The College Solutions Blog

January 1, 2010

Happy New Year. I want to usher in 2010 by sharing 10 of my college blog posts from last year that I think will help you: Cut the cost of college. Find scholarships. Snag better financial aid packages. Locate great schools. Cutting the cost of college with better grades How to Negotiate for a Better Financial Aid Package Will Saving...

December 1, 2009

Will colleges hand out more college scholarships and financial aid for the latest crop of high school seniors? Last year private colleges and universities, in particular, dug deeper and increased the amount of money they awarded through college financial aid and merit scholarships. Last time I checked, the financial misery index is still alarming, but colleges might not be as...

November 20, 2009

Most families do not pay the sticker price for college.  In fact, most parents pay far below the published tuition. About two out of three full-time college students receive grants, otherwise known as scholarships, to attend school. If you just look at private institutions, the number who receive college scholarships is a whopping 80%. I obtained those figures by reading...

September 7, 2009

In the last few days, I’ve been working on an assignment about college rankings — when it’s published I’ll be sure to link to the article. Today, however, I thought I’d provide links to some helpful college lists courtesy of US News & World Report. Colleges Giving the Most Merit Scholarships One question that I get asked frequently is which...

August 29, 2009

I want to welcome all my new visitors today, who discovered my blog thanks to the radio show that was broadcast this morning around the country. If you’ve got teenagers and you’re stressing about college, my blog should be a huge help.  You’ll find some of the best stuff in my college blog’s archives. Here are sections of the archives...

August 3, 2009

Merit scholarships have always been controversial in higher-ed circles because many of these awards end up going to rich kids. A study just released by the Cornell Higher Education Research Institute suggests that college scholarship practices have led to lower numbers of minority and lower-income students on campuses. This finding would refute the argument that many college administrators make that...

July 27, 2009

I’m taking some time off from my college blog this week and a friend, Ruth McKinnie Braun, who is the creator of the great website: SuchASmartMom.com offered to pitch in and provide this post. Hope you enjoy it….. Summer is the perfect time for low-key college planning. Setting aside time for exploring college options without the pressure of homework, tests...

September 6, 2008

I read a story in the Wall Street Journal yesterday about the flood of students from the Northeast who have been heading west to attend Indiana University. Among Indiana’s newest crop of freshmen, there are roughly 260 kids from the New York City area alone. With the snootiest schools on the East Coast continuing to reject nearly all comers, more...

June 26, 2008

Traditionally college and universities reserved their academic scholarships for a handful of their brightest applicants. But today, schools are handing out merit awards to far more students. At plenty of schools, even teenagers with “B” averages can cash in on this scholarship bonanza. These academic prizes are definitely worth pursuing. The average private school, for instance, is awarding academic scholarships...

October 6, 2007

Last week I talked about how it’s important to determine whether your family will qualify for financial aid or not before you embark on that great college odessey. Once you’ve got a pretty good idea of where you stand on that score, you’ll want to look for schools that are either generous with financial aid, merit aid or both. A...