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A Roadmap for Student Success

I had the tremendous good fortune to speak with Louis E. Newman, the author of Thinking Critically in College: The Essential Handbook for Student Success. Louis is the former dean of academic advising at Stanford and a former professor at Carleton College, so he has decades of experience in helping students succeed in college– not just in the classroom. Louis…

How Are You Going to Pay For It?

According to Sallie Mae’s How America Pays For College, about 2/3 of families who borrowed to pay for college planned to do so. That means that 1/3 of borrowers did not intend to borrow, but something happened that changed that plan– perhaps college cost more than they thought, or their aid package changed, or their ability to pay changed. Chances…

How to Visit Colleges

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…

How Do You Get Outside Scholarships?

Outside scholarships can be a great way to stretch your college budget. And sometimes they offer more than just scholarship dollars: my daughter receives an outside scholarship that includes a career mentor who helped her find an internship that led to a full-time job offer when she graduates this spring. Outside scholarships can also be an exercise in frustration with…

What Do You Do With Form 1098-T and 1099-Q?

Form 1098-T is a tuition statement that students receive from their college. It serves two primary purposes: Form 1098-T isn’t filed with your taxes; instead, you use the information to file and then keep it for your records. One important point about form 1098-T: it only shows tuition net of scholarships. Both education tax credits and 529 distributions have additional qualified expenses…

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