“OMG, I’m going to be filling out college applications in the fall!” Rising seniors (and their parents) can react on a scale, somewhere between total avoidance and frenetic activity to get it all done. Here’s a few tips to prepare for Fall applications:
Tag: Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
Middle Class Families Concerned about Affording College
Real wages haven’t increased, at the same time as pension values are decreasing, state budgets uncertainties are reducing funding for public universities and children are maturing into college age. What a perfect confluence for many middle class families and contributing to nervousness that the lifelong dream of a college degree–demonstrated through multiple honors and Advanced…
Why Teens Don’t Always Apply for Scholarships
Shifts in the views of parents with children aged 16 or younger about when adulthood financial independence should begin coincides with parents concerns about paying for college. In Creative Marbles experience, parents expect to shoulder the majority of college costs, at the same time expecting children to contribute toward their education. However, the shift in…
College Tuition Rises and So Does Demand
As the University of California Regents debate a 6% tuition increase for Fall 2012, see how tuition has changed at California colleges, since 2001. (The database provides information for 2 and 4 year colleges, both public and private.) While students and their families are concerned about rising tuition and student debt is at $1 Trillion…
House Votes to Keep Student Loan Interest Rates Low for 2012-13: A Good Move?
The Wall Street Journal reported that the House today passed a resolution to keep the current interest rate on student Stafford loans at 3.4% for the 2012-13 school year. The Senate is scheduled to vote on a similar bill on May 8th. Without Congressional consensus, student loan interest rates will increase to 6.8% for the…
Financial Aid: There is No Free Lunch
There is no-magic-bullet-one-time-conversation-painless-and-costless solution to paying for college. Increasing the amount of financial aid–either need based or merit based–are multiple year efforts that extend through a student’s entire college career. Basically, there is no free lunch. Moving equity from one’s home to a life insurance policy or rolling all savings into retirement accounts are strategies…