Featured
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
Highlights
Categories
The FAFSA & CSS Profile
Saving for College
Paying for College
Student Loans
Application Process
Miscellaneous
All blog posts
Interest Rates on Student Loans for 2018-2019
If you will be taking out loans to pay for college, you probably want to know what interest rate you’ll be paying. Unfortunately, the rates for the coming school year are not available yet. They’ll be set based on the 10-Year Treasury Note from the last auction before June 1.
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.
Student Loans by School
If you’ve been reading this for a while, you probably know I’m a huge fan of College Navigator as an information source. It’s run by the National Center for Education Statistics and has some information that any prospective student should be aware of.
Series EE and I Bonds
Many parents and grandparents purchase education savings bonds– series EE or series I bonds– to pay for college. These bonds are tax-free within some limits, and it’s not uncommon for families to find out too late that they’ve landed outside the limits.
About All That Mail…
If your mailbox is starting to be overwhelmed with college and related marketing promotions, you can thank the College Board or ACT. More on that…
What’s a 1098-T?
If you have a college student, you (or they) probably received a form 1098-T. Schools are required to send this to any student who paid qualified higher education expenses. Here’s what you need to know about your 1098-T
Comparing Financial Aid Offers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a nifty tool for comparing school costs or financial aid offers, here. As you get acceptance and financial aid offers, enter them into the site to get apples-to-apples comparisons of what you’ll pay and what you will owe upon graduation.
College Savings and Education Outcomes
Did you make a New Year’s resolution to save (or save more) for college? If so, you may be increasing the odds that your student will attend and graduate. Research shows that, across income levels, students who have savings designated for college are more likely to attend and graduate.
Work Study
A financial aid package often includes work-study as one component. Typically the package includes a dollar sum of work-study income to be used for education costs.
Rhodes Scholars are announced shortly before Thanksgiving every year. The recipient list serves as a reminder that plenty of colleges do an excellent job of preparing students to compete at the very highest levels.