Independent High Schools can sensitively equip all families for the realities of paying for college in a way that empowers counselors and improves student outcomes, but we must acknowledge gaps in the status quo, embrace innovative strategies, examine our assumptions and challenge families to do the same.

When Financial Aid education is successful, it’s because conscientious counselors take every opportunity to help families understand how to submit a FAFSA application and find private scholarships. This is especially helpful for lower income families who will qualify for significant aid. At the other end of the spectrum are very affluent families for whom affordability is not a primary concern.

Unfortunately, these same strategies – educating on FAFSA and private scholarships – leave many middle and upper-middle income students with fewer college options and/or crippling debt. That’s because these families assume they won’t qualify for aid yet are not prepared to pay full price for college, either. These are not comfortable conversations for parents to have with school personnel; they often slide beneath counselors’ radar, resulting in the student either not applying to choice schools or getting admitted to great schools that the family cannot reasonably or responsibly afford.

The SMARTTRACK® College Funding High School Initiative is an innovative free program embraced by Independent schools across the country that challenges these assumptions and empowers counselors with effective, easily implemented strategies to significantly improve their financial aid education modules. The result is expanded access and opportunity for students, who are more likely to attend their choice schools when their parents are better prepared to pay for it.

View the PDF to see NAIS member schools participating in the High School Initiative and what counselors and parents have to say about it.

Follow the link to view a short video outlining the HSI.