The College Solutions Blog

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

Money

Cushy Student Loan Repayment Plan: Will It Boost College Costs for Everyone Else?

Is a generous federal loan repayment program that Congress recently made even better going to increase the cost of college for everybody? It’s an interesting question that’s being posed by Daniel L. Bennett, who is a research and policy analyst at the Center for College Affordability and Productivity. In a Forbes article, Bennett argues that the federal student loan repayment...

Check Out College, Inc., Tonight on PBS

I’m going to veg out on my couch tonight and watch College, Inc., on my PBS station. College, Inc., is a FRONTLINE production that explores the explosive and controversial growth of the for-profit higher education industry. One of the universities profiled in this investigation is the University of Phoenix, which is a darling of Wall Street. University of Phoenix is...

Private School Loans: 6 Tips to Pick the Right Loan

If you need a private school loan, here are some final suggestions as I wrap up a week of blogging about college loans: 1. First, read this week’s posts on student and parent loans: 5 Things You Need to Know About Private School Loans College Loans: When Parents Need to Borrow 4 Things You Need to Know About Federal Student...

5 Things You Need to Know About Private School Loans

Earlier this week, I talked with Tim Ranzetta, a national expert on college loans and the founder of Student Lending Analytics. Today, I wanted to share some of his advice about private school loans that can save you money! Here are some things that you absolutely need to know about private school loans: 1. Students should max out their federal...

College Loans: When Parents Need to Borrow

Are you a parent looking for a college loan? Most of the press attention is focused on college loans that students take out, but there are parent loans as well. In case you missed them, I wrote about federal student loans in my last two college blog posts: 4 Things You Need to Know About Federal Student Loans Federal Student...

4 Things You Need to Know About Federal Student Loans

It’s that time of year when parents and students are thinking about college loans. A few days ago, I wrote a college blog post that answered this question: Federal Student Loans: Where Do I Apply? Today, I want to answer three questions about Stafford Loans, which are the most popular federal student loans. Here’s the first question: Question No. 1:...

Federal Student Loans: Where Do I Apply?

Federal student loans are going to be a reality for most college students whether they will be freshmen in the fall or returning students. I’ve started getting questions about student loans from my college blog visitors so I’m going to start tackling them periodically. Here is the first student loan question in the queue: 1. Where do I apply for...

Financial Advice for College Graduates: 6 Financial Tips

I banged out an email full of financial advice this week to a soon-to-be college graduate, who luckily has already lined up a job. She wanted to know if she should start saving for retirement as soon as she graduates. Here’s what I told her: Absolutely! I was thrilled that this young woman was already thinking about retirement. As a...

College Costs: Don't Believe the Sticker Price

College costs for many students attending private schools are shrinking. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. That’s because what counts is not the sticker price, but a family’s “net” college costs. What do parents and students really pay after they receive financial aid and scholarships? At private colleges, only about 18% of families pay the sticker price. A new survey by...

College Scholarships: Can I Ask for More?

I heard this week from the mother of a college freshman at a private college in Texas, who posed this question: Is there any possibility of the school renegotiating my son’s scholarship if we made less money in 2009? Do most schools give money on a year-to-year basis? Let me explain why the answer to both questions is yes. First...