Recent guidance from the Department of Education includes an actual date for the FAFSA and a welcome change to 529s in the formula.

I’ve spent a big chunk of this fall speaking to a variety of groups about college planning. Here are the most important pieces of the plan.

Changes to the FAFSA have many families worried that they’re going to have to pay more for college. Is that true?

You’re probably asking about size, major and location. What else should you ask about?

I write a lot about the FAFSA, but there’s a second financial aid form that’s also important: the CSS Profile. While all schools use the FAFSA to allocate federal funds such as Direct Student Loans, a subset of schools– primarily private schools– use the CSS Profile in their financial aid calculations. There are a few key differences between the two forms.

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.

College provides a lot of economic benefits— better wages and lower unemployment rates at the top of the list. But does college make you a better person, too? Survey says Yes!

Want to know how the proverbial sausage gets made? Here’s a deep dive into the FAFSA’s formula for calculating Student Aid Index.

Got a soon-to-be college student? Louis E. Newman, former dean of academic advising at Stanford and professor at Carleton College, shares strategies and tactics to get the most out of your college experience, from making friends to adjusting to college academics and engaging with faculty.

As expensive as college is, it’s normal to wonder if it’s worth it. The answer: Yes it is.

Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday that they were learning to walk, and now my kids are graduating from college?!?

Rising interest rates have resulted in increases in student loan interest rates for the coming year.

Dream school didn’t come through? Plenty of colleges are still accepting applications.

FAFSA Simplification is changing many elements that contribute to the Student Aid Index.

FAFSA Simplification is coming this year. Last week the Department of Education announced that this year’s FAFSA will come out in December. But that’s not all!