StudentAdvisor Blog

A student's out-of-pocket costs and aid eligibility are very important to compare to find a college affordable for you. The website <a>http://www.studentaid.com/Planning offers lots of free, expert planning information about financial aid and a cool utility the College Selector <a>https://www.studentaid.com/College/Selector/ where you type in a name of a college you're interested in and then find out 10 other colleges students who chose your college choice also liked. Importantly check out each college's net price calculator to get an estimate of your aid eligibility. NPCs differ in accuracy. Those that ask more than 30 questions - which only take 8 to 12 minutes to answer - are the most accurate and detailed. Many will show federal education loans, work study, military aid, and even how much your monthly re-payment of federal education loans will be. An alternative to going to different colleges' websites to get aid and true cost estimates is to buy StudentAid.com's College Cost & Planning Report, which not only does all the calculation for you but also does most of the research about your chosen colleges from graduation and retention rates to miles from your front door. The reports are discounted for low-income students. Also remember that EVERYONE should prepare a federal student aid application (FAFSA) because with the cost of college so high, most people qualify for aid. If the form is to complicated for you or you want the assurance that yours is accurate, have a professional fee-based FAFSA prep service do it for you in about 20 minutes by phone. The federal government lets you get pro help, just like income taxes, or to do it yourself on the US Dept. of Education's website. Either way, apply as close to January 1 as possible so you are among the first in the virtual line for financial aid.