of it to help decrease grad school debt (much higher interest rates)

Think all the way around the 529 plan!

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Controlling the cost of college

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The national transfer rate:

38%

Average Cost of 1 Transfer	$14,000
Cost for 2 transfers	$24,000*

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Scholarships!

Application/Essays

High school decisions

College List

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Ditch old thinking! It doesn’t suit the discussion today!

FLEXIBLY PRICED

INFLEXIBLY PRICED

THERE ARE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE IN BOTH AREAS

Colleges are:

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Being a competitive applicant!

Stronger GPA and standardized test score than the average student

Quality activities not quantity

Demographics

Demonstrated interest

Transcript rigor

Essays & applications

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One final disruption��Common App use!

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Acceptance rates continue to drop at some schools…

Stanford - 3.9%

Harvard – 4%

Columbia - 5.1%

Johns Hopkins - 6.0%

UChicago - 6.5%

MIT - 6.6%

University of TX Austin - 6.4%

University of MI - 17.7%

UVA - 19%

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Average incoming �GPA’s

University of Virginia - 4.32

Columbia - 4.15

University of Chicago - 4.0

Boston College – 3.99

University of Michigan – 3.95

University of North Carolina – 3.85

University of TX Austin - 3.83

Penn State – 3.68

University of Tennessee – 3.66

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What we do!

College is an industry, like real estate, investing etc.

College Inside Track helps families navigate the college search & application landscape to assure students are choosing schools for fit.

Families can do it on their own, but often cost themselves thousands!

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Free Family Consultation

Value add for you to brand

An hour of free advice for your clients

Answer their questions around college search

Share timing and pacing for great search

Leave them with great ways to continue

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Leverage us to add value

Start your clients in the right time - sophomore/junior years!

Recommend our family consultation

Client Events

Monthly content you can use

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Services

Pricing - starting $5895

Work with an individual consultant

List Creation and Evolution

Coach to increase acceptance/scholarships

Application and Essay work

Financial Aid consulting

Decision Support

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Use this code for:

Advisor newsletter
Copy of the deck
Request time to connect around:

Partnership
Family Consultation

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Questions?

Cozy Wittman – Education/Partnership

College Inside Track

612-850-5729

cwittman@collegeinsidetrack.com

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Sign Out Code:

5599