by Shannon Vasconcelos, former financial aid officer at Tufts University

Parents are increasingly sacrificing their own retirements in favor of their children’s educations. As discussed in the Boston Globe, three-quarters of parents report a willingness to delay retirement in order to pay for college, and, in fact, by 2024 nearly a quarter of those over age 65 are anticipated to be either working or looking for work, almost twice as many as in 1984, the increase aided in no small part by ballooning college tuition rates.

by Shannon Vasconcelos, former financial aid officer at Tufts University

In a welcome reprieve from the sea of bad news we’ve been drowning in lately, today we have some good news for student loan borrowers.  We now know what federal student loan interest rates will be for the 2020/21 school year, and… drum roll, please… those interest rates have dropped to historic lows!

by Shannon Vasconcelos, former financial aid officer at Tufts University

How to Pay for College Without Receiving Any Financial Aid

Paying for college is a challenge.  While this statement is probably not news to anyone, we sometimes overlook the extent to which this challenge affects all income groups.  Whether rich, poor, or somewhere in between, most people spend most of what they earn. Few of us can write an annual check for $70,000 without breaking a sweat (or, perhaps, suffering a complete panic attack).  As a College Coach college finance expert, I work with families of all income levels struggling with the prospect of paying for college.  While students from lower income households often qualify for need-based financial aid, the assistance options for higher income families are more limited.  But that doesn’t mean they are nonexistent. Families can employ a number of strategies and utilize a wide range of resources to help pay for college when they don’t qualify for financial aid.

Can a Parent PLUS Loan be forgiven?

The short answer is yes.

And no.

Confused yet?

While the social distancing measures necessitated by the COVID-19 outbreak—cancelled events, school closures, and forced remote work—have inconvenienced nearly all of us, for some, coronavirus has meant economic catastrophe. Workers who become ill without access to paid sick leave, small business owners forced to close up shop, and hourly and/or tip-dependent employees dealing with either closed—or simply empty—workplaces can quickly find themselves teetering on the edge of financial solvency.

In recognition of this dilemma faced by many working families—and, specifically, many student loan borrowers—President Trump announced on Friday afternoon that his administration will be temporarily waiving interest charges on federal student loans. 

Families with college savings in the stock market are likely concerned after watching the recent dramatic fall in stock prices. Worry is understandable. Like a number of things in the college admissions process, the stock market is out of our immediate control. No matter how badly we want to push that line in an upward trajectory, the market does what the market does, and we need to accept and remember that this is the ebb and flow of investing. That reality does not mean, however, that we need to be passive observers of—or blind reactors to—what happens to our college savings. Tough economic times remind us more than ever that we need to take control of what we can in our finances, pay attention to our goals, and implement strategies most likely to make our goals a reality. As the stock market rises and falls, college savers should keep these points in mind:

Paying for college can be a monumental task, and often requires a team effort to pull it off, including significant contributions from the both the student and their parents. Lucky families may also receive help from outside their immediate household, most commonly from grandparents. But did you know that ill-timed tuition payments from grandma or grandpa could cost you substantial amounts of financial aid? Tune in to the latest installment of our video series, We Can Explain, to learn how grandparents can best help pay for college without costing the student financial aid. Click here to watch “College Finance Tips & How Grandparents Can Help.”

If you’re the parent of a high school senior, you’ve likely completed the FAFSA by now. And if your child applied to any private colleges, you may have also completed a CSS/Profile.  So congratulations!  The most difficult part of the financial aid application process is over.  You can now sit back, relax, and let the money roll in, right?

Wrong! Did you know you can ask for more financial aid?

On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law a government spending bill which included many provisions of the SECURE Act (short for Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act—quite a mouthful). As its extended name would imply, most of the provisions of the SECURE Act affect retirement accounts like IRAs and 401ks. One particular aspect of the new law that we thought may be of particular interest to Insider blog readers (all diligent college savers, I’m sure!) affects the use of 529 Plans.

Saving for college is always a good idea. While having significant money in the bank may reduce financial aid eligibility slightly, the amount you save will always help you pay for college much more than the small loss of financial aid will hurt you. But did you know that which family member’s name you save in can have a dramatic effect on the financial aid calculations?