Finance - General Resources
Downloads:
Brief explanation of some of the downloadable files, below. For professional advice, we recommend:
Paula Bishop, CPA | Financial Aid for College Advisor [email protected] | www.paulabishop.com
Please note that the information on the charts are averages (the % of need filled and their financial aid breakdown between scholarships and loans/work study) but they give you a good idea of the generosity of the college. Often times a college gives just ‘ok’ financial aid such as filling 80% of need, but supplement a financial aid package based on financial need with a merit award based on grades or other merit, and might result in 95% of need filled in the end. All depends upon the school. Don’t hesitate to call a financial aid office at a college to ask if they have merit awards.
Don’t forget to calculate your own “Expected Family Contribution” (EFC) at www.collegeboard.com Enter “Calculators” in the search field. Should be the first one displayed. Your “EFC” is the dollar amount the colleges think you can pay for college (using the FAFSA formula).
Another excellent tool is to try the “Net Price Calculators” on each college’s web site. It gives you an idea of how much ‘free money’ (grants or scholarships) a family might expect from the school. Try Willamette’s and Univ of Portland, as they are pretty accurate. www.netpricecalculator.com
Paula Bishop, CPA | Financial Aid for College Advisor [email protected] | www.paulabishop.com
- Annuity.org - for overall college financial help.
- Colleges that give merit awards, and the percentage of students who receive the awards
- Colleges that do not give merit awards and give ‘need based aid’ only
- Cost of Colleges and their % of Need Filled, (sorted by state, as well as the distribution percentages of the aid (scholarships vs loans/workstudy). On this worksheet an example is used where the family’s “EFC” (Expected Family Contribution) is $20K. The last column shows what this family might be paying out of pocket each year after grants, loans and work-study.
- Colleges that require the CSS Profile, the more complex financial aid form. Note that some of these colleges do not require the Non-Custodial Profile form (in general, they don’t need detailed financial information from the non-custodial parent if they don’t require the Non-Custodial Profile form). This is very good news for divorced families.
- Scholarship Search Web Site Listing – Helps look for outside scholarships, with hints on how to go about searching
- Listing of Net Price Calculator (NPC) “URL’s” for @ 200 colleges. If the college is not on the list, go to the college’s website and search for “Net Price Calculator”. These calculators can also be accessed at www.netpricecalculator.com “Fed” is indicated for the colleges that use the federal template, which is just rough averages, and therefore not useful.
- Sample worksheet that compares Net Price Calculator results between colleges
- How colleges assess equity in the home (colleges that only use the CSS Profile form use home equity in their financial aid formula)
- Colleges that Participate in the Western Undergraduate Exchange Program (WUE), where students of participating states only pay 1.5 times the in-state tuition rates for schools on the list. Example: At University of Montana, Washington residents pay 1.5x their in-state tuition of $5,150 to equal $7,725 instead of the true out-of-state tuition of $16,425. Big savings. Caution: Check school’s eligibility requirements. Varies by school. (I did not have a chance to mention these colleges during my talk, though am including the handout as a valuable resource).
Please note that the information on the charts are averages (the % of need filled and their financial aid breakdown between scholarships and loans/work study) but they give you a good idea of the generosity of the college. Often times a college gives just ‘ok’ financial aid such as filling 80% of need, but supplement a financial aid package based on financial need with a merit award based on grades or other merit, and might result in 95% of need filled in the end. All depends upon the school. Don’t hesitate to call a financial aid office at a college to ask if they have merit awards.
Don’t forget to calculate your own “Expected Family Contribution” (EFC) at www.collegeboard.com Enter “Calculators” in the search field. Should be the first one displayed. Your “EFC” is the dollar amount the colleges think you can pay for college (using the FAFSA formula).
Another excellent tool is to try the “Net Price Calculators” on each college’s web site. It gives you an idea of how much ‘free money’ (grants or scholarships) a family might expect from the school. Try Willamette’s and Univ of Portland, as they are pretty accurate. www.netpricecalculator.com
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Links:
General
Scholarships
Here are 3 Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculators:
Miscellaneous
Support Communities
- http://christiancollegeguide.net/article/A-Good-Return-on-Investment
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/23/college-degree-makes-upwa_n_1619760.html
- http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/college-admissions/college-admissions-dirty-littl.html
- http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college
Scholarships
- Consortium on Financing Higher Education: http://web.mit.edu/cofhe/
- Private Scholarships: http://scholarshipproviders.org/Documents/PrivateScholCount.pdf
- Tuition-Free Colleges: http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/slideshows/12-tuition-free-colleges
- http://www.openingdoorschanginglives.org/
- http://568group.org/membership/
- http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-scholarship-coach/2011/05/26/how-to-land-a-full-tuition-scholarship
- http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/student-loan-ranger/2011/11/16/new-report-examines-college-student-debt
- http://www.collegeplanningpathways.com/
- http://baycollegeplanners.wordpress.com/2009/12/08/scholarships-for-non-traditional-students/
- Northwest Christian College Leadership Scholarship: http://www.actsix.org/
- National Leadership Conference: www.ayf.com/cspMW_NLConference.asp
- American Youth Foundation: 314-719-4343 or [email protected]
- Scholarships: http://edu.fastweb.com/v/monster_learning/flow?utm_source=crm&utm_content=ML_20111206_scholarshipsFW-1
- http://edu.fastweb.com/v/monster_learning/flow?utm_source=crm&utm_content=20120306_afford_college
- UC Berkeley Middle Class Scholarship: http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2011/12/14/berkeley-mcap-conference/
- http://challenge.treas.gov/
Here are 3 Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculators:
- http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml
- http://www.aie.org/managing-your-money/finance-tools/efc_calculator/
- http://calculators.collegetoolkit.com/college-calculators/resCalcEFC.aspx
- http://www.simpletuition.com/student_loans_home
- http://www.finaid.org/
- http://baycollegeplanners.wordpress.com/category/home-schooling/
- FAFSA-Electronic
- FAFSA
- All you need to know about FAFSA: http://christiancollegeguide.net/article/everything-you-need-know-FAFSA
- More good summary info: http://christiancollegeguide.net/article/Know-Before-You-Owe
- Fastaid
- Fastweb
- http://edu.fastweb.com/v/monster_learning/flow?utm_source=crm&utm_content=ML_20110906_scholarships
Miscellaneous
- http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/05/13/business/student-debt-at-colleges-and-universities.html?ref=business
- http://www.forbes.com/sites/baldwin/2011/05/25/twelve-ways-to-beat-college-debt/
- http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/46294181#46294181
- http://www.pbs.org/tenstepstocollege/payingforcollege.html
- http://www.baycollegeplanners.com/
- http://www.onenewsnow.com/Journal/editorial.aspx?id=1462312
- http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2012&month=05
- http://www.kiplinger.com/reports/best-college-values/
- http://www.payscale.com/college-roi/full-list/by-category/Liberal%20Arts
Support Communities