The College Solutions Blog

February 20, 2010

How do you ace a college interview? That’s what my son was wondering this weekend during his visit to Beloit College. About 130 high school seniors were on campus to compete for one of the school’s Presidential Scholarships, which are worth up to $68,000. Have fun and relax. That’s what everyone told the hopeful teenagers, who arrived from places as...

February 17, 2010

Recently I wrote posts that cautioned parents and students not to take on too much college debt. Why am I being a nag? College loan debt can be toxic. My Exhibit A is a family practitioner in Columbus, OH, Michelle Bisutte, who finished medical school with $250,000 in debt in 2003. Today her college loan levels have swelled to $555,000....

February 16, 2010

There’s been tons of media attention over the years on the best places to save for college. The 529 savings plan has grabbed the most attention. I’ve used 529 plans for both of my kids through Vanguard, but today, I want to suggest another potential way to save for college:  a Roth IRA for your child. A Roth IRA won’t...

February 15, 2010

How much is a college degree worth? Turns out that a bachelor’s degree might not be as valuable as you think. For years the College Board has suggested that a college graduate earns about $800,000 more over his or her lifetime than high school graduates. This earnings figure, however, is apparently way off. The real lifetime earnings advantage could be...

February 12, 2010

I wanted to follow up on yesterday’s post: How Much College Loan Debt Is Too Much? In that post I talked about what is an acceptable level of college loans that students should assume. That post prompted Stuart, a blog visitor, to ask me this question about PLUS loans: What about the parents? What is a reasonable amount of student...

February 11, 2010

The typical student graduates from college with $23,200 in college loan debt. That figure, which comes from a recent study from the Project on Student Debt, only includes student loan debt. The $23,200 tab does not include money that parents borrowed through the federal PLUS loan program, a home equity line of credit or by dipping into retirement accounts. Is...

February 9, 2010

What schools offer the best college financial aid? Last month, I wrote this post: 51 Colleges With the Best Student Financial Aid. Please take a look at the list because it includes schools with awesome financial aid policies that will reduce your stress about how you will pay for college. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Amherst College assembled...

February 8, 2010

During the past few days, I’ve sharing ACT and SAT test prep strategies to boost your teenager’s SAT or ACT scores.  You’ll find my final ACT and SAT tips below, along with links to the previous ACT and SAT test prep posts. SAT Testing Strategy: Use SAT Score Choice Until last year, students who took the SAT had to turn...

February 5, 2010

What if you make a mistake on the FAFSA form? I was asked about  FAFSA errors this week when I was in Florida giving speeches about college strategies. A man in the audience confided in me that he believed he had made a mistake on his FAFSA application. After listening to my presentation, the father of five children realized that...

February 4, 2010

This week I’m sharing SAT and ACT test prep strategies. You’ll find the links to all of them at the bottom of this post. Here goes my latest test prep tips: Strategy No. 6: Apply to SAT-Optional Schools If your teenager bombs on the SAT or the ACT test, don’t despair.  Plenty of schools don’t care if your child gets...