Financial Aid & Scholarships
Colleges are great at saying, “We have hundreds of scholarships available!” But that just provokes more questions: What is need-based financial aid? How do scholarships work?
Melissa Brock
Writer & Blogger
My name is Melissa and I’m a longtime admission professional, personal finance writer, editor and parent of two (very!) busy kiddos. I couldn’t make it all happen without my husband, Steve.
I hatched my site because I’ve heard so many head-scratching questions from parents. I’ve journeyed in the footsteps of hundreds of families, trekked to dozens of college fairs and even weighed the (billions?) of college savings options for my own two kiddos.
6 Ways to Handle a Disappointing Financial Aid Award
You’ve gone on a dozen college visits with your son or daughter and watched as he or she applied to just as many schools. You’ve waited months for the financial aid award from his or her first-choice school to land in your inbox. You open it nervously and your eyes...
Top Tips: How Do Student Loans Work?
Student loans stir up a media frenzy all the time. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they still enable your son or daughter to get a degree that can increase his or her earnings way, way into the future. So, how do student loans work in the easiest language possible? (Key words,...
How to Apply for a Parent PLUS Loan in 6 Easy Steps
Calling all parents! Want to help your kiddo(s) pay for college by learning how to apply for a parent PLUS loan? (It's technically called a Direct PLUS Loan. We're using the commonly-used term "parent PLUS loan" for this post.) Lots of parents get parent PLUS...
What is Financial Aid? Plus, 6 Steps to Get It
Financial aid can seem like the most daunting hump in the getting-your-kid-to-college process. But what is financial aid, anyway? What does it entail? Don't worry, it's normal to be confused. Let’s compare financial aid to baking a cake. The ingredients —...
What is Need-Based Financial Aid?
There are lots of ways you can take care of the costs of college. You can pay for it all out of pocket, you might earn a scholarship because of your violin-playing talents or your high ACT score. Or you might get need-based financial aid. What is need-based financial...