I’d put this question on my top 10 list of frequently-asked questions. When are college costs actually due, and how do you pay them? Is that actually two questions? Your first college payment is the deposit which is paid when you accept admission on or before May 1. Usually this is a nominal (relative to college costs) amount, typically ranging…
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May 1 is looming, so many families are facing some big decisions. I’m trying to centralize tools for the key parts of acceptance in a single post. Below are a set of links to the key financial issues involved. First, though, I want to talk about cash flow planning: how much can you spend out of pocket every year? Most…
Why do economic downturns always result in college tuition increases? Because higher education is one of the few—if not the only—services a state provides where it can offset budget shortfalls by passing the cost on to the consumer directly. For the current school year, this has been tricky: having recognized that the online education they’re receiving is an inferior product…
We’re almost there: acceptance letters are arriving and the May 1 decision day is right around the corner. For most families, how much schools cost is part of the decision making process. But comparing award letters from different schools might seem like comparing apples to taco salad. The good news is, all offers need to show total cost of attendance,…
“I got the internship!!!!!” my daughter texted me last week. “I thought this was going to be about outside scholarships,” you thought as you read that. In fact it is. I don’t talk a lot about outside scholarships because they tend to be far less beneficial than institutional merit aid or financial aid. Not only that, but you’re not likely…