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multiple students

FAFSA change for families with multiple students

  At first glance, the recent changes to the FAFSA appear to be a good thing: A simpler form with far fewer questions, increased financial aid eligibility for low income families, and a formula change reducing any penalty for grandparents who contribute to college. But another formula change could prove to be extremely painful to…

broken heart

Filling out the FAFSA when there are divorced parents

Completing the FAFSA when parents are divorced is one of the most confusing scenarios for families, because custodial terms and who claims the child on the tax return do not necessarily apply. Further complicating things is that the rules for divorced parents are changing along with a number of other key FAFSA changes starting with…

your life simplified

Podcast: Navigating Student Loans

College Inside Track’s Cozy Wittman was a guest on the “Your Life, Simplified” podcast sharing her wisdom on navigating student loans. Getting accepted into the school of your dreams can be stressful enough, but then you have to think about how — and who — is going to pay for it. Cozy shares best practices…

your life simplified

Podcast: College Planning – Going Beyond the Dollar Signs

College Inside Track’s Cozy Wittman was a guest on the “Your Life, Simplified” podcast sharing her insight on college planning. Cozy goes beyond loans and scholarships for an in-depth discussion on considerations you may not be thinking about. Listen to the podcast here

ACT canceled woman showing frustration on her face

ACT canceled – What am I supposed to do?

Your high school student wants to apply to Flagship U, which despite the growing list of test optional colleges and universities, still requires the ACT.  She was registered for an earlier test, but a global pandemic rudely interrupted our lives and the ACT got canceled. Okay, you thought, we’ll just sign up for the June…

2021 CIT Graduate Scholarship Report

Congratulations to our 2021 grads and their families! The amazing total of scholarships received for our 2021 graduates is … drum roll …     Would you like to learn more about the philosophy and strategies College Inside Track consultants use, to facilate strong merit aid offers for clients?  Read here:  CIT Merit Money Expert…

college magic

Insider tips for the week of May 31, 2021

  College magic – Forbes has an excellent article on how college, if done right, can be a life-altering experience with lifelong benefits. Not enough students experience the most important elements of college, what researchers call the “Big Six.” The elements fall into two categories of relationship-rich and work-integrated. This is an important read as…

student at internship

Insider Tips for the week of May 3, 2021

  3 things to do now for strong HS recommendation letters – Students have experienced online learning and cancelled or shortened extracurricular activities as a function of the pandemic.  Many report that they hardly know the teachers who have taught them this year, and worry that their core teachers don’t know enough about them to…

CIT’s Cozy Wittman Talks Scholarships with The Weekly Wealth Podcast

College Inside Track’s  Manager of Education and Partnerships, Cozy Wittman, was featured recently on The Weekly Wealth Podcast.  Cozy discussed planning for financial aid and scholarships with David Chudyk, Financial Advisor at Parallel Financial. Topics include: misperceptions around scholarships (including best and worse strategies for good money), the biggest providers of strong scholarships, how colleges…

Meet Kyla Sykes, Bound for Nursing at Luther College

Christy Sykes, mom of future pediatric nurse Kyla, encourages all families with first generation college students to assertively pursue the college search. “Most definitely seek out and find what is available,” she say. “You have nothing to lose! We were so surprised by what she actually could receive in the way of support and financial…