Colleges are either need-blind or need-aware in their admissions policies. A college that is need-blind makes acceptance decisions without considering a student’s financial need or ability to pay. A college that is need-aware will consider what the student can pay when evaluating their application. So need-blind must be better, right? Well, not necessarily. The fact that a school maintains a need-blind admissions policy…
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Application Process
As the college application season approaches, it’s important to remember one of the big reasons you want your child to attend college: Because of the opportunities for a better adult life that college provides. Whether that means career, intellectual, social, or another form of engagement and success, college is considered by many to be a key piece. In order to…
Since it’s college acceptance season, there are a lot of great articles out there about evaluating offers. Apologies for offering less original content here but reinventing the wheel doesn’t help. Here is a great article from the New York Times that will help you be a more informed consumer of your various offers.
(Is that alliteration or what?) Did you get an aid award that’s not what you’re hoping for? Recently the New York Times wrote about appealing financial aid awards. For the article, Ron Lieber sent a questionnaire to aid officers at some of the priciest private schools asking about their appeals process. Occidental College’s completed questionnaire is extremely helpful for understanding…
A reader asked the question, “Can I use funds in my 529 plan to pay for college application fees, tests or test preparation?” Unfortunately the answer is no. Though all of those are both costly and necessary, they are not “qualified education expenses” that are eligible to be paid for by 529 plan funds. In Publication 970, the IRS spells…