The right college fit will save you money

In the “old days,” you went to college to figure out what you wanted to do in life, become an adult, learn independence and become well-rounded. Along the way, you earned a degree.

That was then, and this is now. In 1990, the cost of full-time attendance at a four-year college was around $10,000 a year. In 2025, the average cost of attendance in 2025 was $27,277 for in-state residents and $37,408 for out-of-state. And that’s at a public university. Sticker prices at private institutions is even higher.

Today, choosing the wrong college or an unsuitable major can come with huge financial consequences. Up to 80% of college students change their majors at some point. Freshmen and sophomores who switch majors may still graduate in four years, but if your student decides to change majors during their junior or senior year, they will likely need more classes and maybe an additional semester or two.

Some students go a step further and decide they want to change colleges. Transferring comes with additional costs as well, from application fees, campus visits and potentially more and different classes.

Further, they may find that the job market for their particular major is less than robust, and there’s nothing worse than an obsolete college degree. You and your student spent all that money for not much return on investment.

These are all costs that most families can ill-afford, and parents are often caught off-guard. There are ways, though, to minimize these potentially costly mistakes – by changing the approach to choosing a major, a career path and a college.

This approach shifts the dynamic, as students become self-motivated, and it minimizes the costly mistakes associated with changing majors or transferring schools. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.

What’s  your major?

Choosing a college major is often a game of chance. A counselor may administer an interest inventory. Students watch “CSI” and want to go into forensics. They want to go into engineering or medicine because a parent is an engineer or a doctor. They see Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider and they want to be archeologists.

If you ask your student why they want a particular career or major, they may say, “Because it’s interesting.” The problem with interests is that they’re easily influenced and ever-changing.

What are your skills and values?

What we as parents and college advisors should be doing is helping our students evaluate the areas where they demonstrate skills and where those areas intersect with their values.

Giving students an opportunity to reflect on who they are and what matters most to them can be a self-affirming exercise. Evaluating their most important values can help students reflect on their sense of purpose and make choices aligned with their values.

If you decide to work with a college advisor, make sure this is part of the discussion. You can also find ideas online for family activities, such as developing a family values statement.

Identifying careers that align with your student’s interests, values and skills is the next step, focusing on those with job growth potential in the next five to 10 years so your student has future job opportunities.

The college fit

The three aspects of college fit are academic, social and financial. Academic and social are important, but financial is the most critical, because why should your student go down a path toward a college where the net cost is unaffordable? As I’ve discussed previously, you can’t just look at the sticker price. You also have to take into consideration financial aid, merit and institutional grants and scholarships.

After that, look at which schools offer the best fit with their career choice; which are too hard or too easy academically; which are the safety, target and reach schools; which make sense geographically; and which are social fits in terms of demographics, weather, activities and environment (i.e. urban versus suburban versus rural).

There are roughly 6,000 colleges and universities across the U.S. Improve the odds of your student choosing the right ones for their values, skills and future careers by coaching them yourself through these discussions or working with a college adviser or trusted mentor.

Brian Safdari, who founded College Planning Experts in 2004, is a Certified College Planning Specialist™. He and his team have assisted more than 7,500 students nationwide on their college journey using their exclusive My College Fit System and financial planning tools. For more information, call 818-201-4847 or visit collegeplanningexperts.com.