The fee-based Financial and Career resources are provided by College Assistance Plus.  The free Faith Transition Resources are provided by Believer’s College Prep, a CAPlus representative.  Contact John Decker at 315-656-7973 or john@BelieversCollegePrep.com for more information.   See some of the CAPlus team shown here.   Affiliated with an ACSI Christian High School?  See the Schools menu.  .

Preparing Leaders for Tomorrow

“The best thing we can do for our country is to help church youth find their life’s purpose,

and a viable career in this economy”

• 53% of college grads are not working, or in jobs not requiring a college degree

• The average student changes majors 3-4 times, which lengthens college

• 60% of Middle-Class students fail to graduate in 6-8 years (Dept of Labor)

• A Forbes report indicates that 71% of adults would have chosen another profession

** OUR POPULAR CAREER/MAJOR PROGRAM IS NOW AVAILABLE A-LA-CARTE ! **

Email john@BelieversCollegePrep.com for information

Affiliated with an ACSI Christian School? See the High Schools menu.

The average student changes majors 3-4 times and as a result spends 5.5 years as an undergrad, or 6.5 years in state colleges. 52% of recent grads are unemployed or in non-degree jobs - and 45% have moved back home as “boomerang kids”. Just as serious, many who could have picked the right major for a satisfying and interesting career, end up plugging along in a job that does not harness their true potential as a person.  See average 4-year graduation rates per college.

This is all entirely preventable. A good personal college coach process, and partnership with your school counselor helps students get closer to their right major and eliminate false starts so they get out in four years with a much better chance of getting a job they love. By integrating assessment tools and personal meetings or Skype sessions, students become focused and gain energizing vision to find their direction and a satisfying marketable career, ministry, or calling. The stakes are much higher and the situation is less forgiving than when the prior generation attended college. Due to the today’s high cost of education and soft job market, it’s important to know a target major, or at least have a short list of majors PRIOR to conducting college searches and visits.

We hear stories every day about how a college selection based on emotion leads to real problems down-stream. Making logical and informed decisions as a family unit is more productive and creates a great bonding and satisfying experience through this period as we launch our kids towards their futures. It’s important to correlate job interests with real salary projections and career paths. This baseline of understanding is then adjusted as-needed through high school, undergrad and grad school, and followed by personal job interview and networking training as you complete college.

We recommend that personal counselors are the best to work with students and parents on career direction.   We have found great success as our trained counselors provide some testing, then meet with students in person or over Skype to match gifts, talents, and passions with the realities of the job market, often opening up career ideas that have never been thought of.

Join us for a strategy talk for recommendations to help your student in his or her career choices.

FINDING THE BEST COLLEGE What is the “right college”?  How will this decision affect or enhance my student’s life spiritually, socially, academically, professionally, and financially?  Here are some aspects to consider:

1. Create a family budget which includes all your college-bound students.   The format you use should indicate out of pocket for parents and students, plus loans that students and parents are willing to take on.
2. Understand career salaries and probability of employment, so you can realistically assess loan repayment ability.
3. Estimate the college cost YOU will pay before visiting the college and becoming emotionally attached.   Everyone pays a different price for the same college and there are new ways to leverage lower a lower cost.  Determine if you should submit the FAFSA or withhold that information.
4. Understand the depth of Christian fellowships and ministries at secular colleges and the clubs with the most active believers at Christian colleges.
5. Find degree programs that match career goals, and dovetail with graduate schools.
6. Determine geographic, social, spiritual, academic, athletic parameters. We will give you a head start with items 1-4 in our personal strategy calls.