Good news – your student got accepted at a great college – yay! Bad news – you just took a look at the financial aid offer and checked it against your bank account – yikes! Now what? College application time is stressful for parents and students, but...
As we move towards the end of December, many students anxiously start waiting for answers on their early decision or early action college applications. For some students the news may be very good, and they will receive an acceptance with a substantial financial aid offer....
Once you submit your FAFSA, the next step is receiving a Student Aid Report, or SAR. If your application is complete and fully processed, an EFC (Expected Family Contribution) will display in the upper right-hand corner on the first page of your SAR. On the...
Just as you think you are getting closer to the end of the financial aid process, you find out there is yet another step. This time you receive something called a Student Aid Report, or SAR. The document comes from the Department of Education, and...
Many people take a trust-but-verify approach to life. They believe in others, and want to trust them, but also take the time to check their information, so they can make better decisions. The same can be said of the college financial aid verification process. After...
Sometimes even the best ideas need a little tweaking. Such is the case with the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The intent of this program was to motivate public service for college graduates by promising to forgive federal student loans after a certain...
Once students and parents finish completing the FAFSA and completing the CSS Profile for the 2022-23 academic year, the next step in the process is that your financial information is forwarded to each of the colleges on your list. The financial aid administrators then review...
Applying to college can be a fraught process, with most of the attention focused on writing essays or completing the application in the most impressive way possible. In partnership with this, students and parents usually begin to concentrate on completing the FAFSA and completing the...
Most of the information I provide in my blogs is focused on completing the FAFSA. But there are other types of applications which are used by colleges to determine financial aid eligibility. One of these is the CSS Profile. Put out by College Board, the...
The FAFSA for the 2022-23 academic year will be available online beginning October 1, 2021. Since this application is required to determine eligibility for federal, state and institutional financial aid, it is important to complete it correctly. Here is a look at some of the...
