# Ex-Teacher's Playbook for Debt-Free College (Her Kids Did It) Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-opened-podcast-7044530/ex-teacher-s-playbook-for-debt-free-college-her-kids-did-it Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-opened-podcast-7044530/ex-teacher-s-playbook-for-debt-free-college-her-kids-did-it.md Podcast: [The OpenEd Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-opened-podcast-7044530) Published: 2026-06-24T13:46:26+00:00 Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-opened-podcast/episodes/Ex-Teachers-Playbook-for-Debt-Free-College-Her-Kids-Did-It-e3l7k0j Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/f9dda578/podcast/play/121933267/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-5-24%2F426748660-44100-2-d57c5e3cc63f8.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-opened-podcast-7044530/episodes/ex-teacher-s-playbook-for-debt-free-college-her-kids-did-it Duration seconds: 3450 ## Resource A former teacher who graduated with $50,000 in student loans made sure her two daughters never would. Both finished college about a week before high school graduation - debt-free - using dual enrollment. Shelley Branine, author of "Finish College in High School," breaks down the exact playbook: what the program is called in your state, where to start, how to guarantee your credits transfer, and why a C in a dual-enrollment class beats an AP exam.Read the full blog post: https://opened.co/blog/dual-enrollment-how-to-help-your-kids-graduate-college-debt-freeWebsite: https://shelleybranine.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/shelleybranineLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelley-branineBook: "Finish College in High School" https://a.co/d/0bpPNxlW ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-opened-podcast-7044530/episodes/ex-teacher-s-playbook-for-debt-free-college-her-kids-did-it/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-opened-podcast-7044530/ex-teacher-s-playbook-for-debt-free-college-her-kids-did-it.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.