Category Archives: financial aid

financial aid, Scholarship Friday, scholarships

What Are the Odds of Winning a Scholarship?

winning a scholarship

Over 1.7 million scholarships are awarded annually; however, only 7% of college students will receive a scholarship. On average, first-time undergraduates who receive government grants and scholarships at a 4-year college receive about $14,890 annually. On average, a student who receives a scholarship or grant at a private 4-year college will receive $8,005 more than a student in a public 4-year college.

That sounds depressing and you might ask what are my odds of winning a scholarship, but all hope is not lost. Many students and their families have applied for scholarships and used them to pay for college. But, you need to know the facts.

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college costs, financial aid, Student debt, Uncategorized

Borrowing More for College Than You Can Repay

borrowing

I have had some serious conversations recently with a parent and student who applied to college, was accepted, and was shocked at the cost. The parent didn’t want to disappoint her daughter. The daughter wanted desperately to go to an out of state college that would cost over $50,000 per year with no financial aid.

After speaking with the daughter at length, she decided to defer for a year, work, save her money and apply for scholarships. Taking out loan was not appealing to either of them and I completely agreed.

Parents and students should consider college funding even before their student applies to college. The inevitable result is the parents and students borrowing to pay and usually borrowing more than they can repay after graduation.

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admissions, careers, college books, college guidance, college planning, college prep, college visits, community service, essays, FAFSA, financial aid, financial planning, high school, mom approved tips, parenting, podcasts, scholarships, social networks, standardized tests, student loans, study abroad, test prep, websites

100+ College Prep Resources

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college prep resources

It’s exhausting searching and scouring the internet for the right information when it comes to helping your student prepare for college. But what if you could use ONLY ONE RESOURCE and find everything you ever wanted to know about college prep? Wouldn’t that be amazing?

Here it is. I’ve done the research, examined the links and their resources, and compiled a list of 100+ college prep resources for you. (If you know of others, please leave them in the comments and I will add them to the list!)

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admissions, college guidance, financial aid, financial planning, parenting

Southern Truisms for the College Admissions Process

southern truisms

I’ll admit (willingly) that I like to offer my unsolicited advice to my children, often in the form of southern truisms (I grew up in the south and was raised by a family of southerners). Even though they are grown, I feel the need to continue to parent. As they did when they were younger, they smile, listen, and then do things their own way. It’s a type of dance parents and kids do with one another.

The hardest part of the college admissions process for a parent is finding a balance in your parenting. You want to encourage them, guide them and help them make the right choices. But when you push too hard, nag and set guidelines that interfere with their independence and individual choices you create a stressful and frustrating college preparation experience. This is a monumental step in your child’s life and you don’t want to taint it with fighting, frustration and family discourse.

Following are 5 tips for parents of college-bound teens (based around good old southern truisms) to keep peace in the home and reduce the stress related to the college admissions process:

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admissions, financial aid, financial planning, parenting, work study

Different Types of Financial Aid

types of financial aid

Those two little words — “financial aid” — can be music to a parent’s ears. I know they were to me!

What I didn’t know as I began the college application process with my daughter was that there are a number of different types of aid available. Not only that, but the awards colleges offer when they offer admission can vary tremendously.

I was surprised to find that many private colleges can be generous with merit aid because they have institutional funds to distribute as well as federal dollars, while public universities with tight budgets may offer less aid. This can result in a private college with a higher “sticker price” costing less to attend than a public university.

Back to the example of my daughter, who applied to a mix of public and private universities. We knew we would need help financing her education, so when she applied to college she also applied for financial aid and we completed two online forms: the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE (administered by the College Board and required by many private schools and some flagship state universities).

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admissions, college costs, financial aid

Breaking Down the Award Letters

award letters

It’s a joyful day for your high school senior when an offer of college admission arrives, and the joy is magnified by a financial aid award.

Award letters arrive along with (or soon after) acceptance letters. I remember the first time I saw one, my daughter’s senior year. Quite honestly, it was Greek to me.

How were we supposed to compare the offers? The letters included the same basic categories — loans, work-study, grants and scholarships — but without understanding what each category meant it was hard to tell whether or not the college was meeting all of our financial need (Total Cost of Attendance minus our Expected Family Contribution, or EFC). Every college was different and every award letter was different!

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admissions, financial aid, financial planning, scholarships

6 Ways to Search for College Scholarships

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college scholarships

For college-bound students, scholarships can fill in the gap between what you can afford and the cost of the school. Most students believe college scholarships are a pipe dream if they aren’t athletes or 4.0 students. But nothing could be further from the truth. There are thousands of scholarships available for the taking. You just need to find them.

There are six key places to look. But remember: Finding them is half the battle. You have to put in the effort to apply and be vigilant in paying attention to requirements and deadlines.

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FAFSA, financial aid, financial planning, parenting

10 Reasons to Complete the FAFSA

complete the fafsa

The FAFSA for the 2022-23 school year will be available on October 1. The earlier you file, the better your chances of getting some of the money colleges allocate for financial aid. In order to help parents understand the FAFSA and answer some of your questions, this week is FAFSA week.

According to a new SallieMae study, 70% of families reported submitting the FAFSA for AY 2021–22. This figure represents the first time in four years that FAFSA submission rates did not decline-last year it was 68%. Low- and middle-income families submitted the FAFSA® at a higher rate than their higher-income counterparts.

Many families believe their income is too high to submit the FAFSA. Most families who didn’t file the FAFSA® said it was because they believed their income was too high (36%). While families earning more than $150,000 annually were most likely to select this reason (74%), 26% of families making less than $150,000 also believed their income is too high to qualify for aid.

Here are the other reasons for not submitting the FAFSA:

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FAFSA, financial aid, financial planning, parenting

Just for Parents: Understanding the FAFSA

understanding the fafsa

For many parents, understanding the FAFSA can be complicated. It’s not meant to be, but as with all government forms, it can be daunting.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form is the student’s responsibility, but when a student is considered a dependent student for FAFSA purposes, parents have a large role in the application process. Educate yourself about the process and opportunities so you can provide the guidance your child needs to do their part. 

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