Money Path Goes to College
May 14, 2026
For many students, high school graduation feels like the end of the planning process. But financially, it’s just the beginning.
As students transition into college, their financial decisions become more immediate and more complicated. While Money Path is often introduced in high school classrooms, its usefulness doesn’t stop there. In fact, nearly 10% of Money Path users today are current college students, a strong reminder that the need for financial planning continues well beyond graduation.
The reality of student loan debt
College opens doors, but for many students, it also brings debt. Across the country, millions of borrowers are now navigating student loan repayment as repayment requirements resume and delinquency rates rise. According to the U.S. Department of Education, about 7.7 million federal student loan borrowers were in default by the end of 2025, owing roughly $180 billion, while nearly one in four borrowers in active repayment were delinquent on their loans.
The challenge isn’t only the cost of college. It’s that many students make borrowing decisions without a clear understanding of what repayment will actually look like after graduation or how those payments will fit into everyday life. That’s why planning matters.
Why college can be the perfect time
Senior year of high school moves fast. Between applications, scholarships, financial aid forms, and graduation, students are often making major financial decisions with limited time and incomplete information. College offers a different kind of clarity.
Students now have real tuition bills, financial aid packages, housing costs, and day-to-day expenses in front of them. Many are narrowing down their majors and career interests. With a more complete picture, financial planning becomes more practical and easier to connect to real life.
Introducing Money Path early in a student’s college experience gives them room to adjust before debt grows. It creates an opportunity to make informed changes, not just look back with regret later.
Making financial decisions feel real
One of the biggest challenges college students face is understanding how all the pieces fit together. Financial aid offers, loan amounts, and student account balances are often difficult to interpret on their own.
Money Path helps students connect those numbers to real-life outcomes. It links borrowing decisions to future income, lifestyle choices, and long-term goals. Instead of asking students to think abstractly about debt, it helps answer a more personal question: “What will this mean for my life after college?”
That shift in perspective can make a major difference.
Supporting decisions in real time
College students are constantly making financial decisions. Should they borrow more this semester? Take on a part-time job? Move off campus? Accept an unpaid internship that could help long-term?
Money Path gives students a place to work through those decisions as they happen. Rather than being a one-time activity, it encourages students to revisit their plans, adjust when circumstances change, and think ahead.
Along the way, they build something more lasting than a budget: financial capability.
Money Path helps students connect their education choices to career opportunities, expected income, and everyday financial decisions. It reinforces the idea that money choices don’t happen in isolation; they shape the kind of life students are working toward.
Start early. Revisit often.
The growing number of college students using Money Path reflects an important reality: financial planning doesn’t end after high school. If anything, it becomes even more important.
By engaging students early in their college journey, we can help them better understand the decisions in front of them, adapt when needed, and move forward with greater confidence.
Because college isn’t just about earning a degree. It’s also about building a financial foundation for the future.
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