That title was a trick. I’m actually going to write about how much you should contribute to a 529 first. Lately I’ve heard versions of the same question again and again: After a year of no travel, eating out or other activities, people are sitting on extra cash that they want to direct towards college. Many are wondering what’s the…
Many states offer free community college to some or all residents. But there’s some fine print that makes timely action necessary. Most states require students to apply for free community college during their senior year of high school. By now, most college-bound seniors have a pretty good sense of what their plans are, and those plans might not include community…
Now that the May Treasury auction has taken place, student loan interest rates for the 2021-2022 school year are set. This year’s yield on the 10-year treasury was 1.684%, up about 1% from a year ago. Since student loan interest rates are fixed markups from the May treasury yield, that means student loan interest rates will go up about 1%…
About 170 pages of 2020’s year-end omnibus federal spending bill were devoted to FAFSA Simplification. Sounds almost ironic, doesn’t it? The changes aren’t all that simple, but here’s a summary. Most important, the changes come into effect for the FAFSA that will be available in the fall of 2022, for the 2023-2024 school year. That means that students who are…
Much has been made of cost increases at private colleges, with many schools costing $75,000 or more annually. Recent research by the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) shows that public colleges have also become increasingly unaffordable. NCAN’s recent report, The Growing Gap, shows that public colleges and universities– once considered drivers of social mobility– are in fact becoming increasingly inaccessible…