by Chrissy Foran, former financial aid officer at Washington State University

Financial aid can be a very confusing and overwhelming subject for many families. You go through the process with your child, fill out applications, and pore over financial aid award letters, carefully deciphering each one. After months of comparing and discussing and debating, your child makes that all-important decision of where they want to attend. Victory! You feel so proud, mostly for your child, but also for yourself, having survived the process! You think your hard work is done, and you can now relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor. It then dawns on you… wait… do I have to do this every year?!?!?? And then scarier questions arise: Could my child’s financial aid change next year? Might I get less?

by Shannon Vasconcelos, former financial aid officer at Tufts University

The COVID pandemic has upended the world of college admissions in all sorts of ways. You may have read recently about the tremendous upsurge in applications at some of the most selective schools in the country, but those positive numbers only tell a limited part of the “admissions in the age of COVID” story.

by Robyn Stewart, former financial aid officer at College of the Holy Cross

Many high school seniors and their families selected for financial aid verification are currently wondering, “What could the Financial Aid Office possibly want now?” May 1, the national deadline to deposit at your chosen college is looming in the not-so-distant future, and yet some students are still submitting additional information to the aid offices on their college list. “Didn’t we already send them this?” families may ask as they jump through what they perceive to be another hoop on the road to receiving financial aid. Remember, the financial aid process is an exchange of information for dollars: your financial information for financial aid dollars. Don’t be discouraged! Your financial aid offer is on the way, but you may have a few extra steps to take.

Common questions from students who are selected for verification include:

Paying for college for a child is a challenge, let alone paying for college for two or three or four children. Does the financial aid formula account for the added cost of raising and educating multiple children? Find out in the latest article on the Edmit blog by Bright Horizons College Coach finance consultant Shannon Vasconcelos.

by Shannon Vasconcelos, former financial aid officer at Tufts University

If you’ve been within shouting distance of a TV, computer, tablet, phone, or newspaper today, you’ve likely heard that Congress passed an omnibus spending bill last night, including a COVID relief package. What you may not have heard much about yet is a number of significant changes to federal financial aid programs included in the legislation.  More details will be forthcoming, and the bill is still pending President Trump’s signature, but, for now, here are the major provisions in the bill that may directly or indirectly affect how students and parents pay for college:

by Michelle Richardson, former Assistant Vice President at Chase Student Loans

I have been asked this question multiple times over my years of counseling and educating families on available financial aid resources. Every student and parent would prefer grants to student loans, as grants do not need to be paid back. Let me take this opportunity to explain what a Pell Grant is and how students qualify for them.

Are you wondering if you can apply for financial aid on your own, without your parents’ financial information? While most traditionally-aged college students will require parental information as part of the financial aid process, some students are considered independent and can apply for need-based scholarships, grants, and student loans based solely upon their own information.

In the latest installment of the Bright Horizons College Coach video series, We Can Explain, we break down what it takes to be considered independent by a financial aid office.

by Robyn Stewart, former financial aid officer at College of the Holy Cross

If you are a regular reader of the Bright Horizons College Coach blog, you know that students are not required to include information about their non-custodial parent (NCP) on the FAFSA (the Free Application for Federal Student Aid). There are institutions, however, that do collect this information. Over 200 colleges and universities require students to complete a second application called the College Scholarship Service (CSS) Profile, and most of these require students to have their NCP submit income and asset information as part of the student’s aid application.

Financial aid officers understand that getting this information may be difficult or impossible for some students. Since failure to complete the non-custodial parent’s part of an aid application may result in the student losing institutional financial aid dollars, colleges that require non-custodial parent information have a process by which the student can request that the requirement to include NCP information be waived.

by Shannon Vasconcelos, former financial aid officer at Tufts University

In order to access financial aid for college, you can list up to 10 schools on your FAFSA (if you’re applying to more than 10 colleges, read our post How to Apply to More than 10 Schools on the FAFSA) to receive your family’s financial information. Upon receipt of your complete financial aid application, those colleges’ financial aid offices will determine your eligibility for any applicable federal, state, and institutional aid programs.

We are often asked if there is a particular order in which order a student should list colleges on the FAFSA in order to maximize financial aid or chances of admission. The good news for students is that, in most cases, it makes absolutely no difference in what order you list your schools: listing from first choice to last, in alphabetical order, or by favorite school color will not change your admissions or financial aid outcomes in any way.

Applying for financial aid can by scary. It’s intrusive. It’s intimidating. And it’s high stakes.

But don’t let fear stop you for accessing the money you need to go to college.

In the latest installment of the Bright Horizons College Coach video series, We Can Explain, we break down the financial aid application process into 10 easy steps.