The College Solutions Blog

September 29, 2014

State aid represents nine percent of the college money awarded in this country. Almost every state education agency has at least one grant or scholarship program available to residents and many have a long list of state aid possibilities, which can create confusion for families. While there are some exceptions, eligibility for these state programs is usually restricted to state...

September 29, 2014

The federal government represents the largest percentage of college grants. Forty-four percent of grants come from the federal government. Federal money for undergraduates is dispensed to those who have shown they need financial help to attend college. Pell Grants The vast majority of this federal money is awarded through the Pell Grant program. The maximum Pell Grant award for the...

September 29, 2014

http://youtu.be/FJ8IO0-c9E8 In this video, you will learn about the four main sources of college money. Before you can shrink college costs, you need to know what the major sources of college money are for undergraduates and whether your child has a chance to qualify for this money. Here are the four main sources of scholarships and grants and a recent...

September 29, 2014

It’s always wonderful when grandparents can help with college costs. Grandparents, however, have to be careful about how they pitch in if their grandchildren have a shot at receiving need-based financial aid. Friends of mine experienced first hand how grandparent generosity can backfire. Their story is an extreme example, but there are lessons here for other families as well. When the...

September 29, 2014

In this video, I interviewed Paula Bishop, a CPA in Bellevue, WA and national financial aid expert, about how divorce and separation impact financial aid. Once you’ve seen the video, click the link below to see how the rules regarding divorce and financial aid played out for a California family that did not approach the college search strategically. And then read the...

September 29, 2014

Conventional wisdom suggests that a family’s assets will always jeopardize a student’s chances for financial aid. That is just plain wrong. Mark Kantrowitz, one of the nation’s most respected financial aid experts, has estimated that only seven percent of families who file for financial aid see their aid eligibility decline because of their investment assets. The reason why relatively few...

September 29, 2014

The CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE is the College Board’s financial aid application that 229 mostly private colleges and universities use for their undergraduate admissions. The following state institutions also require families to submit the PROFILE: College of William and Mary Georgia Institute of Technology University of Michigan, Ann Arbor University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill University of Virginia, Charlottesville Here is the list...

September 29, 2014

I wish that I could reassure you that completing the FAFSA is easy, but it won’t be for many parents. Even more disconcerting is that parents make mistakes all the time and don’t even realize it. Some of the mistakes in this lesson may seem obvious, but others will probably surprise you.  Here are common FAFSA mistakes to avoid: 1....

September 29, 2014

Here are resources that can help you complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA): 1. Use FAFSA on the Web. The federal government can help with questions about the FAFSA, which families must complete to be eligible for need-based aid and federal college loans. The FAFSA hotline number is (800) 433-3243. You can also obtain help via email. When you are working on...

September 29, 2014

In this lesson, I’m focusing on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) because families, regardless of the type of school their children want to attend, must complete this application to qualify for need-based aid and to take out federal loans. The FAFSA is the federal financial aid form that roughly 20 million financial aid applicants complete every year. Here is...