The College Solutions Blog

January 15, 2010

I periodically get emails from teenagers, who are freaking out because their parents plan to contribute little if anything to their college education. Many of these kids are from affluent families, who could afford to kick in far more than they are planning. I don’t understand parents with good paying jobs who have no problem dumping the entire college expense...

January 14, 2010

Close to one out of every three students who attend a state flagship university is affluent. Specifically, 30% of students at flagship universities have parents with incomes in the top 20% of all American households. This is just one of the findings of a new study released this week by The Education Trust, which is a nonprofit that promotes education...

January 12, 2010

Need help completing the FAFSA, otherwise known as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid? I can sympathize with you. I’m filing out the FAFSA application myself this year and some of the schools that my son Ben is applying to have financial aid deadlines as early as Feb. 1. If you’re struggling with the FAFSA form or CSS/Financial Aid...

January 11, 2010

Want to research colleges, but not sure where to start? It’s no surprise. When I just typed “college” into Google, I got 634 million college websites. To make your job easier, I’m sharing wonderful websites that can help you assemble a great list of colleges. If you want to research specific colleges, here are my Top 10  College Websites: College...

January 9, 2010

15 Best and Worst Jobs In America In my most popular college blog post on CBSMoneyWatch this week, I wrote about a list of the 200 best and worst jobs based on much more than pay. When you see lists of the best and worst jobs in America, the creators are usually focusing on salaries. CareerCast.com developed the list based...

January 8, 2010

Yesterday I wrote this provocative post: Why High School Counselors Don’t Know Much About College.  Today I wanted to follow up with 10 things that the typical high school counselors doesn’t know. Here goes: 1. There are roughly 50 colleges and universities in the country that are no-loan schools, which means they meet a student’s financial aid need with grants...

January 7, 2010

Is your teenager’s high school counselor an expert on college? Probably not. In fact, the odds are high that your counselor’s knowledge about college admission strategies, standardized testing and scholarships is limited.  Ironically during this period of skyrocketing college costs, financial aid is often the subject that high school counselors know the least about. Many high school counselors are unfortunately...

January 6, 2010

If you plan to apply to college as a “stealth candidate” listen up. Stealth candidates are teenagers who never contact a college before sending in their application. Stealth college applications used to be rare.  Most teenagers contact colleges through traditional means such as requesting materials, talking to admission counselors at college fairs and visiting schools. Today, however, teenagers can learn...

January 5, 2010

For  some parents, the FAFSA form has gotten simpler. And you can thank the Internal Revenue Service for that. Families which complete the online application for the spring 2010 semester will be able to push a button and import their IRS tax figures right into their Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Thanks to the IRS’s involvement, parents won’t have...

January 4, 2010

I wanted to share with you an email that I received last night from a high school freshman, who spent her Christmas break stressing out: Dear Lynn, I am a freshman in high school, and I am enrolled in all advanced placement classes. For the first marking period, I received all B’s and one A+. My second marking period grades...