The College Solutions Blog

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

Student Loans

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...

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...

Student Aid: 5 Ways to Negotiate for More Financial Aid

Student aid letters are hitting mailboxes across the country this month. My son has been getting these financial aid letters and so have millions of other families. All this mail inevitably leads to a question that’s on many parents’ minds: If you are distressed with the dollar amount in a student aid letter, is it possible to negotiate for more...

Federal Student Loan Reform: Biggest in a Generation

Congress is on the verge of enacting the biggest federal student loan reform in a generation. I’ve been following the high-stakes fight on Capitol Hill between the student lending giants and the Obama administration for some time, but I didn’t feel compelled to share the news until the legislation looked like a sure thing. The Democrats have tucked the federal...

Financial Aid Award: What to Do When You Need More

Can you get a better financial aid award if you are laid off from your job? That’s the question that many parents, including my sister Julie and brother-in-law Mike are grappling with right now. Last night, I got a call from Mike, who recently received a financial aid award letter from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, where my niece Molly...

Why You Shouldn't Apply to a Reach School

In my last post on deciphering financial aid letters, I focused on college grants. Grants are the best kind of aid that you can snag in a financial aid letter because these awards don’t have to be repaid. College Grants: Decoding a Financial Aid Letter Part II My son has been receiving financial aid awards from colleges during the last...