The College Solutions Blog

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

Money
Featured image for “4 Favorite Tools to Cut College Costs”
May 15, 2015

4 Favorite Tools to Cut College Costs

I was amazed when I had roughly 950 people register to attend my two webinars this week. If you missed it, don’t worry, I am sharing a link to a recording of one of the webinars below. In the 70-minute webinar, I shared four of my favorite tools to cut the cost of college. Here are the tools that I...
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May 7, 2015

This Week: Learn 4 Ways to Cut College Costs

I am inviting you to attend my webinar on Tuesday or Thursday that will explain four ways that you can cut your college costs. For your convenience, I am offering two webinar dates: May 12 (Tuesday), 5:30 p.m. PDT   Register here. May 14 (Thursday), Noon PDT  Register here. Everyone who registers for one of the webinar dates will receive the...
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May 5, 2015

8 Weeks to Cut Your College Costs

If you’re like millions of other parents with teenagers, you are stressed about your child’s college choices and how you’re going to pay the tab. Beginning May 19, I will launch my next online course for parents that will teach you, step-by-step, how to become an incredibly smart college shopper in just eight weeks. Benefits of Taking the Course Taking...
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April 28, 2015

Your Crucial 1st Step Before Looking for Colleges

If paying for college is going to be a challenge, and it usually is, it’s important that you obtain your Expected Family Contribution before your begin looking at colleges with your teenagers. In fact, obtaining your EFC should be the FIRST STEP you take in the college process. Here is a quick rundown of what an EFC is, why it’s important, how...
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Featured image for “Appealing for a Better Merit Award”
April 2, 2015

Appealing for a Better Merit Award

I wrote this post last year, but it’s just as relevant today for families who are upset with puny merit awards. What happens with the merit scholarship that a student receives from a school is inadequate? Is it possible to extract more money from a college? I’ve been getting questions about this lately from parents who are disappointed by some...
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Featured image for “Deciphering Misleading Financial Aid Letters”
February 16, 2015

Deciphering Misleading Financial Aid Letters

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 receiving their financial aid letters,...
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Featured image for “Capture This $2,500 College Tax Credit”
February 4, 2015

Capture This $2,500 College Tax Credit

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 college. I felt even better...
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Featured image for “Let Lynn Teach You How to Cut the Cost of College”
January 22, 2015

Let Lynn Teach You How to Cut the Cost of College

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 you can learn much more...
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Featured image for “Answering Your FAFSA Questions”
January 12, 2015

Answering Your FAFSA Questions

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 recommend downloading an invaluable new...
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Featured image for “Stingy Catholic Universities”
January 5, 2015

Stingy Catholic Universities

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 Go Elsewhere The Time article...
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