January 26, 2006 Many divorced parents get confused about how their child’s financial aid will be evaluated. The main thing you need to know is that the “custodial parent” will be the one to fill out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form. The US Government determines a “custodial parent” as the parent with whom the child has lived with most during the past year. If your child has spent equal time with both parents in the past year then the custodial parent is the parent who provided the most financial support in the past year. An easy way to determine this factor is to identify which parent claims their child as a dependent on his/her tax return. It is important to note that the above information applies to public colleges and Unive...

January 25, 2006 The Academic Common Market is an organization that sets up exchange programs for students between a league of mutually recognized states. Students who are planning on studying a subject that is not offered by their state school may attend an out of state school for in state tuition. The school must already have an exchange program set up with your state. Not every state participates in this program and as stated earlier the academic program the student wishes to study must NOT be offered by the student’s state schools. The Academic Common Market is not commonly publicized and will require some research. You can try doing a Google search by typing in your state and the words: academic, common, market. Most high school guidance counselors and college financial ...

January 24, 2006 The Coverdell Education Savings: This type of college savings plan can be applied to more than college. A Coverdell Education Savings Account can be used as savings for elementary through high school education as well as college. Parents or students may contribute up to $2,000 a year tax-free. A few stipulations are that single parents may not earn more than $110,000 and parents filing joint taxes cannot have their adjusted income be more than $220,000. Any balance unused can be transferred to a sibling or another family member without penalty. As long as the money is used for education purposes (tuition, books, fees etc.) the money will not be taxed. The Hope and Lifetime Earning Credits can be used in the same year by the beneficiary of the Coverdell account as long ...

January 20, 2006 The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) sent out a press release today calling for their members to act! Simply put the Budget Reconciliation Act of 2005 takes too much money away from student loans causing a substantial financial increase on students and families. Luckily Senators that opposed this legislation were able to call for parliamentary procedures that made it necessary for the House to vote again on S. Bill 1932. That is why it is imperative to call or email your State’s Representatives before the House votes on Feb. 1, 2006. You can find contact information for your representative by visiting the U.S. House of Representatives website. If you would like to know how your representative voted on the Budget Reconciliat...

January 19, 2006 If you’ve searched the mainstream college scholarships and come up with nothing, don’t lose hope. There are plenty of alternative or just plain weird scholarships out there. For instance, there’s the Zolp Scholarship. To be eligible for this scholarship you need to be 1.) Catholic 2.) Attending the Loyola University in Chicago and 3.) Have a last name of Zolp. Okay, this scholarship is a little more specific than most but someone out there fits the criteria and it could be you! Look at all the many diverse attributes that you may have in your background or evaluate the special talents you may have. There is a way to find these scholarships. One important tip to remember if you use are doing a search with Google is remember to be as detailed as possibl...

January 18, 2005 The Budget Reconciliation Act of 2005 is casting some big waves in the world of financial aid. The 2006 academic year will have a shrinking pool of federal financial aid due to the cuts this piece of legislation has made. In addition the 2006-2007 academic year will bring with it the most students to ever attend college in the history of our nation. The lesson to be learned from all of this is to apply as soon as possible for financial aid! The actual deadline for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is not officially due until July 2, 2007. However, if you wait this long your chances of obtaining federal aid could be very poor. The FAFSA is the only way you can qualify for federal aid and Pell Grants. More than 80% of students fill out the FAFSA...

January 17, 2006 The latest session of the Senate approved the Budget Reconciliation Act of 2005, S. Bill 1932. The House is expected to approve the bill later this month. All of this fancy political jargon spells bad news for students who are in need of financial aid. In a nutshell this legislation would cut over $41 billion dollars of federal financial aid over the next five years. If you are currently seeking financial aid you must know that the timing couldn’t be worse. College tuition is the highest it has ever been in history and is expected to rise. The following points are the key pieces of the legislation that effect financial aid begining July 2006: Stafford Loans will be increased from a 4.7% to to a 6.8% fixed rate PLUS (Parent Loans for Undergraduate Students) wi...

It’s never too early to start planning for how you are going to pay for your child’s college education. Saving for college is critical. Public Universities raised the tuition for the 2005-06 academic year more than 7%! It’s scary to imagine what that cost might be eighteen years from now. If you have just had a baby or plan to have one very soon here are a few thoughts you might want to consider. Even if your child is older these ideas should help you plan for your child’s education. Make sure you start sorting out your finances now. If you have a lot of debt (maybe from your own college loans) make sure and keep paying them off. Investing in paying off your debts is one of the best financial investments you can make. Along that same line, try not to go de...

You may already be overwhelmed by undergraduate school loans to the point that you don’t even want to think about graduate school but finding aid for graduate school can be done! How much financial aid will largely depend on what field you are going into. For instance, there are more assistantships and fellowships available to students who are pursuing a post secondary degree in math, engineering and the sciences. There tends to be more Federal and private grants and scholarships offered in these fields as well. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be aid available in other forms for all other fields of academic pursuit. The Assitantship or Fellowship Route: An assistantship is usually offered by academic departments and is basically a swap of teaching for tuition and/or...

When it comes to student financial aid it helps to know every avenue that leads to gaining money for your college education. Below we have comprised some helpful tips that may assist you secure the financial aid you need. Target the High Dollar Private Colleges Applying for financial aid at a pricey college or university may not seem realistic BUT the expensive private colleges often grant more financial aid. These schools have to offer a good deal of financial aid to gain diversification among their students. Therefore the EFC (Expected Family Contribution) for these schools may end up being less than what it might be at a large public university. Not only could you end up gaining more financial aid but you could also end up receiving a top- notch education. There is a lot to gain...