Is your student planning to live off-campus this fall? If so, you can still use funds in your 529 plan to pay for room and board, but you may not be able to cover 100% of the cost from your plan. Be sure to ask your school’s financial aid office what the off-campus room and board allowance is because that’s…
Congratulations to the class of 2015! If any members of this class are considering private student loans to finance their college years, they must first read this, from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Student Loan Ombudsman.
A few years ago, my niece came out to visit and look at one of our local colleges. Since she had made a long trip, I scheduled her to visit three local schools, not just the one she was interested in. She didn’t like the other two schools; in fact, we left the third right at the start of the…
Merit aid is by far the most desirable form of student aid: it typically comes in large amounts and in the form of grants and scholarships. But figuring out in advance how much aid you’re likely to get can be difficult if not downright impossible. So how you do, as a parent, help your student find a good merit aid…
Most students (and their parents) who borrow know that their loans need to be repaid, but they often don’t know how to repay them. Here is a good summary of what you need to know. Perhaps most important: the loan servicer needs your address.