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The new Simplified FAFSA is here! Here’s a quick video with some tips that will help you get through it with a minimum of chaos and maximum of financial aid. 🔗
Most recent posts
Did you get waitlisted at your top choice college? Here’s what you need to know about that.
Thinking it’s worth taking out student loans to go to your first choice college instead of your second choice? Here’s what older Millennials have to say about their student loans.
Work study falls under the self-help column of financial aid. If your aid award includes work-study, you should understand what it is.
About 3/4 of families who appeal their financial aid award receive additional aid. Yet less than half appeal. Here’s how to get more money from the colleges you’re considering.
Highlights
We’re almost there: acceptance letters are arriving and the May 1 decision day is right around the corner. For most families, how much schools cost is part of the decision making process.
Happy 2023! Last year I made a New Year’s Resolution and kept it. That makes me a self-appointed expert on New Year’s resolutions. Here are some resolutions for parents planning for college— and my expert advice on how to keep your resolutions.
Parent assets seem to be the area that most families and planners focus on, despite the fact that they typically have the smallest impact on the formula of each of the components. Strategies and tactics to minimize parent assets abound, but for most families these result more in nibbling around the edges than actually making a significant dent in SAI.
The College Board’s annual Trends in College Pricing and Student Aid report was released recently. Among the headline findings: college tuition prices increased at extremely low rates for the second year in a row, reflecting both a combination of continued impacts of the pandemic and enrollment pressures from demographic trends.
Filing the FAFSA raises tons of questions for divorced parents. Here are some answers.
Happy FAFSA Day! Are you completing the FAFSA for the first time this year? While you’re waiting for the site to load, here are some resources that will help you get through it with a minimum of chaos and maximum of financial aid.
I think Oregon is one of the last places in the US that starts school after Labor Day so my apologies if you’re no longer in back-to-school mode. Here are some resolutions your family might make for the coming school year. And, here’s hoping they don’t get broken as quickly as the typical New Year’s diet-and-exercise resolutions!
The FAFSA becomes available onOctober 1, but you can download the EFC Formula Guide to see how the sausage gets made in advance. Here are some suggestions for how to use this data.
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Athletes and Grades
For scholarship purposes, college sports fall into two categories: “headcount” and “equivalency.” Headcount sports are typically the big-money sports: D1 football, men’s and women’s basketball, women’s gymnastics and volleyball, and a few others. In these sports, there is a set number of scholarships per team, and every scholarship athlete will receive a full ride– though not all athletes on the roster will be scholarship athletes.
Scholarships and Why You Still Need to Save
According to the College Board, about 2/3 of college students receive some form of scholarship or grant. And the NCAA doles out more than $2.9 billion in scholarships annually.
Outside Scholarships
Outside scholarships are those that come from someone other than the federal government or your school. Examples include National Merit Scholarships, scholarships from you or your parents’ employers, or from other civic institutions.
Athletes, Grades and Scholarships
As summer club sports season transitions to fall high school sports season, so too does the talk turn to athletic scholarships. Here’s a little known fact: Other than football and basketball, many– perhaps more– student athletes attend college on academic scholarships rather than athletic ones. So even the most successful athletes should make school their focus.