I have a junior and sophomore in high school, and really need to improve my knowledge of financial aid before I fill out FAFSA Oct 2017. There’s lots of books out there - do you have a favorite?
Paying for College Without Going Broke.
Also…not financial aid related… tuition read “Letting Go” as well.
deleted as it posted twice…when I was trying to delete the draft CC created after I posted!
Also important to read IRS publication 970. It will help you understand the tax credits(and the importance of keeping records).
FAFSA is a fed app for fed aid, which isn’t much. Fed grants are for low/modest income families.
Do you have a low/modest income? If not, then you won’t qualify for a fed grant, but you will qualify for a fed loan.
I don’t know what these books would do to help. FAFSA EFC is mostly based on income.
Why don’t you tell us your situation and we can help you probably better than any book out there.
Home state? (I think I saw that you’re from IL and have 2 high school kids)
How much do you want to spend per child?
What are your kid’s majors and career goals?
@mom2collegekids
Thanks! While I cringe at the thought of sharing too much information, here it goes, as perhaps it will help someone down the road. Yes, we are modest income, and have too little saved in a 529 account. I suspect I am not alone. Trying to make sure there are “financial safeties” on the college list. I attended a sales pitch of college consultant, and learned that the colleges can see the list of schools on the FAFSA, and that may impact the school’s grant decision. The concept was by listing a college’s rival school you might get more school grant $ verses the student that didn’t list any rivals (might be seen more as a “of course they’d choose us as we’re the best school on the list”) We do not have the resources to hire a consultant, but the session did make me realize that I needed to learn more about FAFSA, and the CSS, and how colleges use the information for their own grant decision making. Yes, we are in IL, going on year 2 of no state budget. Looking at schools where kiddos are in the top 10-25% of stats. Kid #1 will have a theater audition. Again, just trying to improve my ability to assist Theater Dude with a list that has a good number of financial safeties. There’s no point in getting excited about acceptance into great programs if we can’t clear the financial hurdle. Going to the library this weekend to get books. The difficulty is that some colleges give aide on talent, others on stats, and some a mix. Trying to find “generous” aid schools and any tips on FAFSA/CSS that may make a difference. Also, we’re oldish parents that don’t want massive parent plus loans.
No longer true.
Other colleges can NOT any longer see the other colleges you submit the FAFSA to. Some state scholarship/grant awarding groups,can see… but not the colleges. So the consultant has OLD info!
The VAST MAJORITY of prospective college students do NOT hire a college consultant.
Some colleges will look at other college financial aid awards…and adjust…and others simply won’t.
We had an arts kid (music). You are also dealing with audition criteria for some awards. School A is NOT going to give you more money than School B when auditions come into play.
Look here for help with your theater kid.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/
Every college has a Net Price Calculator on it. I would strongly urge you to use it. Plug in your financials…and see what you get. It will be an estimate…but it is a start. If you are self employed, divorced, or own real,estate other than your primary residence…this might not be accurate.
Thanks @thumper1 Thanks for the updated info on colleges seeing the data. I’m all over the theater group, and what I’ve learned is thatmerit money is bigger than talent money (each school is different, I know) I’ve been “net price calculating”, knowing it is less accurate because I’m self employed.
If you are self employed…the NPC will most definitely NOT be accurate. There are deductions allowed by the IRS that colleges do not allow,for financial,aid purposes. These will get added back in as income.
Also, remember too…that if your income is over a certain threshold, your kid won’t get need based aid anyway.
On my musician’s case…his music merit award was better than an academic one for his stats.
The College Solution:A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School at the Right Price by Lynn O’Shaughnessy.
Her blog has very helpful ideas and I encourage you to follow her posts:
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/category/blog-2/
Thank you @snorkelmom, a brief glance at one of the articles gives me the type of overview on FAFSA that I feel I need.
Mmmmmm … make sure you frequent this forum. I think some of the advice you will find here is really, really good. And we never charge anyone for it (you can attend our “class” for free).
One of my old-but-too-dated favorites, The Financial Aid Handbook, is coming out with a new edition this year. I haven’t seen the new version, but the authors knew their stuff in the old version.
Right College, Right Price has some good information on the steps to take, but again may be starting to be dated. Emphasizes the financial benefits of casting a wide net up front to find your best financial fit.
And, this may be more of a library read: The Fiske Guide to Getting in to the Right College (not the Fiske guide with the college reviews!) has a great chapter on financial aid offers at the end.
I second the recommendation of “The College Solution.” I also have attended the author’s local presentations which I found excellent. Lynn’s information is always smart and helped me a ton with my children. Be sure to sign up for her newsletter and her facebook page. Usually on Fridays she will answer questions posted on her facebook page. I also did her webinar and found it very worth the money. Ask you high school if they will host Lynn O’Shaughnessy for a presentation. My DD’s school did that and I found it very helpful with information not presented by other child’s school.
When I ordered the book, I got it free on my kindle. Not sure that $15 is gonna break the bank. I believe that knowledge is power! And her blog posts are free!
<<<
knowing it is less accurate because I’m self employed.
<<<
CSS Profile schools may not work for you. They “add back in” several/many deductions that you may be taking.
<<<
we are modest income, and have too little saved in a 529 accounT
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
What do you consider modest? $50k? $70k? More? Less?
Saved in 529… $5k? 10k? 20k? More? Less?
Assume that most schools give lousy aid, so be sure to nail down some safeties that will admit your child AND you know for sure that you have all costs covered thru either assured grants, assured merit and/or family funds.
Have your kids practice for the SAT AND ACT…take both.
Yes. Two of them:
1. The College Solution by Lynn O’Shaughnessy. Also her blog.
2. Financial Aid Handbook by Stack and Vedik, 2017 edition.
Look into some SUNY’s for theater. Also maybe Ithaca, Muhlenberg, Ohio University.
Run net price calculators.
Lots of IL kids going to U Alabama for their full tuition offer, have to have a 3.5 GPA and 32 ACT I think.
Thanks @mommdc! Muhlenberg is on our list, OOS SUNY may be out of our budget, but I will take a look again. I will look into U Alabama, but his political views may make a deep red state a tough sell.