How to Make College Affordable
A Mini-Course for College Counselors and Educators
With Ethan Sawyer, College Essay Guy, and special guest Amanda Miller
Save Me a Seat
Let's talk money.
I’m partnering with Amanda Miller—college counselor and author of the Paying For College in Four Steps resource—to offer this mini course.
How's this course different from my previous courses? I've never gone as deeply into the nuts and bolts of financial aid and how it plays into the college admissions process.
How to Make College Affordable
A Mini-Course for College Counselors & Educators
This three-hour professional development workshop will deliver knowledge you can use immediately in your conversations with students and their families, particularly the class of 2023 as they begin building their college lists and the class of 2022 as they choose among the many wonderful offers you’ve helped guide them to.
In this session, you’ll learn:
- Typical financial profile for the 5 colleges types (and how to find out if a school is atypical)
- How the FAFSA is changing and who will be impacted most
- How to convince your students to cut down on “just in case” applications without being “mean”
- Bullet points for the “where do I find scholarships” conversation that quickly set students up with a reasonable action plan
- Answers to the common questions I’m asked even by the most seasoned counselors (like “What about divorced parents?” and “What financial aid opportunities exist for my undocumented/DACA students?” )
- How to preclude having the spring-time “you can’t afford any of these colleges” conversation ever again
- How to assess a student’s financial aid profile and get them the resources they need in under 15 minutes
- A ready-made handout for students to decode award letters
- Best practices to empower families to make informed financial aid choices… even before award letters are released
- Lots more
You’ll also receive access to the comprehensive Paying for College in Four Steps guide—which walks you through the actual steps you need to take once the mini course is done.
Find Affordable Colleges
Learn how to help students expand their college search: There are hundreds of great universities in the U.S., and many of them will give an excellent financial aid offering.
A Mindful Scholarship Search
We'll show you how to help your students find and apply for the right scholarships with ease in mind.
How to FAFSA
Everything you need to know to about how the FAFSA is changing and who will be impacted most.
Meet Ethan
Ethan Sawyer is a nationally recognized college essay expert, sought-after speaker, and author of the Amazon bestsellers College Essay Essentials and College Admission Essentials.
Each year he helps thousands of students and counselors through his online courses, workshops, articles, products, and books, and works privately with a small number of students.
A graduate of Northwestern University, Ethan holds an MFA from UC Irvine, two counseling certificates, is certified in Myers-Briggs and hypnotherapy. He lives in Los Angeles with his beautiful wife and daughter.
Meet Amanda
Amanda Miller is a financial aid specialist and college advisor who recently authored the Paying For College in Four Steps resource for College Essay Guy.
Since graduating from Davidson College, Amanda held several roles in the field of education—public middle school math teacher, private test prep tutor, nonprofit college adviser—before finding her calling in the world of financial aid. Since then, she has empowered thousands of families to find their best paths through the dual processes of college admissions and college affordability.
Amanda lives and works in Davidson, North Carolina with her incredibly supportive husband and two young children.
Help your students and families understand college affordability.
Can’t afford this course?
We're offering pay-what-you-can spots
Access is really important to me. In fact, it’s at the heart of most of everything I do. It’s why I’m offering pay-what-you-can spots for any family who can't afford the sticker price.
If that’s you, request a pay-what-you-can spot.
Don’t be shy; we’d love to have you.
