The College Solutions Blog

Valuable insights from Lynn O’Shaughnessy
a nationally recognized college expert.

Financial aid

The True Cost of a Borrowing for College

Most families haven’t saved enough to pay the full college tab, which can lead to some uncomfortable conversations about how much college debt parents should assume versus their children. It can be hard, however, to get a true picture of how onerous that debt will be for parents and their children in the future. There is a free online tool...

When You Don’t Have Enough Money for College

I’ve had a lot of parents asking me lately about whether they should give the green light to their children, who have been accepted into expensive schools without enough financial aid. In response, I want to share a cautionary post that I wrote for my other college blog over at CBS MoneyWatch. Here is part of that post: Here is...

Financial Aid and Divorce

In the financial aid process, many schools treat students with divorced parents differently. As someone who has been married for more than 26 years, I don’t think this is always fair, but it’s the reality. Today I’m going to illustrate how schools can treat families of divorce differently by using the story of a girl, who I’ll call Sophia. Sophia...

5 Ways to Increase Your Financial Aid Award

Note: Yesterday I promised that I’d share this post that I wrote last year when my son, who is currently finishing up his freshman year in college, was awaiting his financial aid awards. It’s a timely subject since so many families are routinely disappointed at the financial aid awards they are receiving. Student aid letters are hitting mailboxes across the...

Getting Your Financial Aid Award Verdict

I’ve been hearing from parents of high school seniors lately who are either elated by their financial aid awards or utterly depressed. Here are some examples: A dear friend of mine is thrilled because her son Geoffrey received a very large need-based aid package to Macalester College, which is where he is heading in the fall. (Gosh, I just love...

Answering College Questions

Today I wanted to share with you a Q&A about college issues that I did with a well-respected financial advisory firm in St. Louis, which is my home town. The firm’s director of communications interviewed me and published the answers this month in the firm’s client newsletter. I thought you might appreciate seeing what I said: Q: What prompted you...

Making Our Last College Payment!

My husband and I reached a milestone yesterday. We made our last payment for our daughter’s bachelors degree. Caitlin is graduating from Juniata College in May and we’ve managed to pay for her degree — she double majored in business and Spanish — without taking out loans. I should have bought a bottle of champagne to celebrate, but my husband...

The Real Cost of Attending an Expensive East Coast University

Yesterday I wrote about college coop programs that link students up with jobs while they are still students. Here is the post: Do You Need a Coop Program To Get a Job? What I am far more interested in sharing is what these and other private universities, many of which are located on the East Coast, cost. I’m going to...

Deciphering a Financial Aid Package, Part 2

In my last post, I explained what kind of federal financial assistance you might find in a financial aid award. Here it is: Deciperhing a Financial Aid Package Today, I’m going to cover the types of college grants that parents typically find in a student financial aid letter. College Grants Many families believe that the biggest source of cash is...

Deciphering a Financial Aid Package

It’s the college financial aid season. Some parents are still struggling to complete their financial aid application, while others are receiving their financial aid packages in the mail. Once you receive a financial aid award, the challenge is to decipher it. I’m going to help you master these financial aid letters by looking at the scholarships, grants and loans you’ll...