Last week, the Department of Education announced further delays in FAFSA processing: colleges will not receive applicants’ FAFSA submission data until March. This means students are unlikely to receive financial aid offers until April. Traditionally, colleges have required students to accept admission by May 1, which would mean a very short timeline for decision-making. A handful of colleges have already…
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If your student comes home for the holidays unenthusiastic about their school and considering transferring, your first impulse might be to tell them to tough it out for the year and reconsider come summer. While that’s probably good parenting advice, it might not be good financial advice. In fact, students who are thinking of transferring are usually best off making…
More FAFSA updates, with news on availability and 529s. Last week, the Department of Education finally announced when the FAFSA will be available: Dec. 31. There’s a twist, though: while the update says that “Students and families will be able to complete and submit FAFSA forms online by Dec. 31” it also says, “Schools will begin receiving aid eligibility information…
Any time things change, some people benefit and others are worse off. This is also true of FAFSA Simplification. While many of the formula changes benefit large swaths of the population– such as removing 401k contributions from income or changing child support from income to an asset– other are less advantageous. Two big ones are eliminating the sibling discount and…
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…