It’s June, which means we’re coming up on peak college visit season. If you’re heading out to see colleges, here are some tips to get the most out of your visits. But first, some rules. Rule #1 of college visits: If you’re a high school student checking out a college, sign up for an official visit. Not only will you…
Owning a home doesn’t impact you on the FAFSA, but selling a home can result in a nasty surprise: an increase in your Student Aid Index and a resulting decrease in financial aid if the sale occurs during a FAFSA year. How so? If you have a taxable capital gain from the sale, this will flow through your tax return…
Happy 5/29! 529s are almost always the best way to save for college, yet only about 1/3 of families actually use them for college savings. In fact, a recent survey showed that only about half of American adults have heard of 529s. This is incredibly unfortunate because 529s are such a powerful tool in creating pathways to higher education. So…
A recent article showing that private college costs are rapidly approaching $100,000 annually got a lot of attention. The article highlighted a Vanderbilt engineering student’s all-in costs of over $98,000, including tuition, fees, room and board, laptop and personal expenses; add a couple of round-trip airfares into the mix and you’ve likely crossed the 6 figure line. Here’s a more…
Rising interest rates are a boon to savers but a curse to borrowers. Federal student loan interest rates are based on the 10-year Treasury yield at the May auction. That auction took place last week, so next year’s interest rates are set– and they are more than 1% higher than last year’s rates. Each loan type– Direct Student Loan, Parent…