College Admissions Counseling

Tom Bottorf at GetCollegeFunding has an article that clearly explains why predicting financial aid can be so difficult. Basically, Tom explains that the average financial aid award listed by colleges is just that, an average, and the individual awards can vary dramatically.
I have often discussed the information that families need to know if financial aid [...]

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The federal government has a new grant program that starts today for students who plan to become teachers. The name of the program is the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education, or TEACH, for short. The program provides up to $4,000 per year in grants for 4 years to undergraduates. Graduate students may [...]

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This time of year many families are trying to figure out how to pay for the cost of college. One of the most common options are loans but not all loans are created equal. The Federal Trade Commission has a new fact sheet out called “Student Loans: Avoiding Deceptive Offers“.  This fact sheet reviews the [...]

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Sallie Mae has announced that they are “affirming (their) commitment to provide federal student loan access to all students, all schools”. I will be the first to say that I am not generally a great fan of Sallie Mae but they are one of the leaders in the college student loan industry so it is [...]

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The Project on Student Debt has put together an analysis of what a typical family with different income levels would have to pay at many of the colleges that have revised their financial aid packages in the past year. This analysis reviews the colleges that have pledged to improve their aid and then examines [...]

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The University of Vermont has announced that they will be offering grants to cover the cost of tuition and costs to all Vermont undergraduates who are eligible for Pell Grants and who are Vermont residents. This policy will begin with the 2008 entering fall class and will be phased in over the next 4 years [...]

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Amherst College has announced that they are extending their need blind admission policy to international students. Need blind admissions means that Amherst will admit international students without regard to their ability to pay for their college education. This makes Amherst one of only 8 colleges in the US that offers need blind admission to [...]

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Oberlin College has announced that they are eliminating all loans for students who receive Pell grants and replacing the loans with grants. Pell grant recipients typically come from low income families making less than $35,000 a year. About 12% of Oberlin’s 2,800 students receive Pell grants.

Although Oberlin’s move will effect a limited number of students [...]

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The New York Times had a recent article discussing athletic scholarships and the fact that most athletic scholarships do not cover the full cost of a college education. This article should be read by any student or parent who is under the believe that their athletic prowess can get them a full ride to any [...]

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Lafayette College in Pennsylvania has announced their new financial aid policy. This new policy will eliminate loans for students with family incomes below $50,000 and will cap loans at $2,500 per year for students from families with incomes between $50,000 and $100,000. This new policy applies to both new students and continuing students. Lafayette has [...]

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