- Shellee Howard explained how her experience guiding her own children to graduate college debt-free inspired her career as an independent college consultant.
- She described why high school guidance counselors are often unable to provide comprehensive college planning due to overcrowding and competing responsibilities.
- The discussion emphasized starting college preparation early by helping students identify their core values, strengths, and long-term interests rather than focusing only on grades or test scores.
- Shellee stressed that college readiness is about preparing for adulthood, not chasing prestige or comparing against other families.
- We explore how poor financial literacy leads many students to take on unnecessary debt without understanding return on investment.
- Shellee argued that college is a business decision and should be evaluated like an investment, with scholarships, fit, and outcomes prioritized over name recognition alone.
- Many students are not ready at 18 to make high-stakes decisions and why exploration through service, internships, and extracurriculars matters.
- The value of college branding versus actual educational and career outcomes are debated, with examples showing that different paths work for different students.
- Shellee outlined key timing considerations, including the critical importance of middle school and early high school years for maximizing opportunity and financial aid.
- Parents were encouraged to stay actively involved in guiding their children rather than leaving major financial and life decisions to teenagers.
College Without Crushing Debt with Shellee Howard
Money Tree Investing
Money Tree Investing Podcast
4.6 • 733 Ratings
🗓️ 23 January 2026
⏱️ 60 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Shellee Howard is on the show today to talk how to do college without crushign debt for your kids. She shares how her journey as a "mom on a mission" led her to help families navigate the college process strategically, emphasizing early preparation, self-discovery, and return on investment rather than prestige alone. She explains why overcrowded school counselors fall short, how students should clarify their values, talents, and career goals before choosing colleges, and why college should be viewed as a business decision and a stepping stone to adulthood, and not a status symbol. With the right planning, families can avoid debt, maximize scholarships, and choose schools that truly align with a student's future goals.
We discuss...
Today's Panelists:
- Kirk Chisholm | Innovative Wealth
- Barbara Friedberg | Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance
- Phil Weiss | Apprise Wealth Management
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For more information, visit the show notes at https://moneytreepodcast.com/college-without-crushing-debt-shellee-howard-784
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Money Tree Investing Podcast. Stock market, wealth, personal finance, value stocks, invest in your life. |
| 0:11.0 | Hello, Smart Marketing to broadcast listeners. Welcome to this week's show. My name is Kirk Chisholm, |
| 0:14.7 | and I'll be your host. So today, I'm joined with Shelley Howard. I know what I'm Shelley. |
| 0:19.6 | Outstanding, Kirk. Great to be here. |
| 0:21.7 | Great to have you in the show. So for those of you don't know you, maybe you can tell listeners |
| 0:25.3 | a little bit about your background. I would be happy to do so. I am a mother of four. And I think |
| 0:30.4 | it's important that I put that up there first because I was a mom on a mission. My first born |
| 0:36.1 | came home from middle school and said, mom, I know exactly what I want to do on a mission. My first born came home from middle school and said, |
| 0:38.3 | Mom, I know exactly what I want to do after high school. And I'm like, really? Because I |
| 0:43.2 | changed my major five times and I didn't quite do it that well. Very simply, he states, |
| 0:49.7 | I want to be a brain surgeon and go to an Ivy League school. And I then started paying attention because that was |
| 0:56.1 | a big ask. So he was my reason. It's been 18 years and he is now an orthopedic surgeon via Harvard, |
| 1:05.8 | UC San Diego and UCLA. I have three others that have all done college as well, and all four have graduated |
| 1:13.7 | with zero debt. And I didn't pay a dime. What is it you do now? How did you get into the college |
| 1:19.4 | space? So it really started at my son's high school graduation and a young man sitting next to me |
| 1:26.2 | says, dude, I didn't even know that kid was |
| 1:28.3 | smart. And he was talking about my son. And then everybody started asking me, well, how did he do it? |
| 1:35.1 | How did he get into seven full right offers? Was it a sport? What was it? And I started to to really |
| 1:43.0 | lean into families and help them on top of my full-time |
| 1:47.1 | career at the time. But what I did is I went back to school and I got my master's degree and |
| 1:52.3 | then I went back to school and I became a certified independent college consultant, started |
| 1:57.6 | to earn 25 colleges a semester. And for the last 18 years, I help students figure out who they are, their gifts, their talents, |
... |
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