June 16, 2008 by Mara Strom If you need financial aid for the 2008-2009 school year, then heads up: You’ve got two weeks from today to complete your FAFSA. FAFSA stands for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and it tells you and your school how much — and what kind of — federal financial aid you’re eligible for. Plus, a lot of private scholarships that include “financial need” as one of their eligibility requirements will want to see it, too. The FAFSA can be completed on-line and the filing deadline for next year is midnight Central Daylight time on June 30. If you’re looking for tips on filing out your FAFSA, we posted some great ones here. You’ll also want to check out the FAFSA site for a list of all the documents you need to c...

June 8, 2008 by Mara Strom Unless your last name is Rockefeller, you’ll need to think long and hard about the expense of your college education. Even though more than 90% of college grads say their degree was “worth it,” the cost can still be staggering. If you’re in college — or planning to attend — here are five online calculators that can help you get a handle on your higher education finances. #1. Budget Calculator You got into the college of your dreams! Congratulations! But… can you afford it? The first step to figuring out whether Dream U is in the cards is to determine your total college-related expenses and estimate your (and your parents) available income to cover those expenses. This handy budget calculator from the U.S. Department of E...

Every year, the federal government spends more than $86 billion to help young people go to college. As the single largest provider of student aid in the world, the US federal government offers grants, fellowships, loans and work study programs. Your key to this massive treasure chest is the FAFSA, otherwise known as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The application, which can be filled out on paper or on-line, calculates your family’s ability to pay for your college degree. Calculations are based on income, assets and other factors, such as the number of additional dependents in college. The FAFSA is used not only by the federal government to determine your aid eligibility, but also by your college or university to allocate its own scholarships, plus state and private a...

At senior high schools around the country, the financial aid night has become a common fall event. With financial aid becoming more complex, many high school counseling offices are wisely choosing to invite the experts in to discuss the details of applying for and accepting financial aid. One thing to remember is that if your high school does not offer such an event, you can most likely invite yourself to another local high school’s financial aid night. The information should be as relevant to you as if it were given to you by your own high school. A good financial aid presentation should go over the basic application process including the FAFSA on the web application. This is the critical piece of information but not the only information you need. Other topics that may be covere...

Since 2006, the ACG Grant (Academic Competitiveness Grant) and the SMART Grant (National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant), have been available to Pell eligible students who meet certain additional criteria. As these new federal grant programs begin to unfold, continued guidance from the Department of Education have clarified certain requirements for eligibility. ACG students must be Pell eligible per the FAFSA application and have completed a ‘rigorous secondary school program”. This requirement has been defined in recent weeks to include three different options. The criteria can be met by 1) Completing a Secretary of Education’s Recognized Program, 2) Passing 2 AP courses with an AP test score of at least 3, or 2 IB courses with an IB test score...

The EFC, or Expected Family Contribution, is the cornerstone of the financial aid awarding process. For federal aid eligibility, your EFC will be determined from your FAFSA application. If you are not aware of the questions that affect your EFC, you may inadvertently make an error on your FAFSA that could have a serious impact on you child’s award package. Briefly, both the parent’s and student’s income and assets impact the EFC. Careful attention to these questions is vital. Two other questions that have a major affect on the EFC are the family size and number in college questions. A family with two children in college will have half the parent contribution of the same family with one child in college. The EFC calculation, which is the result of Congressional action,...

It has been a long standing tradition in the military community to support a veteran’s longing for higher education. The Montgomery GI Bill that sent many a World War II veteran through school at little to no cost is still alive and well, but bears only a slight resemblance to its former self. These days, with a plethora of federal, state and institutional funds available to veterans through the FAFSA and other applications, veterans can get the sense that money abounds for their college costs. And while this may be true for veterans more than any other group of students, it can also be misleading. The Veteran’s Administration manages several different educational benefits programs. They include the well known Montgomery GI Bill, or Chapter 30 program. The REAP program was ...

Student Financial Aid Resources and the Internet – A few caveats about internet use can reduce your risk of falling victim to identity theft or scholarship fraud. What every student should know. There are a plethora of internet sites touting their financial aid prowess. As in all things related to internet usage, seeking financial aid information and advice via the internet required a critical eye. One enormous red flag is a request for payment for filing your FAFSA for you, or for providing you with scholarship information. Neither process should have a fee attached to it; so caveat emptor. The best places to search for reliable and up to date information are from sites that offer the service free of charge, or directly from the government agency or scholarship donor involved. E...

February 18, 2006 A common question students have is how they can manage their debt and their financial aid. Unfortunately when you fill out the FAFSA form there is no place to put down the amount of debt you owe. The form basically wants to know about your income, your family’s income and assets. Non-traditional students may already have a substantial debt of some kind. It is wise to seek out a way to eliminate or lower this debt before you take on financial aid in the form of loans. Obviously scholarships and grants are still okay since they are gift money and do not need to be repaid. If you can not afford credit counseling there are a number of free resources that you can utilize. A couple you may want to try are the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and Primeric...

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...