This week, President Obama signed an executive order that will dramatically simplify the financial aid process for many families. Beginning next October, for the 2017-2018 school year, families will be able to file the FAFSA using two years’ prior (“prior-prior year”) data. That means that
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A couple of years ago, President Obama announced a plan to rate and rank all colleges and universities in the US. Needless to say, this plan was quite unpopular among several of the key constituencies necessary to implement such a plan, notably the presidents of many of those colleges and universities.
It is often more advantageous for parents to own the 529 plans for their students, rather than other family members. (Remember, the parents’ assets are assessed at 5.64% above the asset protection allowance, meaning a $10,000 529 plan balance would increase EFC for the FAFSA by a maximum of $564.
College admissions officers have a couple of important metrics on which they’re evaluated: selectivity and yield. Selectivity is a concept you’re probably already familiar with: What percent of applicants are admitted? In the admissions officer’s world, the lower, the better. There are two ways to admit a low percentage of applicants:
My last post highlighted some of the tax benefits of 529 plans. One of the lesser-known benefits is that 529 plans get preferential treatment on the FAFSA. How? A couple of ways.