The excitement generated by acceptance letters so many high school seniors received before April 1 has morphed into anxiety if not outright panic as families’ finances have been turned upside down. What was an affordable college before COVID-19 may not be any more. Athletes face uncertainty about scholarship availability. And there are students who would just rather stay a little closer to home than when they first created their college list.
So now what?
The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid administered by the Office of Federal Student Aid. Students must submit the FAFSA to qualify for any federal financial aid, most state aid programs, and the vast majority of college aid programs. There is no cost to complete the FAFSA.
Most high school seniors are ready to breathe a big sigh of relief reaching their spring semester thinking they’re safe from making any college application mistakes. Unfortunately, the college admissions process doesn’t end just because you submitted your applications. In fact, even after completing all the college applications and submitting test scores, there are five things high school seniors can do to ruin their chances of attending college in September. And they don’t all have to do with being accepted-there are things other than rejection that can keep you from starting classes in the Fall.
As families approach the college planning process, there’s one thing they need to do before anything else and that is have “the talk.” I know, parents have been putting it off because it can be embarrassing. Who wants to discuss such potentially intimate details with their teenagers? Besides, you’re pretty sure the school counselors have covered the topic so there’s no point in having to suffer through the rolling eyes and general awkwardness if you don’t have to.
Well, I’m telling you right now that you have to because “the talk” I’m referring to isn’t the “birds and the bees” but something just as important, “The College Money Talk.”
Sometime during their senior year in high school, students will start receiving notices from the counseling office on tips on how to find scholarships and news about the various available college scholarships. These scholarships will probably range in the $250 to $1,000 range with a few hitting $5,000. They’ll be encouraged to start using the different scholarship search websites so that they won’t have to take out student loans. By January, they’ll hear that if only they would get organized and be persistent in their scholarship search, they can take advantage of all the college scholarships out there that haven’t been taken because no one applied.
The first of the Early Decision college admissions deadlines are approaching and students are nervously revising their college application essays. However, before they submit their applications, they need to remember that there are reasons why people criticize Early Decision as primarily benefiting rich kids. As students make one final review of their application, they should make sure they know the following three things about Early Decision.
The internet is a wonderful thing, you can find the answer to just about any question including “what is financial aid?” The problem is that are usually so many answers that it’s overwhelming and it’s almost as bad as not knowing the answer at all. So here are five ways for learning about financial aid without wading through page after page of search.
Everyone wants to know if colleges are going to open next fall. Or rather if they are going to open for in-person classes since by now the colleges have demonstrated their ability to conduct virtual classes. Of course, if they are mandated to remain shut-down, it’s not a question they have to answer. But otherwise, there are a lot of reasons why colleges will be welcoming students on campus for classes coming this fall and they pretty much all come down to money.
This is a list of over 200 colleges most likely to provide need-based aid (not based on academic merit) to students. I include schools on the list if they meet one of the following requirements: