Families typically rely on grades, debt, or scholarships to handle rising college costs. Here’s why those approaches fail — and what works instead.

The cost of a college education has risen exponentially — astronomically, really — over the last few decades. Meanwhile, household incomes have not kept pace.

And yet…

Education can still be one of the most powerful vehicles for upward mobility — if it’s done right and without the burden of education debt.

To deal with rising costs, most families default to one (or more) of these five approaches:

1. Just get good grades
2. Forget college altogether
3. Work your way through college
4. Take on the debt
5. Bank on sports scholarships (or other talent)

In the video below, I explain why these approaches have not worked — and what families are missing.

And that is exactly why I created CFF College Fully Funded®, our college admissions coaching program. We work with serious high school juniors/rising seniors whose families cannot afford to pay for college out-of-pocket, to help them successfully apply and secure college admission with full funding and avoid debt, by using our curriculum-based tried and tested CFF College Fully Funded® framework.

We are so confident in our process that we back it with an ironclad guarantee:

If a student follows our process and does everything they are asked to do, and they are unsuccessful at securing admission with full funding, we will work with them for another year at no additional charge.

If you are interested in working together to help your high school junior who will apply to college in fall 2026 reach their college admission goals, please reach out.

Let’s pursue a smarter path — one rooted in strategy, positioning, and intentionality.

To college fully funded,

Dr. Faith Okpotor Founder and CFF Head Coach National Center for Higher Education Access Award-winning academic and tenured professor

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