Financial aid awards are often confusing. I believe many colleges and universities intentionally make financial aid awards hard to decipher to trick families into thinking that their institutions are being generous even when they aren’t. Obfuscation is an effective way to keep parents off balance. Since this is the time of year when students are […]
I’ve always dreaded tax season, but when I had children in college there was one aspect of this unwelcome ritual that I actually looked forward to every year. I loved claiming the American Opportunity Tax Credit, which allows qualified parents to knock up to $2,500 off their tax bill for each of their children in […]
Like millions of other parents, are you stressing about how exactly you are supposed to pay for college? I can help. Beginning on Feb. 10, I will be offering my online course for parents of teenagers that will focus on how you can cut your college costs. Course for Parents with Teenagers Here is where […]
Now that we’re officially into the 2015-2016 FAFSA season, I wanted to share some questions that I’ve gotten about financial aid forms via my blog and my popular online courses for professionals and for parents. If you have your own questions, please leave them in the comment box below. To avoid costly FAFSA mistakes, I’d […]
For families who struggle the most with college costs, some notable Catholic universities are among the nation’s stingiest. This has been one of my long-standing pet peeves so I was intrigued when I saw that Time magazine published the following article over the holidays that highlighted this discouraging reality: Catholic Colleges Tell Poor Kids to […]
Happy holidays everyone! While I’m spending Christmas with family in Colorado, I decided to share this post about avoiding mistakes when completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Parents can start filing the FAFSA beginning January 1. If you missed it, here is another post I shared about the FAFSA earlier this month: Getting […]
FAFSA season officially starts on Jan. 1, which is when students who will be attending college in 2015-2016 can begin completing this critical financial aid form. Families must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to qualify for need-based aid. The FAFSA is the federal financial aid form that roughly 20 million financial aid […]
If your child is in the midst of applying to colleges, do you have an excellent idea of what each school on your child’s list will cost you? If you don’t, I strongly suggest that you temporarily halt the admission process and find out. Traditionally, parents couldn’t know what any college was going to cost […]
