Generally the FAFSA does not count untaxed social benefits as income. Untaxed Social Security, SSI, foster care benefits and welfare payments are excluded from income for the FAFSA, although disability payments and worker’s comp– which are insurance benefits– are added back.

The FAFSA isn’t the only financial aid form; many students and families also need to complete the CSS Profile. The Profile is used by about 400 mostly private colleges and universities.

The college rankings are here! Right in time for students to apply to the best colleges! But wait, which college is best? US News & World Report says Princeton is the best university but Forbes says UC Berkeley is best.

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.

It is both a blessing and a curse that the Common App makes it easy to apply to many colleges. One of the curses is that applications cost money. Enough that you should budget for them. The good news is that having a money budget for applications will automatically create a “time budget” since it might reduce the number of applications you file.

Learn How to Complete the FAFSA in this video - instructions for how to do it and what to do before you file.

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!

I had a great time talking financial aid and FAFSA strategies on the Hack Your Wealth podcast this week. Check it out here.

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.

Families getting started on the college search process are well-served by keeping a list of schools that the student is interested in. (This should be the student’s job, by the way.) But what does that list look like? What goes in it? Read on for suggestions.

Families who will file the FAFSA this fall should know what dates matter for which data inputs. Income is prior-prior year (meaning most recently filed tax return), assets are “day of” and then there’s the matter of education tax credits such as the American Opportunity Tax Credit.

Clearly, test-optional admissions are here to stay, with more than 1,600 four-year colleges offering test-optional admissions for the fall. More than 80 others are test-blind for the 2021 admissions cycle, according to FairTest’s online database of testing policies.

I’m changing topic today because my friend Jon said something on Sunday that I can’t get out of my head and I think all parents of teens and young adults need to hear: “We want our kids to be happy. We want our kids to be successful. But most of all we want them to be here.”

Many families– and also many financial professionals– believe that reducing their adjusted gross income by increasing 401k contributions will result in a lower Expected Family Contribution from the FAFSA.

An overview of the three primary types of student loans including insights into which loans don’t require a co-signer.