This one’s for all you parents out there starting the college planning and application process with your high schoolers. Don’t you just love how colleges want your students to lead the college process because, after all, they’re “technically” adults. Never mind that their brains won’t be fully developed for another 7 years, and they regularly […]
CAP’s new Financial Aid Award Analyzer in the Evaluate & Appeal module allows you to answer arguably the most important question when it comes to making your final decision on what college to choose: Did you get a fair financial aid offer or not?? While it is not advisable to appeal every financial aid award, […]
It’s no secret that college tuition is continuing to increase dramatically year over year. For the 2021-2022 school year, the average annual cost of college tuition was: $38,185 for private schools $22,698 for public, out-of-state schools $10,338 for public, in-state schools Multiplying these numbers by four years of college attendance (and, depending on the student […]
Everyone has heard “paying for college” horror stories. Families spend a full summer (sometimes longer) touring college campuses with their rising seniors. They fall in love with a handful of schools, apply, and celebrate when their student gets accepted. Then the inevitable happens – they receive their financial aid package and tuition estimate. The cost […]
Wanting to get your student a free college education? Who doesn’t! The fact is, there are still colleges in the United States that offer full-ride merit-based scholarships to attract students with high ACT or SAT scores. Unfortunately, the number of schools offering these scholarships seems to be shrinking over the past several years, so it […]
Free Money for College: Understanding Grants and Scholarships All schools offer free money, or “gift aid” to discount the cost of college with grants, scholarships, or a combination of both. This is money that DOES NOT have to be repaid. Grants are based on need. This is endowment money a school gives out to […]
The Importance of Transparency College Aid Pro’s (CAP) Mission is to End the Student Debt Crisis by empowering families to shop smarter for college. This is an audacious and ambitious goal, yet one we believe is achievable. CAP is a strong and growing community of college planning experts, school counselors, administrators, concerned parents, and college […]
I was listening to a financial call-in program the other day and the topic of how a mom was going to pay for her kid’s college came up. She said, “I’m hoping she will get a scholarship.” That was it. She had no money saved, her daughter was in high school and she was counting […]
This was originally written for and published by Saving For College, adapted and expanded for the College Aid Pro community. When families think about bridging the gap between what they have saved for college, the financial aid they’re offered, and the total cost of attendance, their minds usually go straight to private scholarships. After all, […]
Getting a Division 1 athletic scholarship is not an easy task. However, if your student has this goal, there are definitely tips that will increase his or her chances. A few years ago, my youngest daughter, as a high school junior, gave her verbal commitment to play volleyball at a Division 1 college. In some […]
Most families in the college application process have heard the term “National Merit Scholarship” float around in college counselor meetings and college orientations. However, there is not just one National Merit Scholarship. In fact, there are five different types of scholarships that people lump into the general term of the National Merit Scholarship. In this […]
With the FAFSA Simplification Act comes a host of changes to the way federal student aid is calculated. Some of those changes have already been implemented, but the bulk of them are slated to come into play with the FAFSA application period applicable for the 2024-2025 award year. That means, you’ll see them when applying […]
The 2023-2024 CSS Profile is available on October 1, 2022. Before you dive headfirst into filling out this beast, let’s break it down with some basic information and tips to make your life easier. What is the CSS Profile? The College Scholarship Service financial aid application is required at over 200 colleges and universities that […]
Getting all of your financial aid forms completed and submitted is a major milestone. A lot of families use that moment to breathe a sigh of relief and turn their thoughts onto other pressing matters, as well they should. However, pressing “submit” isn’t the end of the story. Read on to find out what happens […]
“The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.” – Herbert Spencer We created the College Aid Pro platform first and foremost to help fill a massive knowledge gap that we saw in the general public’s understanding of the financial aid system and how to effectively plan for and pay for higher education. Providing […]
For most families, student loans must be part of the college-funding conversation. Through careful planning to include smart savings, tax considerations, college choice, cash flow, scholarships, and other mechanisms, families can minimize the amount of debt their students take on. This process often leaves families wondering how they can make smart choices about loan debt […]
Many college-bound families look to federal student loans provided by the U.S. Department of Education to bridge the gap between what they have saved or what funds have been gifted (through scholarships or grants) for college and what their cost of attendance will be. There are three different student loan options through the federal government: […]
The truth is that most college-bound students and their families will face a funding gap between what they can afford to pay out of pocket for school combined with grants and scholarships, and the final net cost of attendance. This funding gap can be bridged with student loans. However, it’s important that families choose the […]
