Families need to understand the difference between public and private colleges because of the differences in prices and financial aid.
Public institutions are colleges that operate under the ultimate control of a state or local government (there are some exceptions). These colleges receive a significant amount of their budgets from state appropriations although the amount has been dropping over the years.
ShareTweetFlipEmailPin0 SharesIf you know enough to ask the question, you are ready to start visiting colleges. But what if you’re only a freshman in high school? Doesn’t matter. Now it may matter to the colleges. Many colleges will host special visit days only open to juniors or seniors so you won’t be able to participate … Read more
Just because a student is paying for all of his own expenses doesn’t make him an independent student for financial aid purposes. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has very specific requirements to qualify as an independent student.
Students must answer “yes” to one or more of the following questions to be considered an independent student. (The dates change each year.)
Merit aid refers to college awarded financial aid that is not based on financial need. The most commonly recognized form of merit aid is the scholarship. Scholarships may be awarded for academic skills or achievements based on talents such as athletic, artistic, or leadership. Other types of merit aid include tuition waivers or institutional grants not based on financial need. Unlike most outside scholarships, merit aid is awarded for all four years of college.
Net price calculators (NPC) are a way for students and their families to estimate how much it would cost to attend a specific college. All colleges that accept federal funds are required to provide Net Price Calculators on their websites. The NPC is supposed to
provide estimated net price information to current and prospective students and their families based on a student’s individual circumstances. This calculator should allow students to calculate an estimated net price of attendance at an institution (defined as cost of attendance minus grant and scholarship aid) based on what similar students paid in a previous year.
There are very few situations when applying for financial aid could possibly hurt your chances for admissions. For your financial aid application to affect your admissions you would need to be applying to a school with all of the following criteria.
ShareTweetFlipEmailPin0 SharesThe maximum SAT test score on all three sections of the test is 2400. This score is based on the combined individual scores for the Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing sections. The lowest score for each section is 200 and the highest is 800. According the College Board, of the 2013 college0bound seniors, the … Read more
A 3-2 program commonly refers to a dual degree program in Engineering and Liberal Arts that is completed by attending two different institutions. Students spend their first three years attending a college without an engineering program, usually a Liberal Arts College. The last two years are completed at an institution with an engineering program and the student graduates with two bachelors degrees.
A suitcase school is college that is a predominately residential campus, unlike a commuter school, but where a significant percentage of students go home for the weekend. Suitcase schools tend to be less selective and have a majority of students who live in a close travel radius to the school.