How Dual Enrollment Saved This Family $60K in College Costs | E55
“My daughters went to prom, played sports, were in student council, and still finished college before high school ended.” – Shelley Branine
Wondering how your family can save tens of thousands of dollars? Then you don’t want to miss this special episode with Shelley Branine, mom of two and author of the upcoming book Finish College in High School.
Shelley shares her family’s incredible journey using dual enrollment to help both her daughters graduate college debt-free. Listen in if you have a middle school or high school student and are feeling overwhelmed by rising tuition rates. Shelley offers hard-won wisdom, sharing alternatives to the traditional 4-year college path.
Episode Highlights
(03:46) Why her “average” kids thrived (and why yours might, too)
(06:10) What dual enrollment is, and how it differs from AP and IB programs
(12:10) Common myths about scholarships and why they’re so competitive
(16:05) How to explore dual enrollment options in your state, even for private school students or those with learning differences
(20:23) The real risks of student loans and why Shelley’s family avoided them
Connect with Guest Shelley Branine
Website | Instagram | Shelley’s Book, Finish College in High School
Connect with Host Deb Meyer, CFP®
Founder of WorthyNest®, helping faith-driven parents build financial plans that reflect their values.
Download your FREE guide | Follow us on YouTube | Take the Financial Wellness Quiz
Full transcript
Deb Meyer (00:01.088)
Today's episode of Beyond Budgets®, we are diving into a very powerful, practical alternative to traditional and often expensive college tracks. So if you caught episode 33 with Ann Garcia, AKA the college financial lady, you'll remember our deep dive into saving for a traditional four-year college. But what if there's another way? One that could save your family tens of thousands of dollars and still give your team the full high school experience?
Our guest today, Shelly Branine, is a mom who followed that exact path. Both of her daughters graduated college a week before finishing high school. I had to make sure I read that right. A week before finishing high school. Through Colorado's dual enrollment program, they earned their associate's degree by senior year with almost every penny covered by the state. They started their bachelor's degree two years ahead and debt free.
Shelly's family isn't full of overachievers with Ivy League aspirations. They're just regular parents like you and me who made intentional yet unconventional choices. After graduating in the 1990s with 50,000 in student debt and little guidance, Shelly and her husband knew they wanted a better path for their daughters. And now they're here to help you see the hidden opportunities that may be available in your state.
So this episode is for you if you're the parent of a middle or high school student who's ever looked at rising tuition costs and thought there has to be a better way. Shelly, welcome to Beyond Budgets®!
Shelley (01:34.584)
Thank you, I'm so excited to be here Deb!
Deb Meyer (01:37.418)
Great, great. So I know parents of high schoolers may be familiar with dual enrollment at a high level, but they might be hesitant to choose this path and maybe even think their child will miss out on an amazing high school experience by doing so. What would you say to that parent who's considering dual enrollment, but they're not quite ready to pull the trigger?
Shelley (01:58.915)
Yeah, I get that question a lot. My kids didn't miss out on anything. So they both, even though they were taking college classes, they both went to homecoming prom, did high school sports clubs. One was student council president. And they were able to do this because...
There are different ways that dual enrollment can work. So it can either come right to the high school campus. So it doesn't even seem like the kids are taking college classes because the college professor is right there on high school campus. So that's the easiest way, but they can also just go to a traditional high school campus and then leave and go and take community college classes, maybe do high school during in the morning and then in the afternoon, go leave and go to the community college and take classes in the afternoon there.
There are also options in almost every state that operate as just a traditional high school campus, but the whole goal is just to have the kids take college classes. And so in those cases, it's really easy to graduate with an associate degree or even some kids graduate with a bachelor's degree if you can imagine that.
Deb Meyer (03:03.156)
Mm.
Deb Meyer (03:11.296)
I can't. Wow. Yeah.
Shelley (03:13.174)
I know it's incredible. My kids didn't do that, but some very highly motivated kids can even graduate high school with a bachelor's degree in those situations because that's how the school operates. In Colorado, we call those early colleges, but most states might call them different things. yeah, I hear that, but my kids are not Doogie Howser.
Deb Meyer (03:28.756)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (03:33.396)
Sounds like Doogie Howser prep for it.
Shelley (03:41.953)
They are not. They are just regular kids. They are not super overachievers. just regular kids who we kind of found this the special almost like a loophole. I always kind of say it was just God just kind of gave it to us. And so it was just.
Deb Meyer (03:46.271)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (03:59.164)
Mm-hmm. And it's not just in the state of Colorado that you're experiencing it, right? I mean, every state has dual enrollment programs of some sort, right?
Shelley (04:05.902)
Correct.
Shelley (04:09.682)
Every state at this point does, yep, and they offer it in all different ways. So just as a parent, you have to be proactive to try and figure out what your state offers and what's the best opportunity for your family. But there are so many opportunities for it anymore.
Deb Meyer (04:12.874)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (04:22.868)
Mm-hmm.
What about friendships? mean, in your particular experience with your girls, did they have the college right there on their high school campus? So it was like all still easy social relationships or did they go away to a different school later in the afternoons? Like you said, you know, if they have to move off campus.
Shelley (04:46.646)
Yeah, so my kids actually did both. They both started at the neighborhood high school and took classes there, either on the neighborhood high school campus or they left to go and take them at the community college. However, after taking just two college classes, both of my daughters came to me and said, mom, I don't want to do high school classes anymore. They were like, all I want to do is college.
Deb Meyer (04:49.162)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (04:58.644)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (05:10.142)
wow.
Shelley (05:12.174)
And so at that point, we just started taking more and more and more because that's all they wanted to do. And then we eventually moved to one of the high schools that operates in a way that they really try to get the kids to earn a degree. So, and that was their choice. I didn't force them to, they just really liked how college classes were more intentional. The teachers were usually highly qualified in their fields until they were very engaging. The workload.
Deb Meyer (05:17.226)
Yeah.
Deb Meyer (05:26.517)
Mm-hmm.
Shelley (05:42.23)
was actually less, if you can imagine, than the high school class because they weren't filling bell to bell time. They would just kind of get there.
Deb Meyer (05:49.792)
okay. Because they were actually in, yeah, fewer hours. Yeah, I see what you're saying. Because in a traditional college, like I went to a traditional four-year school, you're in class maybe four hours, Monday, Wednesday, Friday in the mornings, and then you might do two other classes on Tuesday and Thursday or something, or an hour each. Yeah.
Shelley (06:08.173)
Right.
Shelley (06:12.15)
Right, that's how it was. And then they get their list of assignments on the syllabus at the beginning of the semester. And so they know this is all that's going to be expected of me. it was in both of their situation, they felt that the college classes were actually easier than high school.
Deb Meyer (06:17.874)
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
Deb Meyer (06:28.17)
Wow, okay. And they were getting the college credit and doing it tuition free because they were students of the public high school. Okay, wow, that is pretty amazing. Okay, so let me ask a little bit more about terminology because I know there are a lot of acronyms. They can be very confusing even for well-educated parents. So can you please explain AP, IB, and dual enrollment in the simplest terms?
Shelley (06:35.97)
Correct.
Shelley (06:58.69)
Yeah, so dual enrollment is where they are actually taking college classes at the same time as high school. So they are earning both credit for high school and college at the same time. And I will share too that different states call it different things. So some states call it dual enrollment, some call it concurrent enrollment, some call it early college.
Deb Meyer (07:08.115)
Okay.
Deb Meyer (07:19.658)
Mm-hmm.
Shelley (07:24.702)
So when parents are out there looking, you just kind of have to look and see what does my state call it. I wish they had a universal. That would be so much easier. yeah. So it can be called a lot of different things. AP and IB are different. So AP is advanced placement. And those classes, students can earn college credit, but they may not. And often, they don't.
Deb Meyer (07:31.424)
That would be nice.
Shelley (07:52.363)
They are very difficult classes, very, challenging. Highly motivated kids often are drawn to those classes. They're like honors classes, kind of on steroids is what I call them. The only difference, the difference though, and the reason I didn't choose that for my kids is because like I mentioned, a lot of kids don't earn college credit through them because it's based on one test at the end of the year.
So if they are not good test takers, if they're having a bad day, they likely won't pass the test and they cannot retake it. And so it's a lot harder. I would say only 20 % of students earn college credit from an AP class. So with dual enrollment, all you have to do is get a C in the class and you're going to get full college credit. IB.
Deb Meyer (08:30.165)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (08:41.759)
Mm-hmm.
But that C is gonna go on your transcript for college though, right? I mean, whatever grade you earn. Okay.
Shelley (08:48.078)
Correct. So you do have to keep that in mind. Yeah, you do have to keep that in mind. Like I mentioned though, my kids really felt like college classes were actually easier. So that wasn't a big concern of ours, but I know that parents can be somewhat concerned. So you do want to be careful with that because it will, if they do get a C, it will be on your transcript. But AP and IB classes are also extremely difficult. So if your student gets a C in those,
Deb Meyer (09:12.853)
Yeah.
Shelley (09:17.932)
That's going to be on your transcript too. And then so IB stands for Interbaccalaureate and those are usually one school in every district will have an IB program and it's like a track that kids go on and there are a certain number of requirements that have to be met for them to finish the IB program. And then by the end of.
Deb Meyer (09:26.314)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (09:41.258)
Mm-hmm.
Shelley (09:42.895)
the year, they again can test and see if they can get college credit as well. However, it's also really difficult to get full college credit for those IB classes too. So that's why we chose dual enrollment. It just, was much more guaranteed college credit and you can't graduate with an associate's degree through AP or IB. Like you would just never get enough college credit to be able to do that.
Deb Meyer (09:55.658)
Mm.
Deb Meyer (10:10.73)
Sure.
Shelley (10:11.106)
The only time that I recommend that parents consider AP or IB over in dual enrollment is if your kids want to go to an Ivy League school, then they're going to require AP and they won't take dual enrollment. that or for IB, that is a Switzerland based program. So it's good for students who want to go to college out of the country that will prepare them for learning.
Deb Meyer (10:23.402)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (10:36.149)
okay.
Shelley (10:40.394)
in other countries. So it's more of an international type program. But I really, for me personally, I just felt like enrollment was just going to save us some, I mean we saved $60,000 through dual enrollment. So for us, it was just the better option. I knew my kids weren't going to go to school out of the country or to an Ivy League school. So for us, was a no brainer.
Deb Meyer (10:47.7)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (10:55.551)
Yeah.
Deb Meyer (11:06.182)
Mm-hmm and then with your particular situation your girls got their associates degree after the two years But then they went on to a more traditional University like those last two years is that okay?
Shelley (11:20.62)
Yes, they did. So my oldest daughter, she's already graduated. So she got her four year degree, went and transferred all those classes in and then just went to more and had her her bachelor's degree. And then my youngest is in her last year of college now. So but they were able to transfer all that credit in and two years of college completely free.
Deb Meyer (11:41.792)
Mm-hmm.
Well, and a lot of parents, think, can also get hung up on like, will that four-year university accept the credits? Because usually those credits are earned at more of like a community college, right, in dual enrollment.
Shelley (11:57.987)
They are, yeah. And so a lot of parents do get concerned that they won't transfer in. They almost always do. And most states now are at the point where they're guaranteeing. So in my case for my kids, the state of Colorado guaranteed that the classes they took at the community college would transfer into the four-year university. So we didn't worry about that at all. If they stayed in Colorado,
Deb Meyer (12:21.778)
If they stayed in Colorado though, right? Like they had to stay in a Colorado in state, okay.
Shelley (12:27.988)
It was guaranteed if they stayed in Colorado, however, they would have transferred to most other state schools as well, or private schools to Christian schools. Most of them will accept them too. I always encourage parents to just, if you're thinking about a college, look at that and you have all these credits, just ask them if they'll transfer. And usually they will because they want your kids to come there. Like I mentioned, Ivy League schools won't accept them. So if you're
Deb Meyer (12:35.73)
Okay. Okay.
Shelley (12:57.814)
I have kids that are wanting to go down that path. Do enrollment isn't a good option, but for the most part, all other state schools and a lot of private schools will accept community college credits.
Deb Meyer (13:11.136)
Okay, great. Well, thanks for clearing that up. I guess just to go even more granular, and I'm a super curious person, so hopefully this isn't too much out of left field, but you were talking about the public school students being a good pathway for dual enrollment. What about private school students? Because I know a lot of private schools, will offer like AP classes, but they don't really advertise the dual enrollment. Is that something you just?
contact like the guidance counselor and try to find out what your options are if you have a private school student that's interested in it.
Shelley (13:43.577)
Yeah, so for private schools, so if you're in the private school, you're obviously not getting state money. Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. I will say, so you're not gonna get the state money for dual enrollment. If the high school is willing to pay for those community college classes, that's a possibility. You just kind of have to ask the school if they're willing to do that. You could though.
Deb Meyer (13:51.053)
Like at high school level, I get it.
Deb Meyer (14:00.596)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Shelley (14:13.741)
Because private schools, you're not using any public funding, you could technically put your kids in a dual enrollment program while they're in private school. Just because the rules are that you can use public, you couldn't enroll your kids into public schools, but because you're not using any of that public school funding, you could put them in a dual enrollment school while they're in private school.
Deb Meyer (14:41.344)
Mm-hmm.
Shelley (14:42.179)
The other thing too is that a lot of the private universities now are offering dual enrollment options for very low cost. So like Colorado Christian University here in Colorado, they will allow high schoolers to take classes for like a couple hundred dollars, which is.
Deb Meyer (14:50.365)
okay.
Deb Meyer (14:59.616)
So you're still getting the cost savings by doing it early, even if they end up finishing their degree there. You're just getting it at a lower rate than what you would pay as a regular freshman in college. Okay, yeah. haven't sent my kids to private high school, but I was looking at a...
Shelley (15:11.683)
Right. Yeah, they discount it significantly for high school students.
Deb Meyer (15:25.568)
curriculum and looking at it a while back and I think they did have some kind of rates of like if you took this class that you know these classes are offered at these local universities this is what the fee would be to take that particular class so I guess it is more readily available at most handbooks with the academic curriculum listed okay cool
So let's move on and talk a little bit more about finances. So speak to that parent who is confident his or her child is going to get scholarships from a traditional four-year college. Should the student still consider dual enrollment?
Shelley (16:03.308)
Yeah, so this question, I was that parent. Like I was sure my kids, they had the whole package. They had high grades and clubs and work experience. Yeah, they, nonprofit experience. They had done all of that. And I was like, for sure they are going to. And the scholarship money just wasn't there like I thought it was going to be.
Deb Meyer (16:08.894)
Hehehehe
Deb Meyer (16:14.676)
volunteer, yeah.
Deb Meyer (16:27.528)
Mmm.
Shelley (16:29.262)
That idea that all these scholarships go unclaimed is actually not true. That was based on a study about 50 years ago that was actually looking at employee tuition benefits. And it actually found that employee tuition benefits were not being claimed. Millions of dollars in that, which kind of makes sense, but it wasn't scholarships. Scholarships are
Deb Meyer (16:36.82)
Hmm.
Deb Meyer (16:45.376)
Hmm.
Deb Meyer (16:52.17)
Sure.
Deb Meyer (16:56.628)
Mmm.
Shelley (16:58.382)
highly competitive. It's just, I mean, I was talking to a friend of mine who works with kids at MIT every summer. So these are very, very special kids, MIT kids. They're high schoolers who get accepted to this special program. And he told me, Shelly, one of my students will get a full scholarship every other year. It's just, I mean, that full scholarship thing is almost an urban legend.
Deb Meyer (17:00.842)
Sure. Right.
Shelley (17:27.726)
So it's just, and I always tell the story too, my two daughters, the first one we applied for every scholarship we could. We spent hours every night for six months, just working, working, getting letters of recommendation and filling out applications and writing essays, all of that. And at the end she got partial academic scholarship and one private scholarship. My youngest daughter, I was like, we're not, we're not, this was so stressful.
Deb Meyer (17:42.304)
Essays, yep.
Deb Meyer (17:52.382)
That's it.
Shelley (17:56.897)
and too much time. No, I'm not going to do torture that poor child. And so we didn't. We just applied for a few and she got the same scholarships as her sister, like one private award and partial academics. So.
Deb Meyer (17:56.992)
Yeah, we're not going through the same process.
Deb Meyer (18:08.814)
my gosh. Mm-hmm. And similar grades and stuff and histories and everything. Okay. So all this effort and energy versus like no effort, or not no, but minimal. The same. Yeah.
Shelley (18:15.718)
yeah, the same. All of it. Yeah, the same.
Shelley (18:22.43)
Right? And they got the same. And two, I always tell parents the price of college has outpaced inflation by 500%. So it is not the same situation that I was in. I was shocked when we started looking. I couldn't believe how expensive it was just for them to stay in state. So it's just.
Deb Meyer (18:32.553)
Yes.
Deb Meyer (18:36.213)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (18:43.786)
Mm-hmm.
Shelley (18:46.474)
It's massive. And so that's why I just want to help people be able to find other opportunities and other ways to save on college, because all the traditional ways just don't exist as much anymore.
Deb Meyer (18:59.7)
Yeah, yeah, being a Florida resident, one of the things that we're, really excited about because I have a 16 year old, he's a junior in high school now and they have this.
ACE program is called ACE, where if they get seven ACE classes, do well in those and pass the exams, they'll actually get an ACE diploma and have free tuition to Florida in-state university. So it's a little bit different pathway than what you're talking about with dual enrollment, but it does give us an option if he does well in those classes, that he has that capability. And then even if he doesn't qualify for that, there's still other, you know, nice benefits for top academic students that can get.
you know, full tuition, partial tuition, those kinds of payments. You're still paying a lot for room and board, but at least you're getting like, hey, these are some other considerations and programs. So every state's gonna be different in terms of what they offer, but yeah, college is getting so, so expensive. And it's good to have your perspective just getting, you know, some other options out there for parents to hear.
Shelley (20:01.555)
It's, it's crazy.
Shelley (20:12.014)
And that's great that Florida offers that.
Deb Meyer (20:12.328)
All right, let's talk a little bit, yeah. So what do parents really need to know about scholarships? Anything else on scholarships? You said a lot of scholarship money is claimed, even though most people think, they go unclaimed. Are there any other specific tips for those who are trying to get scholarships to college for their students?
Shelley (20:34.348)
Yeah, and I do, even though it's they're really, really competitive, I do encourage parents to apply. It's I would say it's the easiest to get them through the university and that you're going to. They will have special like scholarships that they offer. And I felt like those are the easiest to get. Also, local scholarships are a lot easier than the national one. So like the Coca-Cola scholarship is so hard to get.
But if your high school has one, you can apply for that. That's a great one to apply for because the pool of applicants is a lot smaller. The other thing too that I would say is when they're writing those scholarship essays, they don't want to see a resume. So they don't want your kids to write. These are all the amazing things that I've done. You can kind of weave that in, but really what they want is they want like personal stories like
Deb Meyer (21:09.216)
So much smaller.
Deb Meyer (21:27.2)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (21:31.092)
Mm-hmm.
Shelley (21:31.286)
What did you learn? What is an experience that really impacted you? They want to really see, and that's the same for the college application scholarships too. They really want to be able to get a good picture of your kids, much more than reading about all of their accomplishments. mean, they're correct.
Deb Meyer (21:43.22)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (21:47.89)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (21:52.626)
Yeah, maybe the failures, hearing about some of the where you failed and then how you are stronger because of that,
Shelley (21:59.125)
They love that. Yeah, they love those types of stories. They don't want to hear like about your mental health issues, things like that. But they do love like stories of resilience and overcoming things and situations that have really impacted you. They love stories like that. So that's those are the types of essays that I encourage kids to to work on.
Deb Meyer (22:07.37)
to.
Deb Meyer (22:25.204)
Great, okay, thanks. So I really appreciate all that info on scholarships. Now let's think about students who aren't as academically motivated or maybe have a learning disability. Is dual enrollment still a good option for them?
Shelley (22:40.834)
Yeah, so actually I have one. So one of my daughters actually does have a disability and she's always required extra support with academics, extra support with really everything. so I've always, I always thought, gosh, if anyone would struggle in college classes, it would be her. And she did. I mean, I'm not going to lie, she definitely did. But there are so many supports now for kids to.
Deb Meyer (22:56.832)
Hmm.
Deb Meyer (23:06.334)
Mm-hmm.
Shelley (23:09.442)
just to help them be successful. So on the college campus, there are supports. At the high school campus, there are supports. There's tutoring centers, writing centers, just so many ways and so many things that kids can do to get extra support and that parents can do to support those kids as well. it's, yeah, it's totally doable. It's a great thing for them to try and see if they even want to do college. They may.
Deb Meyer (23:25.856)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (23:35.572)
Mm-hmm.
Shelley (23:36.578)
try a couple classes and say, you know, don't really want to do this. I'd rather go to cosmetology school or whatever.
Deb Meyer (23:38.986)
This isn't for me, yeah.
or whatever, yeah, yeah. Well, I'm glad you brought that up because, yeah, not every student is cut out for a four-year traditional college. And if they can take some intro classes and realize like, hey, maybe this isn't the right pathway, that's a lot of time, energy, money saved over the long run. So that's good. Okay. How about...
Shelley (24:06.744)
Yeah, it is.
Deb Meyer (24:10.936)
So I guess for lot of parents financially supporting their student at a traditional four-year college can be a really big stretch. And I want to talk more about student loans. They rely on loans, either parent loans or student loans or a combination thereof. Why do you think that's not a great strategy?
Shelley (24:30.872)
So yeah, so from our personal story, graduated, my husband Eric and I both graduated with massive student loan debt. We had combined $50,000 student loan debt coming out of college. I was a teacher and he was a radio broadcaster. So we really were not making enough money to sustain that kind of debt. And it made our lives miserable for years.
So I mean, that's just my personal story. I will say too, though, that with student loans, almost every consumer protection has been removed from them. So you can go online and you can just see people writing their story of how they've been just completely wrecked by student loans.
Deb Meyer (25:01.504)
Yeah.
Shelley (25:23.726)
In most cases, can't claim bankruptcy on them. So no matter what, there's a story of someone who there was an earthquake and he lost everything and they wouldn't let him claim bankruptcy on his student loans. So they are highly risky loans and we are giving them to our 18 year olds like they're candy and not really explaining and an 18 year old is going to sign anything. So if parents are
Deb Meyer (25:44.576)
Mm.
Shelley (25:50.679)
are considering student loans, I really encourage them to be involved in the entire process. Most kids can't tell you who their lenders are. They can't tell you how much they owe. It's all very intentionally confusing. So I just tell parents be very, very careful with them because they are extremely, extremely to get from underneath in some cases. Now, you know,
Deb Meyer (26:01.94)
Mm-hmm.
Shelley (26:19.366)
a student graduating in engineering is going to probably graduate college with a pretty big salary. It's probably not quite so scary for them. But I just say parents be just very cautious when you're considering student loans. And two, the other thing is that's a lot for a 22-year-old to come out of college and have just this massive debt and just be trying to start out life.
Deb Meyer (26:33.33)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (26:44.224)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Shelley (26:47.04)
One other thing that I like to share is a friend of mine was a college professor at a private university. And she told me that she was making like poverty level income as a college professor. And at the same time, her students who are taking out like six figures in debt. And she was just like, how is this even possible? Where is this money going? So I just cautioned, just be careful with those. Just be very involved and aware.
Deb Meyer (27:08.991)
Yeah.
Shelley (27:17.078)
of the entire process.
Deb Meyer (27:19.072)
Yeah, I had Joe Messinger on our podcast very early on talk about student loans and scholar, you know, financial aid process in general. And, one of the stats he shared just around or rules of thumb was like never take out more in total student loans than you will earn first year salary. So like that's a, a really good general principle, but even in your case, like.
Shelley (27:41.102)
That's so smart.
Deb Meyer (27:47.712)
your combined first year salary as teacher and radio broadcaster might have been, I don't know exactly, but close to that 50,000 mark, but it was still debilitating for you guys as a newly married couple. that's at the very highest end. And when you talk about six figure student loans, it is, it's really hard. And then,
Even though there's some student loan forgiveness programs, those are like 20 years long. I mean, you have to be making consistent payments for 20 years before you get any portion of that. And then there's other tax consequences when they do get forgiven. now there's some very small sectors of like public student loan forgiveness. I'm not as familiar with the new rules that were signed in July on student loans, but at least under the old rules, and you know, you'd have some that were a little bit.
shorter time span, usually it was more like 10 years if it was a public service role. I mean, there's just, it's hard to ever get rid of that. And it's always hanging over your head, just like you said.
Shelley (28:48.706)
Right, right, yeah.
Deb Meyer (28:51.168)
All right, so I really appreciate you being here. I think this was a very valuable perspective for parents to have because it is different, right? Other guests that we've had here before talked about that traditional four-year college experience. for listeners who are interested in learning more about dual enrollment and the services that you offer, resources that you offer, where can they best find you online and connect?
Shelley (29:19.138)
Yeah, so I'm at ShellyBernine.com, B-R-A-N-I-N-E. You can find my website. I'm also on all the socials. Same, just at ShellyBernine. And I'm most active on Instagram. So that's probably where I post the most, but I'm on all of them. So you can find me there. And then I do have a book coming out in January. It's called Finished College in High School.
Deb Meyer (29:24.628)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (29:43.464)
in January. How wonderful.
Shelley (29:45.043)
And it's a family guide to dual enrollment. So it really is, if parents want to do this option, I spelled out the whole process, the good, the bad, the ugly. And then I just, everything that we learned along the way to just really help parents who might want to dig in and do college differently.
Deb Meyer (29:54.965)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (30:02.28)
Okay great. So if people are interested in that book, just getting on your website, maybe getting onto an email list or something, they'll be in the know once the book's available.
Shelley (30:10.723)
Yep, you can go to my website. Yep, and I'll be posting the process on Instagram as well. So we're currently in the publishing phase. So it's just we're at that final stretch. So yeah, I'll be posting every all the different pieces and the launch and all of that.
Deb Meyer (30:18.08)
Okay.
Deb Meyer (30:24.063)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (30:29.076)
That's exciting. Yeah. I, when I did redefining feeling well, several years ago, I was trying to get the, the momentum going for that, but it's a process. It's, it's a lot to, to launch a book and it's so good to have, you know, cheerleaders behind you supporting you.
Shelley (30:44.976)
thank you. Just like pushing a boulder up a mountain. I just, every day it's so hard. So I love those cheerleaders.
Deb Meyer (30:48.128)
It does feel that way. Yeah. Well, and you'll have to get like a book launch team and all that fun stuff. So it'll be good. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's a helpful resource and I'll be one of the first readers when it releases in January. Okay. Yeah. Well, thank you so much, Shelley. Any closing thoughts for our parents?
Shelley (30:59.279)
Working on all of that.
Shelley (31:08.985)
Thank you. I so appreciate that.
Shelley (31:17.091)
Yeah, the one thing that I love to share this story that just hits home. So my daughter's had a friend who did, he was working on an associate degree and he ended up dropping out one credit short of an associate degree. And I'm sure his parents wanted to kill him. Like, can you please take that one last class? But he did it in high school.
Deb Meyer (31:40.881)
One class. Yeah.
Shelley (31:45.103)
So it did not cost him a dime. And he decided, you know, after getting almost an entire associate degree, he didn't want to do it. He wanted to be a carpenter instead. And I am just like, how great, but that didn't cost him anything. Because I know so many other people who didn't finish. I mean, they say 61 % of students, only 61 % finish. So imagine like not finishing being that other 40 % who
Deb Meyer (32:10.218)
Wow.
Deb Meyer (32:14.24)
Who paid so much?
Shelley (32:14.765)
doesn't finish and they have all this debt too. I'm like, dual enrollment, try before you buy. Give it a try before you buy. And then if you don't want to do it, great, it didn't cost you anything.
Deb Meyer (32:22.185)
Mm-hmm.
Deb Meyer (32:27.934)
Yeah, well, I'm definitely looking for that for my son next year, because I think he'll be a little light on, like he'll have fulfilled a lot of those high school requirements and hopefully have time to dip his toes in the college waters. yeah, it's obviously each child's going to be unique and your state's going to be different, but it's great to have a unique perspective like yours. So thanks again.
Shelley (32:42.381)
Yeah.
Shelley (32:54.22)
Thank you! I am so happy to share this message. I just want to help families.
Deb Meyer (33:00.48)
Great!