Financing College
The Parent Plus Loan: Pros, Cons, and Sneaky Financial Aid Offers
The Parent Plus Loan: Pros, Cons, and Sneaky Financial Aid Offers THREE MIN VIDEO. CIT’s Cozy Wittman lays out the pros, cons, and some caveats related to this loan. Parents: carefully examine how your college leverages the loan in your financial aid offer! What are the real numbers? If the Parent Plus Loan…
Read MoreFAFSA change for small business owners
Add small business owners to the group of people impacted by the upcoming FAFSA changes for the 2023-24 school year. Currently, the value of any privately held business, including assets, with less than 100 employees does not need to be reported on the FAFSA as part of its small business exclusion. This includes a…
Read MoreInsider tips for the week of January 10, 2022
3 tips for having the scary college money talk – I’ve been shocked at how many families with HS students we’ve been meeting with lately have not talked about what they are willing or able to spend on college, both between the parents and with the student. We naturally avoid things that are scary,…
Read MoreInsider tips for the week of November 8, 2021
How to find good schools…for you – Rick Clark writes an excellent article about how to find right-fit schools. Click here to read some questions you should answer while determining if a college is a good school for you (and see a picture of a crazy-flexible 10-year-old). Big changes to financial aid and…
Read MoreJay Benanav Q and A: Your High School Senior and Imminent Financial Aid Tasks
College Inside Track founder and nationally recognized college admissions financial aid expert Jay Benanav responds to a few of the moment’s most pressing financial aid issues, in this wide-ranging interview: The need for conscious student responses to financial aid questions on college applications, how need- and merit based aid configure with financial form (FAFSA…
Read MoreInsider tips for the week of August 2, 2021
3 college statistics to know if you want to pay less – Many families only look at college statistics in terms of getting into college, when they are just as important in determining how much they pay for college. DIY College Rankings covers three big ones to understand. 5 best essays – The…
Read MoreInsider tips for the week of June 28, 2021
FAFSA changes delayed – The significant FAFSA changes recently approved by Congress will be delayed by year, due to the complexity of overhauling the entire system. Federal Student Aid (FSA), the agency in charge of implementing the changes, said they will now be rolled out for the 2024-25 school year. The earliest families can…
Read MoreFAFSA changes
The COVID relief bill passed at the end of 2020 also included some significant changes to the FAFSA. While the changes do not go into effect until the 2024-25 school year, that year’s FAFSA will use tax information from 2022, so there are nearer-term considerations. And because the FAFSA is completed each year a…
Read MoreCollege Planning Changes for Grandparents
The stimulus bill passed at the end of 2020 also included some significant changes to how grandparent contributions are treated on the FAFSA. According to financial aid expert Mark Kantrowitz, cash contributions from grandparents, including distributions from grandparent-owned 529 plans and direct tuition payments to colleges, will no longer hurt a student’s eligibility for…
Read MoreFAFSA 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…
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