Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!
by
by
Joe Rottenborn
Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)
20. GO TO COLLEGE: LINKS
Here are some additional links to articles of interest; they were drawn from the Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP) blog, with the original posting number shown.
Cost:
22. "College: More Expensive than Ever"
Read the article from Money at this link:http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/19/pf/college_costs/index.htm
Read the article from Money at this link:http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/19/pf/college_costs/index.htm
23. "Survey Finds That Many Families Don't Borrow for College"
See an article from The New York Times at this link:http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/24/survey-finds-that-many-families-dont-borrow-for-college/
24. "529 Savings Plan for College"
Check out a column on saving for college at this link:http://www.minyanville.com/articles/college+costs-+saving/index/a/24201#
To read Lynn O'Shaughnessy's post on how much 529 plan savings will affect your expected family contribution (EFC), derived from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), click this link:http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/the-no-1-fear-of-529-plan-investors/2164/?tag=col1;blog-river
28. "College Applicants Forego 'Dream Schools' in Recession"
Here's a link to this article of interest from the Boulder (CO) Daily Camera:http://www.dailycamera.com/cu-news/ci_13604363
To read a summary of the various guides that "rank" colleges, click on the post "Which College Rankings Set Should You Use," by Danielle Wiener-Bronner on The Huffington Post of 9/14/10, at this link:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/danielle-wienerbronner/which-college-rankings-se_b_716526.html
31. "College Dropouts Cite Low Money and High Stress"
Here's an article of importance on why college students drop out from The New York Times at this link:http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/agenda/?src=twt&twt=NYTimesCollege
32. "Average Debt for Graduating College Seniors Rises to $23,200"
Here's an article from The New York Times on college student loan debt at this link:http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/debt/?src=twt&twt=NYTimesCollege
38. Financial-Aid Websites
You can click on any of these websites for resources on financial-aid for college:
1. FinAid!--http://www.finaid.org/
2. College Board--http://www.collegeboard.com/student/pay/add-it-up/397.html
4. Student Aid on the Web (Federal Student Aid)--http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp
39. Student Loan-Debt
To read first-hand, student accounts of being in debt from college expenses, click on this series from HuffPost College:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/22/college-debt_n_471023.html?slidenumber=1mvKlgmw4aI%3D&&&slideshow#slide_image
40. Search for Scholarships
To search for scholarships that may interest you, you can access the following website:http://www.fastweb.com/login
43. Student Loan-Debt, Part II
To read about hazards of taking on too much loan-debt for college, click on the following links:
a. re: private loans--http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/02/25/money-college-why-one-student-advises-avoiding-private-student/
b. re: community college students-- http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-07-23-comcol-debt_N.htm?csp=usat.me
44. Understanding Financial-Aid Award Offer Letters
To decipher the financial-aid award offer letter a student will get from any college that has accepted his/her application for admission and received that student's FAFSA data, click these links by Lynn O'Shaughnessy from her articles on thecollegesolutionblog.com:
2. Part II--http://thecollegesolutionblog.com/2010/03/09/college-grants-decoding-a-financial-aid-letter-part-ii/
45. Calculating the Net Price of a College
Daniel de Vise, blogging in The Washington Post at College Inc., stated the following:"All colleges will be required to post a 'net price calculator' on their web sites by fall 2011. 'Net price' is what a student actually pays to attend, after subtracting discounts and grant aid from the sticker price."In addition, de Vise quoted Jeff Whorley, President of StudentAid.com, as follows: "Net price is sticker price minus merit and need-based grants. Up-front, out-of-pocket cost is the net price minus work-study and government loans."Calculate the net price of a college you are interested in and determine your "up-front, out-of-pocket cost" to make certain you can afford to attend.To read a report, released by The College Board in mid-September of 2010, on "discounting" (i.e., reducing tuition/fees through merit scholarships) by both private and public colleges, click on this link:http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/09/15/discounting
47. Verification
If your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) has been selected for verification, read the post by Doug Schantz of CheapScholar.org at this link:http://cheapscholar.org/2010/03/30/help-i-have-been-selected-for-financial-aid-verification/
49. "Can We Afford This College?"
In the April 2010 Money, Penelope Wang writes an article entitled "Can We Afford This College?" After students are accepted to a college, have filed their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and receive their financial-aid award offer letter, they and their parent(s) need to ask this same question. Ask it before the May 1 deadline to indicate to the college they will enroll; don't wait until the first bill arrives in August. If you can't make ends meet without taking on significant loan-debt, now's the time to consider other college possibilities.Writer Lynn O'Shaughnessy advises students and parent to get a "financial aid pre-read" early in the college-search process. You can see her column "What's This College Really Going To Cost," posted online on 9/9/10, at this link:http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/whats-this-college-really-going-to-cost/3007/?tag=col1;blog-river
50. Ask for a Reconsideration
If you can not afford to attend the college of your choice and hope more financial aid might enable you to enroll, you can ask your financial-aid officer to "reconsider" your financial-aid award. You may be asked to present financial-aid award offer letters from comparable colleges, complete a form on any "special circumstances" important to consider, or provide other information--but take a chance! Be polite, speak for yourself (rather than having a parent make the contact), and avoid using the term "negotiate." Stress that the college is your first choice and you'd like to attend, but your financial-aid award won't let you do that; therefore, can it be "reconsidered"? For suggestions on how to do this, read the blog posting by Lynn O'Shaughnessy at this link: http://thecollegesolutionblog.com/2010/03/21/student-aid-5-ways-to-negotiate-for-more-financial-aid/
Also, check out the post, "Fight for Financial Aid the Smart Way," by Peter McDougall at this link: http://ow.ly/1vhOM
Finally, Sandra J. Oliveira--Executive Director, Office of Financial Aid at Providence College--offers advice on appealing your finanical-aid award at this link from The New York Times:http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/aid-2/#more-19867
52. Tuition at Public Flagship Universities in the U.S.
To see tuitions during 2009-2010 at public flagship universities in the U.S., click the following link to a database in USA TODAY: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-10-20-college-costs_N.htm
To see the annual revenue and number of students enrolled by some of the largest for-profit companies/universities, click this link to an article in The Wall Street Journal, dated August 30, 2010:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703418004575455773289209384.html?mod=WSJ_article_related
To read the article by Stephanie Chen, "For-profit college risk: Huge debt, questionable degree," posted on 9/2/10, at CNN online, click this link:http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/09/02/for.profit.college.debt/index.html?hpt=C2
54. College Scholarships
Many students--and their parents--want to know how to get a college scholarship. The simple answer is "Be an attractive candidate for one"--that is, have a high grade-point average (GPA) in a rigorous course of study, earn a top class-rank, and score well on the ACT or SAT. In other words, be the type of student any college would love to have enroll--and might offer a scholarship to facilitate that. But there are other ways as well. For some ideas, check out the following links to these blog-posts by Lynn O'Shaughnessy:
1. "4 Ways to Win A Scholarship"--http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/college-scholarships-4-ways-to-win-a-scholarship/1761/
2. "The Best Places to Find College Cash"--http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/the-best-places-to-find-college-cash/442/?tag=content;col1
3. "The Myth About College Scholarships"--http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/the-myth-about-college-scholarships/312/?tag=content;col1
55. How Do Elite Schools Determine Prices?
For one opinion on why elite colleges and universities are expensive, see the opinion piece by Andrew Manshel, "Why Top Colleges Squeeze You Dry," in The Wall Street Journal on April 9, 2010, at this link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304017404575165730979629178.html?KEYWORDS=andrew+manshel
57. College Loans
Today, many students--and their parents--will likely consider loans to pay for college. Indeed, some may come to regard a loan as the "four-letter word" of financial aid! To learn more about borrowing for college, Lynn O'Shaughnessy has compiled several of her blog-posts on loans, "Best College Loan Advice: 9 Tips for Borrowing for College," at this link: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/saving-money/blog/college-solution/best-college-loan-advice-9-tips-for-borrowing-for-college/1864/?tag=col1;blog-river
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