Financial Fit

By Alcides Hoy Jr.

This video will give us a better knowledge of finanical fitting when it comes to applying for graduate school or to help our following generations with undergraduate enrollment.

Obama's First Hand Experience with Financial Aid

Posted By Lara Turner

10 Things College Financial Aid Offices Will Not Tell You

Posted by Kaitlin Lanier
Article by David Weliver

1. "You waited until April? Sorry, we gave your money away."
At first glance, the amount of financial aid available to students seems like a gold mine. According to education testing and information organization The College Board, students received over $122 billion in aid last year for undergraduate and graduate study; more than $111 billion came from the federal government alone. Problem is, you'll need a treasure map to find your share. The bewildering aid-application process stumps thousands of families each year, leaving many to pay more tuition than they have to. Lots of students miss out on aid because of the confusing deadlines for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (Fafsa), which everybody must complete to be considered for government grants and subsidized loans. The forms, which are available from colleges and at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/, are reviewed first by the government and then by your student's prospective school. While the deadline on the form is June 30, many schools' individual aid deadlines -- listed in the colleges' materials but not on the Fafsa forms -- are as early as February.

If you're the parent of a high school senior, keep a list of all the schools' different deadlines. To play it safe, though, apply for aid as soon as any admissions applications are in the mail -- as in now. "Families need to submit their financial aid info as soon as they can after Jan. 1 preceding the student's freshman year," says Barry Simmons, aid director at Virginia Tech. While the forms typically ask for the previous year's tax information -- a common reason parents postpone applying until April -- it's completely legit to estimate tax figures based on last year's return and update them later.

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Ways to Boost Your Financial Aid

Posted by Shu Zheng

Sure, most students would much rather party, shop or veg out this holiday break, but if they want to land enough financial aid for the upcoming school year they’ve got some work to do.

The number of students seeking financial aid jumped by some 16% for the 2008-2009 academic year from the prior school year, according to Kalman Chany, president of Manhattan-based Campus Consultants, which provides financial aid assistance to college students and their families. Chany predicts that those numbers will only continue to grow in 2009.

For students seeking aid, success hinges on two main factors: filling out applications early and thoroughly. “One wrong answer can mean the difference of thousands of dollars of aid,” says Chany. And with the clock ticking on most financial aid forms, this is one assignment you really shouldn't procrastinate on.

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Colleges Struggle to Preserve Financial Aid

Posted by Kaitlin Lanier
Article by Geraldine Fabrikant

For years, as the stock market roared, educational endowments swelled, helping private secondary schools and colleges provide more financial aid, expand and attract better faculty. But with the financial markets in crisis, those days are over.

Today educational institutions are cutting spending, delaying projects and holding off on hiring. While many schools and colleges say their commitment to helping families pay the costs of education will not waver, some experts maintain that as investments shrink and donations fall, some institutions will be forced to cut back on financial aid.

Morton Schapiro, president of Williams College in Massachusetts, which has long had a commitment to accepting students without considering their financial situation, said he doubted that all colleges with such full need-blind policies would be able to hold to them.

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Creative Ways to pay for college

by Boyce Watkins