College Coach
College Coach is administered by Bright Horizons, a leading provider of educational counseling services, College Coach gives you access to a team of college admissions and finance experts who can offer impartial guidance and help you maximize your child’s success. Suggested for parents/guardians of 9th-12th graders. This Tuition Programs benefit is available at no cost to active faculty and staff.
About College Coach
College Coach experts include former senior admissions and financial aid officers from some of the nation’s most well-known higher education institutions. Expert guidance is available through live events, online support and personalized assistance.
The program is designed to help you and your family members:
- Navigate the complex college admissions process
- Select high school courses and extracurricular activities
- Narrow options and select a college or university for your child
- Identify resources and strategies to pay for college expenses
- Understand what academic, career or alternative pathways exist for high school graduates
College Coach Registration
New to the benefit? Visit: https://passport.getintocollege.com and create your unique user name and password.
Get Expert Guidance:
- Schedule a free one-on-one session with an expert to discuss your family’s unique situation.
- Questions? Call (888) 527-3550 or email [email protected].
The College Coach Spring & Summer 2025 Webinar Series will run from February to July.
You must register for the College Coach program to have access to the webinar. All webinars can be found on the College Coach homepage.
Topics include:
The High School Plan
Wednesday, February 26, 2025 | 3 p.m. ET | Live Webinar
High school is a critical time in your student’s education journey, and it’s important to find ways to maximize their potential for success in college and their future career. This workshop will show you how to help them effectively plan for high school academics and extracurricular activities, as well as post-high school. You’ll get strategies for:
- Selecting the appropriate type and level of courses across the curriculum
- Choosing extracurricular and summer activities (including jobs) to support growth and wellbeing
- Setting actionable goals, talking about interests and strengths, and aligning them with post-high school plans
This topic is suggested for: Parents/guardians of 8th – 10th grade students.
SAT & ACT: Which is Right for My Child?
Thursday, March 13, 2025 | 3 p.m. ET | Live Webinar
Most schools accept both the SAT and ACT. So how do employees know which one their student should take? This workshop will offer employees the facts about this important decision. They will learn about the tests, understand the differences, and find out how to use their student's learning style to make the most informed decision for the best possible result. Parents will learn:
- Steps they can take to determine the right test
- Key identifiers to help choose
- Test dates and timeline options
This topic is suggested for: Parents/guardians of 9th – 10th grade students.
New Era of Digital Exams: Changes to the SAT, ACT and More
Wednesday, April 10, 2025 | 3 p.m. ET | Live Webinar
This spring the SAT is moving entirely to a digital, adaptive test—and the ACT isn't far behind. For those who have a child applying to college, knowing about these changes and other key shifts are essential to admissions success. This workshop will help you understand the current landscape and prepare your child for a new generation of test policies. Key topics covered include:
- The format of the new SAT and PSAT
- How to prepare for a digital test
- Changes coming to the ACT, AP and other admissions exams
- Which colleges are dropping testing requirements and what to do about it
This topic is suggested for: Parents/guardians of 9th – 12th grade students.
Alternatives to a 4-Year Degree
Wednesday, April 16, 2025 | 3 p.m. ET | Live Webinar
Is the four-year college degree the only pathway to success? Could your student benefit from something different? There are a variety of options available to students today, but the key is knowing which is best for your child. In this webinar, you'll learn:
- What academic, career, and other pathways exist for high school graduates
- When a student should consider a gap year and how to research options
- How to identify the best options and set goals based on your student's strengths and interests
- Tips for establishing a timeline and action items for your student
This topic is suggested for: Parents/guardians of 9th – 12th grade students.
Successful Scholarship Strategies
Tuesday, May 6, 2025 | 3 p.m. ET | Live Webinar
You might be counting on scholarships to reduce your child's college costs. But with so many options (a basic web search for the word "scholarship" yields nearly 200 million results!), it can be hard to figure out which ones to target — and which ones your child is likely to win. This program will streamline the scholarship search process, teach you how to make best use of your time, capitalize on your child's strengths, and increase your chances of scholarship success. Join our coaches to learn how to:
- Prioritize scholarship applications
- Strategically develop a college list to maximize merit scholarship funding
- Negotiate for increased funding
- Identify the most lucrative sources of private scholarships
- Avoid scholarship scams and pitfalls
This topic is suggested for: Parents/guardians of 9th – 12th grade students.
Selecting Best Fit Colleges
Tuesday, May 20, 2025 | 3 p.m. ET | Live Webinar
The goal of this workshop is to help families understand how to narrow their options and ultimately select the right college. Families will learn how to:
- Identify their children's strength and interests
- Utilize their children's academics, activities and extras to put together the strongest college list possible
- Match their children with the colleges that are the best fits
This topic is suggested for: Parents/guardians of 11th – 12th grade students.
Writing Your Best College Essay
Thursday, July 10, 2025 | 3 p.m. ET | Live Webinar
The college application essay plays a critical role in admissions success. And with the competitive admissions process looming ahead, you and your student might be wondering what it takes to craft a stand-out essay. Join us for a live, interactive session to get expert advice on:
- What makes a strong, appropriate, and engaging essay topic
- Strategies to brainstorm, methods for writing, and tips for editing
- How to avoid common mistakes and pitfalls
- Insight into our former admissions officers' favorite essays
- How to get the most out of your free essay review benefit
This topic is suggested for: Rising 12th grade students and their Parents/guardians
Senior Summer: The Successful Transition to College
Thursday, July 17, 2025 | 12:30 p.m. ET | Live Webinar
Colleges will require a number of forms, payments, and other assorted paperwork related to medical, financial, and academic standing long before your child arrives on campus. This webinar will share what parents need to know to help smooth the transition to college in the fall:
- What forms will be required and why
- When bills will be due and the consequences of not paying on time
- Why final high school grades are still important
- How to submit the final high school transcript, transfer coursework, and AP/IB scores for credit evaluation
- How to prepare for creating a home away from home
- How to empower your student to become a self-advocate on campus
- Where to get answers to lingering questions
This topic is suggested for: Parents/guardians of 12th grade students.
The Fall 2024 Webinar Series ran from September to December.
You must register for the College Coach program to have access to the webinar. All webinar recordings can be found on the College Coach homepage.
Topics included:
Preparing College Applications
Tuesday, September 24, 2024 | 3 p.m. ET | Live Webinar
The college admissions landscape is more competitive than ever before. And trying to figure out how to go about that process is likely weighing on your mind, especially since a good application is key to success. This webinar will go over the process in detail and highlight how you can help your student create the best application. You'll learn:
- Common application components and how to tackle each one
- Tips for writing an essay with maximum impact while avoiding common mistakes, pitfalls, and tricky topics
- How to be proactive with requirements and deadlines for a lower-stress application process
This topic is suggested for parents/guardians of 12th graders.
This webinar has now passed.
Paying for College
Tuesday, October 22, 2024 | 3 p.m. ET | Live Webinar
While students are working diligently to get into college, parents are facing the daunting question of how much college will cost. This workshop provides a comprehensive overview of the various resources and strategies families use to cover college expenses. Families will learn:
- Where financial assistance comes from and how to maximize eligibility
- How aid eligibility is determined, and tricky caveats hidden in the fine print
- The most effective way to appeal the initial financial aid award or negotiate for more funds
- Effective strategies to employ when spending assets on college
- Key considerations when selecting the right education loan
This topic is suggested for parents/guardians of 9th - 12th graders.
This webinar has now passed.
Navigating the FAFSA and Other Financial Aid Applications
Thursday, October 24, 2024 | 3 p.m. ET | Live Webinar
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and the College Scholarship Services (CSS) Profile are the two primary financial aid applications required by many colleges and universities. This session is designed for parents of 12th graders and college students and will:
- Provide an overview of the entire financial aid application process
- Review the FAFSA in detail and compare/contrast the FAFSA and CSS Profile
- Identify unusual circumstances and how best to discuss personal situations with the aid offices
- Offer tips to make the process of completing the forms more efficient and less stressful
This topic is suggested for parents/guardians of 12th graders.
This webinar has now passed.
Saving for College
Tuesday, November 12, 2024 | 3 p.m. ET | Live Webinar
Stressed about saving for college... and intimidated by this incredibly important investment in your child's future? There isn't a one-size-fits-all savings plan - instead, this workshop will give you the tools you need to set (or readjust) course so that your savings plan aligns with your family's educational and financial priorities. You'll get an overview of the college savings landscape and learn how to:
- Chose a college savings plan that meets your needs
- Save in a tax-efficient manner
- Reduce the financial aid impact of college savings
- Set appropriate savings goals
- Identify untapped resources for college savings
This topic is suggested for parents/guardians of newborns - 8th graders.
This webinar has now passed.
PSAT - What a Score Means, Why it Matters
Tuesday, December 3, 2024 | 12 p.m. ET | Live Webinar
Understanding the PSAT and how to interpret and use those scores are important first steps in the standardized testing process. Students can set themselves up for maximum success on the SAT or ACT by preparing for and taking this standardized practice test, which in turn will help them fare better in the college admissions process. This webinar will offer your employees insight into the PSAT and why it is important to their children. It will share information about the following:
- How to convert PSAT scores to predict a student’s score on the SAT or ACT
- Making sense of the SAT and ACT and choosing based on the PSA
- Comparing your child's PSAT score to other students in their state
- National Merit Scholarship opportunities for high-percentile students
This topic is suggested for parents/guardians of 8th – 11th graders.
This webinar has now passed.
The Columbia University – College Coach Annual Report summarizes utilization metrics, including user registrations, webinar registrations and personalized assistance services.
Programs and Resources
College Coach offers an online learning environment that is available 24/7 to help you maximize your benefit. You can access videos, important timelines and deadlines, future cost calculators, frequently asked questions, blogs, podcast episodes and in-depth resources related to any curriculum topics presented during a live event.
Review the Relevant This Month information – curated based on your student's graduation year – or browse by topic. The Learning Center is also a great way to involve your whole family, as you can create a profile for your spouse or partner, and your student so they can access it at any time.
Consult with College Coach admissions and college finance experts in private phone sessions tailored to your needs. You can discuss your family and student’s application questions, create plans for high school and more.
A family typically uses 2-3 scheduled counseling appointments per student each year. As this is a shared resource across all employees, it is helpful to consolidate your inquiries into fewer scheduled appointments.
Note: you must register for College Coach before registering for phone counseling.
Simplify the college search process with a custom list of colleges and universities based on your student’s preferences, interests and academic record. The list is created by a College Coach admissions expert based on a detailed student questionnaire and features a brief informational profile and estimated chance of admission for each school.
Help your student craft their best application essays with exclusive written feedback from College Coach experts on college application writing supplements and activity resumes.
College Coach will provide written answers to your specific questions through the Quick Questions tool.
*You must register for College Coach before you can send questions.
College Coach FAQs
While it is true that saving for college can affect a student's future financial aid eligibility, it is always better to have savings than not. If you plan carefully, you can save in ways that have little impact on financial aid eligibility relative to the amount of education your savings will purchase.
The financial aid formula is designed to support parents who save for college and is driven by income, not assets. After allowances, parental income is assessed in the financial aid formula at rates between 22% and 47% of available income. Parental assets are assessed at a much lower rate, between 0% and 6%.
What does this mean? Consider two families, each of which has parents who together earn around $100,000 each year. One of the families has managed to save $100,000, while the other has no savings. The standard financial aid formula used by most colleges will set a parental contribution for the first family (the ones who saved) at around $22,000 per year. This family will have no problem paying for many colleges: they have $100,000 saved. The second family, who did not save, will have a parental contribution of around $18,000 per year and may have a hard time meeting that expectation due to the lack of savings. In the second scenario, that family will either have to reduce their annual expenses by $18,000 a year to create enough cash flow to pay for college, increase their income by around $30,000 in order to have enough money after taxes to cover a payment of $18,000 a year, or borrow loans to cover this cost.
One thing to be mindful of, as you save, is that the financial aid formula treats parent-owned accounts favorably. On the contrary, student-owned accounts are hit much harder in the formula, with an approximate 20-25% assessment rate, compared to the parent rate that tops out at 6%. If your goal is to save for college while minimizing the loss of future financial aid, be sure to keep savings in parent-owned account.
At some schools, a financial aid application may negatively the student’s chances for admission, while at others, it will not. Many schools are “need blind” and do not review the financial aid application, if there is one, during the admissions decision process. Others are “need aware,” and, in one way or another, may favor the admission of non-aid applicants, or students from high-income families.
In general, needing financial aid is a much smaller factor in the admissions process than the other data from the admissions application. Many need-aware colleges admit almost all of their classes on a need-blind basis, and reserve a small fraction of admissions, perhaps 10%, for students who do not need financial aid. Others allow finances to play a minor role in the evaluation of all candidates.
In any case, if you need financial aid to afford a college, you should apply for it by the college's deadline. There is no use getting into a college you cannot afford to attend. If you have questions about whether a financial aid application may benefit your family, schedule a personalized counseling session with a Bright Horizons College Coach finance educator.
There is no specific number of colleges to which a student should apply. We recommend applying to a balanced list of schools representing varying levels of selectivity and predictability in the admission process. An evenly-balanced list would consist of around two “probable” schools, where the applicant’s academic performance is stronger than that of the typical admitted student; three “possible” schools, where the average admitted student’s academic performance is equivalent to the applicant’s record; and two “reach schools,” institutions where the average accepted applicant's profile is stronger than the applicant’s record. Applicants might choose to balance their lists differently based on their values or priorities; one student might apply to five “probable” schools to try and maximize scholarship awards, plus three “possible” schools, and two “reach” schools. Another student might apply to two “probable” schools, three “possible” schools, and five “reach” schools because they want to try for a few highly selective colleges with unpredictable admission processes. As such, this is a great topic to discuss in a personal counseling session.
The essay can be very important because students have the opportunity to share details about their personality, interests, and achievements not reflected on the transcript or in standardized testing. The essay is an opportunity for the student to add a third dimension to the application. Generally speaking, the more selective the college, the more important the essay will be. At all colleges requiring an essay, it is usually very important for borderline students and scholarship consideration, therefore, significant time should be spent brainstorming, drafting, and editing.
One way to motivate students to focus on school now is to expose them to the doors their high school education will open later. Visit a college campus to see what life there is like; arrange a job shadowing opportunity in a career of interest; set up an informational interview with an adult your child respects or a professional whose job aligns with your child’s skill set. During and after each experience, discuss what will be required to pursue a similar path. The ability to attend the college of their choice or pursue a career of interest is one very important reason to take school seriously. Many students are also not aware that, even if college is not an immediate option after high school, a strong academic performance will still make them more attractive to potential employers.