Seven Steps on the Path to Paying for College

Are you a college senior who is receiving those anticipated college acceptance letters?  Or perhaps a sophomore or junior who is planning ahead?  Either way, parents and students need to plan ahead to determine HOW they’re going to pay for college!  

Step One:

Do the math -- find out the price of your most and least expensive school choices. Then figure out what your family can afford to contribute. Every college now has a cost calculator on its web site to see how you fit the financial profile for that school.

Step Two:

Seek help! On school tours, ask the hard questions about available aid. Visit their financial aid office and get as much information about their grants, scholarships and loans as possible. Start this process as early as you can.

Step Three:

Go scholarship hunting in your local area.  Many local organizations provide scholarships based on certain criteria either directly or through a local Community Foundation.  In Frederick County MD, for example, more than $515,000 was awarded to more than 280 scholars for the 2012-2013 academic year, which represents scholarships from 189 funds.http://www.cffredco.org/receive/scholarships

These applications should be made in the fall or winter, with awards frequently announced in the late spring. Each high school guidance office has a list of local scholarships for its students.

Step Four:

Time your financial aid applications to meet the early deadlines; if you are confused as to how to market yourself or your student, get help from a college consultant.

Step Five:

Complete your FAFSA forms! Even if you think you may not qualify for money, it can’t hurt to try. In addition, everyone needs a FAFSA on file in case of financial emergency in the future.

Step Six:

After you get your financial aid packages back, it’s time to review! Sit down as a family and compare all options.   Look carefully at each award. Even though one school may give you more money, another school may cost less overall. Remember to calculate how much money is being offered in merit aid (free money) as opposed to money that is in the form of loans or work study.

Step Seven:

Make a decision and meet all the deadlines! If you need more time to decide, call the financial aid office and ask for an extension on your deadline. Some colleges are historically more generous than others. A college consultant knows who those colleges are.

For more information on financial aid options and affordable but lesser-known colleges in your area, contact Charlotte Klaar, PhD, 301-834-6888, Charlotte@cklaar.com, www.cklaar.com.

You Received Financial Aid Packages… Now What? Tips to Compare and Review Your Options

With the fall semester quickly approaching, you may be concerned about how you are going to finance your college education.  By now you should have submitted your FAFSA and received a financial aid package offer.  As you review your offer, here’s some helpful information to consider:

1. First, keep in mind how much of your financial need is being met, and which type of aid you are receiving.

2.  Look at the total costs for each school. Include tuitions, fees, room & board, books, food, travel expenses, personal expenses, etc.

3.  Subtract all grants and scholarship packages.  You do not need to repay the money received through grants and scholarship.

4.  Loans do need to be repaid.  Student loans come in a variety of forms, each with their advantages and disadvantages.  There are two types of Stafford loans: subsidized and unsubsidized. 

                Subsidized loans don’t accrue interest until after you graduate from college, thus they are generally viewed as more attractive. 

                Unsubsidized loans accrue interest while you are still in school.  Both loans have a low interest rate and students can chose to take a combination of subsidized and unsubsidized loans.

5.  Multiply by four. You will be attending college for at least four years, so take into account the long term costs.  Even though you may have received multiple scholarships your freshman year, you may not receive them in future years.

If the financial aid package is not what you expected, keep in mind that there are a lot of scholarships available.  There are strict deadlines for scholarship submission dates, so check before you begin to apply.  Create a timeline of due dates so you can plan accordingly.  Colleges also offer scholarships for their students, so make sure also check with each college you are considering. 

Fastweb is a great resource that provides a database of scholarship opportunities and deadlines: www.fastweb.com

Here is a link to a financial aid calculator to help compare your aid packages for each school you are considering. https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/financial-aid-awards/compare-aid-calculator

For more information about how to compare financial aid packages, and how Klaar College Consulting can help lead you to college success, call us at 301-834-6888 and visit the many resources available on our website.

A Smarter FAFSA and Other Changes

The FAFSA due date is fast approaching (March 1^st).  Maybe you’ve noticed changes, maybe you haven’t.  This year FAFSA 2012-2013 has a few changes that make the application process run more smoothly.

1. Skip logic- The FAFSA is now finally ‘smart’. It takes answers you already provided and eliminates repetitive or unnecessary questions.  Makes the process much quicker!

2. Better navigation- The FAFSA now knows where you left off.  The application auto resumes when you log in.  No more wasting time finding the section you were on!

3. Easy editing options- The FAFSA changes address editing information.  In previous years, you were directed to a different page to make edits which had a completely different look and feel.  Now the edit page looks like the rest of the FAFSA.  Much more user friendly.

4. Advanced notifications- you can choose to set up automatic notifications from FAFSA.  For example, you can get a reminder to update financial information after tax season.

5. IRS DataRetrieval Tool- Starting February 1^st, you have the option of downloading your financial information directly from the IRS to your FAFSA application

Import information to remember

FAFSA becomes available January 1, 2012 and is due March 1, 2012. Colleges set their own deadlines so make sure to check with each college.

FAFSA is based on income from the 2011 tax year.  If possible, file your taxes prior to doing the FAFSA so you have an accurate account of financial information.  If not, you can estimate financial information and correct it after filing taxes.  As always, the sooner you submit all the information the better!

For some grants, financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.  Take advantage of this and turn in the FAFSA as early as possible.

There are many resources out there about FAFSA and different financial aid questions. Take a look at these for additional information!

For the FAFSA application: www.fafsa.ed.gov/index.htm

A great New York Times blog that addresses financial aid is: http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/