Why college coaches are a hot employee benefit

Bright Horizons Family Solutions

19/12/2022 05:00

By Chris Taylor
       NEW YORK, Dec 19 (Reuters) - When Jenny Rosenberger’s
daughter started thinking about college, she felt what a lot of
parents in America do: Totally overwhelmed.
    The senior vice president for Bank of America in Newark,
Delaware, took one look at the application process – with its
mountains of options, paperwork, and opaque admissions criteria
– and didn’t quite know how to attack it all.
    Then she came across an employee benefit her company
offered: A "college coach."
    The program not only helped her daughter Kaydria Boyer come
up with a list of target schools, but gave feedback on essays,
and provided tips on financial aid. The result: Acceptance to
almost everywhere she applied, including the winner, Louisiana
State University.
    "Not only did she get admitted, she got a sizable
scholarship," Rosenberger says. "We never would have had LSU on
our map if it hadn’t shown up on their lists, and I don’t know
that she would have got scholarship money without their support
and feedback."
    It is an intriguing employee benefit, in the era of the
'Great Resignation' and 'Quiet Quitting.' Companies are trying
to figure out how to retain and motivate their best workers
while cultivating a sense of loyalty – helping out someone's
kids is a guaranteed way to do it.
    Growing concern about the costs of higher education as well
as rising student loan debt is prompting companies to help
employees navigate the college application process. 
    "Instead of just helping people on the back end of college,
how can we help families on the front end, as well?" says Craig
Copeland, director of wealth benefits research at the Employee
Benefit Research Institute.
    Getting help from college coaches is not to discount the
critical work school counselors do every day. But with
educational funding under constant stress, school counselors are
often overwhelmed. The ratio of students-to-counselors around
the country for the 2020-21 school year was 415-1, according to
the American School Counselor Association.
    So additional support with this complex process is a wise
idea. The problem, of course, is cost: Getting private help can
cost hundreds of dollars an hour, with the total bill easily
getting into the thousands.
    That is why digging into your employee benefits handbook can
turn into a financial windfall – since many people might not
even know they have college coaching on the menu.
    "Having gone through the process myself, I know it can be
extremely stressful," says Brandt Bennett, the Bank of America
benefits executive who oversees the company's program, which
started in 2020 in partnership with the firm Bright Horizons.
"Not only can it mean tremendous savings, but it can also bring
them some peace of mind."
    Since we are in the thick of application season, do not
waste time in finding out if you have this employee benefit,
especially if your teenager is looking ahead to college next
fall. (And if your kid is a few years away from college age, you
can always start lobbying for it now.)
    Give yourself as much time as possible. First, because
services like essay review take some time, involving multiple
drafts to sharpen ideas and improve the final product. And
secondly, because college coaches can also direct you to
financial aid opportunities, many of which are first-come,
first-served and come with their own early deadlines.
    Potentially, making a more thoughtful college choice could
save money over a much longer time frame – not only the four
years of a bachelor's degree, but many years of student debt
afterwards.
    "People don't really understand the full costs of college,
and this is one way employers can help employees make sure they
are making choices they can really afford," says EBRI's
Copeland.
    A final thought: When your college coach helps narrow the
scope of potential institutions – Rosenberger's daughter
received three lists of likely acceptances, possible acceptances
and 'stretch' schools – remember to let your kid guide the
process. You may have your ideas about a dream university for
your child, but they likely have their own thoughts.
    That could involve a particular major, or the local climate,
or whether they prefer a small-town or a big-city experience
–all of which can make for some "eye-opening" recommendations
you might not have anticipated, says Rosenberger.
    "This was all new to me, and I needed so much hand-holding,"
she says. "If I had gotten private help on my own, it would have
cost me thousands – no question about it."
 (Editing by Lauren Young and Diane Craft
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