The College Solutions Blog

May 25, 2021

One of the biggest questions that parents with college-bound children puzzle with is if their child has a chance for financial aid. The first step that you should take when grappling with this issue is to obtain your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). You should do this before seriously exploring your teenager’s college options. This is more confusing than you might...

January 13, 2020

Financial aid awards are often confusing. Plenty of 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 from effectively evaluating a financial aid award. Since we are in the season of financial aid letters, I...

August 9, 2018

One of the biggest questions that parents with college-bound children puzzle with is if their child has a chance for financial aid. This is more confusing than you might think because at some schools a family could qualify for need-based aid if they make $200,000 a year and at another school, the ceiling for aid could be $70,000 or much...

April 11, 2017

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 we are heading into the season when students will be receiving their financial aid...

July 28, 2016

One of the biggest questions that parents with college-bound children puzzle with is if their child has a chance for financial aid. This is more confusing than you might think because at some schools a family could qualify for need-based aid if they make $200,000 a year and at another school, the ceiling for aid could be $70,000. The first...

January 31, 2016

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 we are heading into the season when students will be receiving their financial aid...

January 10, 2016

This is the time of year when people are filing for financial aid. In this post, I’m sharing a few of the questions that I’ve gotten about applying for aid. What financial aid applications do my husband and I have to fill out if we want financial aid for our child? All colleges require parents to file the Free Application...

September 14, 2015

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...

March 3, 2014

Today I’m sharing an article that Stephanie Hancock, CFP, who is a financial aid expert at College Aid Consulting in Los Angeles, wrote about the potential dangers of  using life insurance to hide assets. What families, who are eager to qualify for more financial aid, don’t understand is that insurance agents, who are suggesting this move, are almost always doing...

October 4, 2013

Do you know what your Expected Family Contribution is? If you don’t, you should make it a priority to obtain this number. I’d argue that families need to know what their preliminary EFC is long before they begin looking at colleges. Unfortunately, most families don’t have a clue about what their EFC is until their children are seniors in high...