I know, I know. You have a lot of people telling you that the local state university is your kid’s bargain basement choice. Well . . .
Unless your child is able to become a part of the honors program at that state university, this is not likely to be true. For the sobering truth about the cost of state schools, read my previous posts on this subject here and here.
The bargain choice for your child may actually be a private college located far, far from your home state.
Far from your home state? Why would that be?
Because some private college admissions departments like to gain prestige by bragging that the college has students in attendance “from all 50 states.” If they are missing the South Dakota kid and you just happen to be from South Dakota, your child may get a nice big fat scholarship to attend based solely on “geographic advantage.”
In many cases these scholarships are so generous that they more than make up for the plane tickets you have to buy to get your son home for Christmas.
If you’re going to try this strategy, take my advice and let your “far away” private college be one of the 3000 U.S. colleges and universities that do not require the CSS/Profile financial aid form. Private colleges that look only at the FAFSA form may give your family more generous amounts of free money financial aid — getting you closer and closer to your goal of having your kid graduate college debt-free.
If you spend a little time on my website, I can give you valuable free help choosing actual bargain colleges. To get straight to that advice, click here and then here.
For clear, step-by-step help getting your kids through college debt-free, get your copy of my book:
Important—> It’s a reference book, so nobody reads the whole thing cover to cover. Pick out what you need to read in it using the fast-paced, 10-minute video instructions here.
You can see hundreds of reviews of this book on Amazon by going to:
You can see why financial advising professionals love LAUNCH, here.
You can see the top 9 questions parents are asking me about LAUNCH, here.
Read just one chapter of LAUNCH every 1–3 months while your child’s in middle school and high school, and you’ll know every viable strategy for debt-free college at exactly the right time to implement it.
And if your child’s already well past middle school? That’s OK; you can run to catch up. But the process of getting your kids through college debt-free goes more smoothly the earlier you start it—especially if you’re not planning to save up any money to pay for college.
Let's you and I walk together toward the goal of debt-free college for your kids.
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Who is Jeannie Burlowski?
Jeannie is a full-time academic strategist, podcast host, and sought-after speaker for students ages 12–26, their parents, and the professionals who serve them. Her writing, speaking, and podcasting help parents set their kids up to graduate college debt-free, ready to jump directly into careers they excel at and love. Her work has been featured in publications such as The Huffington Post, USA Today, Parents Magazine, and US News & World Report, and on CBS News.
Jeannie also helps students apply to law, medical, business, and grad school at her website GetIntoMedSchool.com. You can follow her on Bluesky @jburlowski.bsky.social.
No part of this article was written using AI.