Plan your college path like you know exactly what you're doing
This step-by-step system starts with who you are and the life you want — then works backward through career ladders, real tuition math, and a personalized school list so you make the biggest financial decision of your life with clear eyes, not crossed fingers.
"I built this system because every student deserves the same clear-eyed advice that used to be reserved for families who already knew how this works."— Leigh Baumann
What you'll learn
What you'll be able to do
- Build a personalized career ladder that compares realistic entry points by education time, debt, salary ceiling, and lifestyle — so you choose a path with open eyes.
- Run a full Life Math model from ages 18–65, including tuition, borrowing costs, lost wages, repayment, forgiveness, and projected net worth, before you sign anything.
- Produce a school list with reach, target, likely, wildcard, affordable anchor, and 2+2 transfer options — each one passing program quality, affordability, completion, and admission-reality checks.
- Identify every credit acceleration opportunity (AP, CLEP, IB, dual enrollment) mapped to your specific school and major, ranked by savings and effort so you finish faster and cheaper.
- Navigate location-specific rules — state residency discounts, reciprocity agreements, military benefits, international tuition, visas, credential recognition, and licensure requirements — wherever you plan to study.
- Stress-test your plan against real guardrails: verified net prices, graduation rates, debt ceilings, completion risks, and stronger non-college alternatives, so your final Living Plan is honest, not optimistic.
How it works
A school that adapts to you
This isn't a set of static videos. Every lesson is generated live and tuned to where you actually are.
We learn your level
A quick placement check tailors your starting point so you're never bored or lost.
Lessons adapt as you go
Each lesson is written for your pace and your goal, adjusting as your skills grow.
Your AI coach keeps you moving
Checkpoints, feedback, and gentle nudges turn progress into a real result.
The curriculum
What's inside your school
12 modules · 52 lessons
Location, Language, and Residency
Students identify where they are, where they are willing to study, and unlock every location-based financial and legal advantage available to them.
- 1.1State, Country, and Travel RangeIncluded
- 1.2Residency Rules and Tuition DiscountsIncluded
- 1.3Reciprocity Agreements and Regional CompactsIncluded
- 1.4Military Benefits, Visas, and Local RequirementsIncluded
- 1.5Location-Based Grants, Scholarships, and Transfer PathwaysIncluded
Student Tracks
Students identify which learner track fits their situation and receive stage-matched academic, testing, financial, and deadline guidance.
- 2.1Your Track: Grades 9–12, Veteran, Returning Adult, or Non-TraditionalIncluded
- 2.2Stage-Based Academic and Testing MilestonesIncluded
- 2.3Financial Aid Timelines and Application DeadlinesIncluded
- 2.4Track-Specific Support ResourcesIncluded
Assessment and Profile
Students build a complete personal profile covering interests, abilities, values, academics, finances, and family constraints that drives every downstream recommendation.
- 3.1Interests, Work Style, and Values InventoryIncluded
- 3.2Academic Profile: Courses, Rigor, and TestingIncluded
- 3.3Activities, Employment, and Career CertaintyIncluded
- 3.4Geography, Family, and Financial ConstraintsIncluded
Career Ladder Engine
Students build a personalized career ladder that compares every realistic entry point by education time, cost, debt, salary, lifestyle, and long-term advancement.
- 4.1Mapping Your Career LadderIncluded
- 4.2Education Time, Cost, and Debt ComparisonIncluded
- 4.3Salary, Earning Ceiling, and Lifestyle FitIncluded
- 4.4Licensure, Autonomy, and AdvancementIncluded
- 4.5Reversibility and Working While You ProgressIncluded
Life Math
Students run a full financial simulation of each career path from ages 18–65, including tuition, borrowing, lost wages, repayment, forgiveness, and projected net worth.
- 5.1Building Your Life Math BaselineIncluded
- 5.2Borrowing Costs, Lost Wages, and Break-Even AgeIncluded
- 5.3Repayment Plans, Employer Funding, and ForgivenessIncluded
- 5.4Peak Debt, Debt-Free Age, and Net Worth at 40Included
- 5.5Lifetime Outcome Comparison Across PathsIncluded
Graduate and Professional Planning
Students who need an advanced or terminal credential map prerequisites, GPA targets, clinical hours, admissions tests, funding, and total cost before committing to an undergraduate path.
- 6.1Terminal Credentials and When You Need ThemIncluded
- 6.2Prerequisites, GPA Targets, and Experience HoursIncluded
- 6.3Admissions and Licensing TestsIncluded
- 6.4Graduate Funding: Assistantships, Fellowships, and LoansIncluded
International Education
Students evaluate studying abroad as a legitimate cost or quality advantage, understanding tuition, aid, visas, work rights, and credential recognition risks.
- 7.1Foreign Universities and English-Taught ProgramsIncluded
- 7.2International Tuition, Aid, and Shorter DegreesIncluded
- 7.3Visas, Work Rights, and Travel CostsIncluded
- 7.4Credential Recognition and Licensure RisksIncluded
Assessment-to-List Engine
Students convert their profile, career ladder, and financial model into a vetted, reality-checked school list organized by fit category.
- 8.1From Goals to Credentials, Majors, and ProgramsIncluded
- 8.2The Four Gates: Program, Affordability, Completion, and Admission RealityIncluded
- 8.3Building Your List: Reach, Target, Likely, Wildcard, Anchor, and 2+2Included
- 8.4Comparing Schools by Net Price, Graduation Rate, and FitIncluded
Visit Feedback Loop
Students prepare for, experience, and debrief campus or virtual visits to reveal true preferences and refine their school list.
- 9.1Predicting Fit Before You VisitIncluded
- 9.2Preparing Smart Visit QuestionsIncluded
- 9.3Collecting and Recording In-Person or Virtual ReactionsIncluded
- 9.4Revealed vs. Stated Preferences and List UpdatesIncluded
Credit Acceleration
Students identify every AP, CLEP, IB, and dual-enrollment opportunity mapped to their specific schools and major, ranked by savings and effort so they finish faster and cheaper.
- 10.1How Credit Acceleration WorksIncluded
- 10.2Mapping Credit to Your School and MajorIncluded
- 10.3Credit Caps, Foundation Protections, and Useful vs. Unused CreditIncluded
- 10.4Pass Probability, Savings, and Effort RankingsIncluded
Living Plan Output
Students assemble every completed component into a single, integrated Living Plan that is honest, actionable, and continuously updatable.
- 11.1Assembling Your Living PlanIncluded
- 11.2Debt Ceiling, Aid Summary, and Experience TargetsIncluded
- 11.3Deadlines Dashboard and Action CalendarIncluded
- 11.4Fallback Plans and Transfer OptionsIncluded
- 11.5Keeping the Plan CurrentIncluded
Guardrails
Students understand the firm boundaries that keep every recommendation honest, verified, and free of false promises — protecting them from costly mistakes.
- 12.1What the System Will Never DoIncluded
- 12.2Verified Net Price, Graduation Rates, and Source TransparencyIncluded
- 12.3Completion Risk and Debt Reality ChecksIncluded
- 12.4Stronger Non-College AlternativesIncluded
Who it's for
Is this you?
High school juniors & seniors
You're in the thick of applications and need a real system — not vibes — to build a school list, understand what you'll actually pay, and choose a path that fits the life you want.
Parents of college-bound teens
You want to guide your student wisely without overriding them — and you need plain-language answers on net price, debt ceilings, and which paths are actually worth the cost.
Veterans & military students
Your benefits, service credit, and life experience deserve a plan that accounts for all of them — including how military aid stacks with state, federal, and institutional money.
Returning adult learners
You're balancing work, family, and the decision to go back to school — and you need a system that runs the real numbers on whether a credential actually pays off at this stage of your life.
9th & 10th grade early planners
Starting early means more time to earn AP and dual enrollment credits, hit financial aid deadlines on purpose, and build an academic profile that actually matches where you want to go.
Non-traditional & international-path students
Whether you're considering a foreign university, a vocational credential, or a non-traditional route, this system evaluates every path on equal footing — with visas, licensure, and credential recognition built in.
Questions
Frequently asked
Your teacher
A note from your teacher
Leigh Baumann
If you're a high school student staring at a college application and feeling like everyone else somehow got a manual you didn't — I want you to know that feeling is completely reasonable. Because the system, as it currently exists, is not designed to make this easy for you. Rankings hide the real cost. Counselors are stretched too thin. The financial aid process is written in a language that takes years to learn. And the stakes — hundreds of thousands of dollars, years of your life, and the career you actually end up in — couldn't be higher.
If you're a parent sitting across from your student at the kitchen table, trying to figure out what "net price" actually means or whether a particular school is worth the debt, you deserve straight answers, not reassuring vague talk about "fit" and "investment in the future." And if you're a veteran, a returning adult, or a non-traditional learner who doesn't see yourself in the glossy campus brochure — you deserve a system that's actually built around your situation, not one you have to awkwardly adapt.
That's what College Life Plan is. It's a structured, student-centered decision system that starts where you actually are — your interests, your values, your academic profile, your family's finances, your geography, your timeline — and works backward to the credential, school, and plan that honestly makes sense for you. Not the most prestigious option. Not the cheapest option. Your option, with the numbers to back it up.
We run real Life Math: what you'll borrow, what it actually costs to borrow it, what you'll earn while you're repaying it, and what your net worth looks like at 40 across different paths. We build a school list that passes four honest gates before any school makes the cut. We map every credit acceleration opportunity to your specific school and major. We account for where you live, where you want to go, and every location-based rule that affects your costs and options. And we check the whole thing against real guardrails — verified numbers, completion rates, and honest alternatives — before we call it a plan.
This is not a course that cheerleads you into any particular answer. It's a course that gives you the tools to find your own — and the confidence to defend it to anyone who asks. I hope you'll join us.
— Leigh Baumann
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- 12 modules, 52 lessons
- AI-adaptive lessons tuned to your level
- Quizzes & checkpoints to lock in progress
- Your own AI learning coach
- Learn on any device, at your pace
- Full access for as long as you're subscribed