Paying for College
Insider tips for the week of Oct. 31, 2016
Below are our insider tips to help your family with the complicated college process: Shortcut to finding out how much the gov’t expects you to pay for college – Most families are stunned to learn how much they are expected to contribute to college after filling out the FAFSA, so Troy Onink has put…
Read MoreInsider tips for the week of October 3, 2016
Below are our insider tips to help your family with the complicated college process: Scholarships with October deadlines – Check out this list from Jessica Velasco and find a few you can apply to. Straight talk from college admissions officers to parents – Brennan Barnard collected candid advice to share with you. While some of…
Read MoreAsset protection allowance down sharply
As if paying for college wasn’t hard enough for families, the amount of assets you are allowed to have that are exempt from the federal financial aid formula plummeted by 29% from just a year ago and a stunning 60% from 10 years ago. First, a quick overview of the asset protection allowance: The general concept is…
Read MoreCollege costs even more than you thought it did
NPR has a helpful article on little-known costs of college. My two favorite takeaways: 1) Students living at home aren’t always saving money because they get less access to aid, and 2) Financial aid calculators overestimate how much parents can pay. Take a few minutes to read their 6 key findings.
Read MoreNew FAFSA rules help grandparents contribute
With future FAFSA forms now using tax returns from two years prior (known as “prior prior” in the college world), that adds another year that family members can help pay for college without it negatively affecting financial aid eligibility. First, some quick background: The three main factors used to calculate financial aid eligibility are Non-retirement…
Read MoreBeware of bait-and-switch pricing
This helpful article from US News and World Report points out the financial aid award you receive only applies to the first year and some colleges reduce aid in subsequent years (or students don’t meet the criteria to continue to qualify). Either way, if combined with tuition increases, your family could be paying a lot…
Read More11 Common FAFSA mistakes
We recommend families always complete the FAFSA because you need it to receive any need-based aid, and even if you don’t qualify for financial aid based on your income, some colleges award merit aid (sometimes a few thousand dollars) just for completing it. With some recent changes to the FAFSA, the US Dept of Education recently shared a…
Read MoreFAFSA Tips
By now you may have received a notice from the colleges to which your student has applied that they need a FAFSA. While you may not yet have even started to think about your tax return, it is not too early to complete your FAFSA. The first thing you should do is go to FAFSA.gov.…
Read MoreCommunity Service Scholarships
Community service scholarships reward you for helping others. It’s a nice way of doing well by doing good. In addition to the resources listed below, students who are involved in volunteering and community service should ask whether there are any awards available at the location where they perform their community service. It is quite common…
Read MoreUnusual Scholarships
While definitely the most popular, unusual scholarships are oftentimes the most exclusive. Their eligibility requirements are strict, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find an unusual scholarship for which you qualify. This list of scholarships s organized according to some of the more common subcategories of unusual scholarships, such as physical characteristics, creativity, last name,…
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