It’s no secret that a college education is expensive. But there are ways to keep costs as low as possible.
Laura Uzes, a senior at UCLA, shared her tried-and-true advice for keeping college costs down with Homeroom, the US Department of Education’s blog.
Continue reading College Senior Offers Financial Advice to Incoming Freshmen
Financial aid offers play a big role in the college decision for admitted students.
But these offers are often confusing and award letters vary wildly, leaving students to make one of their first major life decisions without access to clear information.
“I think anyone who’s worked with students is just like, ‘No, no, no, no, no. What a mess,’ ” Rachel Fishman, a researcher with New America, told NPR. “It’s really the Wild West when it comes to how these letters look.”
Continue reading Study: Financial Aid Award Letters Need More Clarity, Transparency
Need help talking about college costs with the families you serve?
Newly translated materials from NACAC make it easy to connect with Spanish-speaking students and their parents/guardians.
Continue reading Now Available in Spanish: NACAC’s College Affordability Handouts
As costs continue to rise, planning how to finance a four-year degree has become an essential part of the college application process.
A new resource from NACAC aims to clear up the confusion around college affordability and spark necessary conversations.
“Free college” programs eliminate one of the biggest barriers to a college degree, but for adults returning to school, tuition isn’t the only stressor.
About 13,000 adults enrolled last fall in Tennessee Reconnect, a state program that gives free community college tuition to people over age 25 who haven’t yet earned a college degree.
Mike Krause, head of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission that oversees Tennessee Reconnect, told NPR they need to do more to prevent students from dropping out because their reasons for leaving school aren’t always financial.
Continue reading Adults Returning to College Face Barriers Beyond Tuition Cost
Higher education is often a pathway to finding a job, owning a home, and earning higher wages throughout a person’s lifetime.
But access to higher education for the nation’s prison population has faced significant challenges over the past few decades.
A new bipartisan bill making its way through Congress would restore Pell Grant eligibility for incarcerated individuals, giving many the ability to pay for higher education and workforce training.
Continue reading Bipartisan Bill Supports College Access for the Incarcerated
Many college fairs are held during the fall. They provide a great opportunity for high school students and their parents or guardians to talk with college admission representatives. At two annual college fairs I am familiar with, financial aid representatives have a booth and talk about local scholarship options. Unfortunately, their booths are not very busy while admission representatives have many students waiting to discuss admission requirements. Usually the reps whose colleges are the most competitive and have the most well-known names have the longest lines.
In many instances, top students wait in long lines for well-known colleges because they have been encouraged to apply. Student GPAs and test scores can assist with the admission process, but there is a catch. Because most of the students applying to these colleges will also have impressive academic backgrounds, the colleges may not offer a generous financial award package to each student. Every college does things differently.
Though movies and television make it seem like a full-ride scholarship will be readily available for nearly every student, reality is starkly different.
Continue reading By the Numbers: Student Scholarship Chances
Editor’s note: A version of this post was originally published on Admitted in March 2016. It’s being republished as part of NACAC’s Best of the Blog series.
Getting into college is only half the battle for teens living in poverty.
To prove eligibility for financial aid, many colleges ask low-income students to submit a mountain of paperwork — going beyond what is required of their middle- and upper-income peers, NACAC member Joshua Steckel wrote in a 2016 opinion column published by The Boston Globe.
The process is burdensome, he noted. Worst of all, it can discourage talented students from accessing the financial support they need to attend college.
Continue reading Counselor: Financial Aid Process Burdens Low-Income Students
Could “food scholarships” help more students complete college?
Daphne Hernandez, an assistant professor of nutrition and obesity studies at the University of Houston, thinks so.
In a column published this month by Community College Daily, Hernandez noted that an estimated 50 percent of community college students nationwide lack access to healthy and affordable foods.
