As families start to encounter sticker prices during their college search, they are often revived from their state of shock by soothing voices whispering, “it’s ok, it doesn’t include financial aid.” Students and their parents learn the conventional wisdom that…
Paying for College 101
What does it mean? The Common Data Set refers to data collected by a group of publishers including US News Best College Rankings, The College Board, Petersons, and Wintergreen Orchard. The data include information that is not part of government…
I was recently working on a custom list of colleges and the client was “confused” as to why two colleges were on the list, McDaniel College and Valparaiso University. She couldn’t find them listed in her Fiske Guide and so…
What does it mean? When students submit their financial aid application, they receive a number they are expected to pay called the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). When you subtract the EFC from the total cost of attendance for a specific…
What does it mean? Merit aid is a type of college financial aid. Colleges provide merit aid as an incentive for select students to attend their institution. Generally, these students have academic qualifications that would contribute to raising the college’s…
The college search process and figuring out how to pay for it can be confusing and intimidating so it’s not surprising that many families don’t even know where to start. For most people, the obvious place to start is with…
What does it mean? Average Net Price is a term defined by the federal government which is the average amount students paid to attend a college after deducting gift aid. According to CollegeNavigator, the college search website for the National…
Simple-there are more of them. By considering a small college, you’ve just increased your possible college options by two-thirds. There are a lot more small colleges than larger colleges. This has nothing to do with which are “better.” This has…
What does it mean? The PROFILE’s full name is actually the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE. The CSS stands for College Scholarship Service. It is a financial aid application administered by the College Board for non-federal financial aid. There are around 200…
For many students and families, the primary purpose of college is to get a good paying job on graduation. The reality is nobody wants to graduate and not be able to find a job that pays off their college debt…