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College Scorecard: Find the right higher ed fit for you

The Department of Education’s College Scorecard website https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/ is designed to help you find the best higher education institution for your needs. You can ask to “Show me Options” to search nearby schools, institutions where most students graduate, and other options. Search “Fields of Study” to find the best institution for your career goals. Already…

Law School or MBA? Consider the debt implications

“Most M.B.A. programs leave federal student-loan borrowers with manageable debt loads, a WSJ analysis found. At about 98% of universities that offer the masters of business administration programs, graduates typically made more money two years out of school than they had borrowed, according to the Journal’s analysis of federal student-loan data for nearly 600 programs…

How Home Equity Affects College Aid

 Now that you’ve filled out the FAFSA (free application for federal financial aid) it’s time to tackle the College Scholarship Service Profile (CSS Profile) for non-federal financial aid.  Be ready to provide your home’s purchase price, year of purchase, current value (check your property tax bill) and current debt to determine your home equity.  Schools…

Your financial path to college graduation

 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) offers lots of help for college students. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/paying-for-college/ Check out:  “Your financial path to graduation” https://www.consumerfinance.gov/paying-for-college/your-financial-path-to-graduation/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=gradpath&houx=826&fdx=340&clhx=87&trnx=324&hltx=121&entx=94&retx=22&taxx=-6&othx=385 This tool can help you: Understand your financial aid offer Plan to cover the remaining costs Estimate how much you’ll owe and if you can afford that debt Compare offers from different schools…

College Debt Resources

About 45 million Americans owe more than $1.6 trillion in student loan debts. Let those numbers sink in a moment…And there are plenty of too-good-to-be-true offers to help out.Where can you go for reliable help? Federal ResourcesOffice of Federal Student Aid (for federal student loans) https://studentaid.gov/provides free info on managing loans and programs like the…

Don’t be put off by high sticker price of private colleges

“Phillip Levine is breaking down a barrier: the well-founded fear among low-income and even middle-class families that an elite liberal arts college is out of the question.” Levine, a professor at Welleseley College, “designed a calculator to estimate how much an individual applicant will actually pay, after plugging in his or her family’s unique financial…