Paying for College
CIT Merit Money Expert Suzy Fallon Q + A: What Every Family Should Do Right Now to Maximize Offers
CIT consultant and merit aid specialist Suzy Fallon Q + A: The hands-down best source of merit scholarships, the long arc of the merit scholarship process during the application year, and what every family must do right now to maximize merit offers ————————————————————————— Q: Families are as concerned as they ever have been about paying…
Read MoreScholarship reduction – The dirty little college secret
Would you ever consider a scenario where the scholarships your student won actually resulted in a scholarship reduction elsewhere? One of the students we work with, whom we’ll call Caitlyn, was a dream that every parent (and counselor) hopes for: kind, bright, studious and incredibly engaged in the college process. In addition to having nearly…
Read MoreCozy Wittman Q and A: The College Search Junior Year: Strategies Related to Debt
Do you have a high school junior in the house? Now is the time to nail down a concrete strategy related to college debt and the college search. CIT’s Cozy Wittman lays out the steps to an effective debt strategy and suggests a strong benchmark for debt. Why is junior year especially vital for families…
Read MoreFull pay as a college strategy
While many families are looking for ways to reduce the cost of college, a new strategy has emerged that actually seeks to pay the full amount for college. The ability to pay the full sticker price can make families more attractive to schools, and thus increase their chances of getting accepted. According to…
Read MoreStudent Aid Index (SAI) – 5 things to know
You fill out the FAFSA, which gives you your Student Aid Index (SAI), which is how much your family will pay for college. Seems simple right? Ah, but like most things with the college process, that is unfortunately not the case. Here are 5 things every family should know about that SAI. 1…
Read More5 Nuggets of College Planning Wisdom
1 Choose a college that is a fit academically, socially AND financially. And a financial fit inherently means that neither the student nor the parents are over-borrowing (see #2). 2 Borrow an amount no greater than the average first-year salary in your chosen field. If total student loan debt is less than your starting salary,…
Read More4 guidelines for taking on student loan debt
Identify the average starting salary for the field the student is planning to go into, and the family should not have any more than that number in total education loans. Considering a school that would leave you with $35,000 debt for an undergraduate electrical engineering degree? That would pass the test for an acceptable amount…
Read MoreTop 5 ways to get more scholarship dollars
Everyone is looking for more scholarship dollars to help offset the cost of college, but the key is understanding what strategies are the most effective. Build the right college list Many families build a college list based on their student’s right academic and social fit (and often aspirations) and leave the financial aspect…
Read MoreWhat is scholarship stacking?
By Anne Weber There’s a term in higher education that people may use when talking about financial aid: scholarship stacking. Scholarship stacking refers to the ability to layer or add up aid, grants, and scholarships from multiple sources. The idea is that a student might be able to secure funding from different…
Read MoreSmall Business Owner Exclusion for Financial Aid Restored
The small business owner exclusion is back. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) reversed a change made in the FAFSA simplification act, by reinstating the small business owner exclusion as part of the federal financial aid formula on the FAFSA. Beginning with any new FAFSA’s completed for the 2026-27 school year, the value…
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