The College Solutions Blog

June 8, 2011

Many college seniors, who are graduating this month, probably thought this day would never arrive. I’m not talking about their graduation day. I’m referring to the time when they would have to start repaying their student loans. With the economy still in a funk and unemployment remaining high, this is a scary time to be contemplating all that student debt....

June 1, 2011

What is the best student loan? I got an email from a dad who was hoping to get the answer to that question. His son needs to borrow for the last year of college. That was an easy question to answer. The best education loan available is the federal Stafford Loan. There are two types of Stafford loans:  subsidized and...

April 13, 2011

How can reduce your dependence on college loans? Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of FinAid and FastWeb, sent me this article today that includes his suggestions on how families can reduce their dependence on college loans. I couldn’t resist adding some links to college blog posts that I’ve written on the same topics. Here is Mark’s advice: 1. Borrow less for...

April 12, 2011

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...

April 8, 2011

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...

March 30, 2011

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...

March 25, 2011

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. Today, I’m going to focus on  PLUS Loans and home equity lines. PLUS Loan For  parents, the federal government offers PLUS Loans. At first blush, the terms won’t look so...

March 22, 2011

It’s that time of year when parents, as well as new and returning college students, start thinking about college loans. Consequently, today I want to answer a few questions about Stafford Loans, which are the most popular federal student loans. Here are the questions: Question No. 1: Are there different kinds of Stafford Loans?   Yes. There are unsubsidized Stafford...

February 8, 2011

I’m resurrecting a college blog post that I wrote last spring because it’s going to be timely again when high school seniors begin getting their acceptance letters. We are approaching the time of year when parents agonize about sending their children off to expensive colleges and universities even if they can’t afford the price tag. When acceptances arrive, common sense...

January 13, 2011

Do you have financial aid questions? If you do, head over to the college blog at The New York Times. This week Mark Kantrowitz, a financial aid guru and the publisher of FinAid and FastWeb, is answering people’s questions about financial aid. So far, Kantrowitz  has answered three rounds of questions that you can read here: Part 1: Answers to...