College Planning

Financial Aid Award Letters: 8 Things to ConsiderTwitterFacebookLinkedinemailiStock You’ve been accepted to college? Perhaps more than one? Congratulations! Now it’s decision time, and determining financial fit is part of the process. Here are eight things to consider as you review your award letters. 1: Expected Family Contribution (EFC) After successfully completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), you will be provided a Student Aid Report (SAR). On the SAR is a number called the Expected Family Contribution (EFC)—and you’ll see that number come into play on each of your financial aid award letters. The EFC determines your eligibility for Federal Student Aid (FSA) and many private scholarship organizations also use it to assist in making award decisions. Your EFC wil...

Schools Are Reopening After a Year Online. Hear From Students.CHICAGO — Maisie Robinson was so excited for her first day of kindergarten that she woke up at 2:30 a.m. to make her family breakfast.“Unfortunately, the cereal was kind of soggy by the time we got up,” said her mother, Lindsey Post Robinson.But that hardly dulled Maisie’s enthusiasm. She skipped to school last week in her purple coat, part of a wave of Chicago elementary school students who met their teachers and classmates in person for the first time.A year into the coronavirus pandemic, many American students have been in their classrooms since last fall — frequently off and on, as outbreaks have forced quarantines and closures. But in several large cities, students have started returning to school buildings only in the last...

A Strong Foundation Building For Your Child Is A Must: Start Before It’s Too Late Not long ago, your child took baby steps to get over being the kid always being carried around. When you look at them today, you see the young teen they have blossomed into. You see them as the one who’s trying to manage time between school, friends, and home; one who seems interested in attractive careers; and also one who is trying to learn new hacks and talents to be noticed by the world!  Now is the time to stop and do a reality check on your child’s personality development – and an opportune time to get working on their life skills.  These are the skills that will be needed for a strong foundation building for your child – which is a must. Must-Have Skills For A Strong Foundation For Kids “Chil...

New FAFSA Changes – Winners and LosersThe Free Application for Federal Student Aid will be undergoing significant changes soon and families, who hope to obtain financial aid, need to prepare for the FAFSA changes. Tucked into federal pandemic relief legislation that Congress passed during the Christmas holidays, was a dramatic overhaul to the FAFSA and financial aid rules. Last week, I talked to Mark Kantrowitz, a nationally prominent financial aid expert, who has an encyclopedic knowledge of the federal financial aid system. I’d urge you to listen to my conversation with Mark, who knows more about the upcoming FAFSA changes than just about anybody in the nation. The changes will kick in for the 2023-2024 school year. This means parents filling out the FAFSA as early as Oct. 1, 2022 will b...