When families ask us about the pros and cons of using private education loans, the finance educators at College Coach are quick to point out that private loans can be less flexible and riskier than federal loans. In mid-March, the Senate passed a bill that, if eventually approved by the House and signed by the President, will make private student loans a little less uncertain.  The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act is a revision of parts of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform bill, and there are two obscure but troublesome features of private loans that it addresses.

If your child is headed off to college in the fall, you are probably worrying about a lot of things: What if he has a medical emergency while at school? What if he runs out of money? How will I know he is passing if I don’t see any of his school work?

There are documents pertaining to health, money, and college records that your child can sign to give you some peace of mind. Not all of these are required, but you may want to consider if you need them or not.

In the latest episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, host Elizabeth Heaton and her guests offer up some valuable insight on choosing a college and answer both college admissions and finance questions from our listeners.

Over the years, I’ve worked with many families who are shocked to hear that their children cannot borrow the full amount that they need to cover all college expenses not covered with financial aid. Undergraduates are actually quite limited in the amount they can borrow in their name alone: $5,500 for their first year, $6,500 for sophomore year, and $7,500 for junior and senior years. That’s only $27,000 in Federal Direct Loans for a student who is enrolled for four years. With high college expenses, these limited amounts may not go far in terms of covering that tuition bill.

There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. And while the media tends to focus on just a handful of schools, we at College Coach encourage students to think outside the box during their college selection process and explore a wide range of colleges. As such, we are highlighting a new college each week in our School Spotlight series. Check out the college below, along with the other posts in our series, and you may just stumble upon your dream school!

School Spotlight: New College of Florida
Sarasota, FL

There is a scholarship (or many scholarships) out there for everyone. Every student has some skill, interest, experience, or characteristic that may make them an attractive candidate for one scholarship or another. And while we often refer to scholarships as “free money,” scholarships don’t actually come for free. It takes work to thoughtfully consider your strengths and research the scholarships that might be most appropriate for you. While the effort that goes into finding and winning scholarships may be akin to a part-time job, we at College Coach want to make your job a little easier. This on-going scholarship series highlights a new scholarship each week. Check out the below, along with the other posts in the series, and you may discover a funding resource that will make covering that college bill a little (or a lot!) easier.

Writer and publisher William Feather once said, “Books can open your mind, broaden your mind, and strengthen you as nothing else can,” and those words ring true for many people, including prospective college students. We love the chance to support an independent bookstore that supports college students through this fabulous essay-based scholarship.

Scholarship: Open Mind Scholarship

The college application process can be a source of stress for any student, but is often particularly overwhelming to international students hoping to study in the United States. The U.S. is geographically and culturally diverse, and so are its colleges. With close to 5,000 U.S. colleges to choose from, how do you narrow your choices down to a manageable list of no more than ten schools to apply to?

For many parents of middle schoolers, the transition to the often bigger high school can seem overwhelming. There are so many curriculum choices and students are often given more independence in their course selection. College applications require a student’s transcript to display grades since the ninth grade, so the choices they make now may have an impact on their later opportunities. Here are a few of our tips to help your child make a smooth and seamless transition to their next school:

On the latest episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, host Ian Fisher and his guests discuss the common pitfalls of college visits and how to avoid them, how to prepare for the college decisions that are about to arrive, and debunking financial aid application myths.

If you paid college expenses in 2017, you may be entitled to a tax break. In the latest installment of the College Coach video series, Ask the College Finance Expert, former Southern New Hampshire University financial aid officer Alex Bickford breaks down the college tax breaks to ensure that parents and students claim all credits and deductions they are eligible for. Watch Alex’s video to learn, “What are the tax breaks for paying for college?”