Financial Aid and Money Management

The Financial Aid Handbook is the only book families need to find the right college at the right price. This completely revised, up-to-date edition builds on the success of the original--the definitive, one-stop guide to the college selection and payment process, covering everything from basic timelines and tuition costs to predicting your scholarship award from colleges and taking ownership of student debt after graduation. Updated to reflect the most recent changes in federal processes and timelines and including new chapters for undocumented and homeless students, this revised edition is a must-have for high school students and their parents. The Financial Aid Handbook features straightforward language, engaging explanations, and hundreds of tips to maximize your financial aid--the scholarship funds that come from colleges themselves. It includes: The nine biggest myths about paying for college. A step-by-step guide to completing FAFSA. The ultimate guide to federal, state, and private student loans. How to predict scholarship dollars with the Merit Aid Profile.

Sara Goldrick-Rab, with Paying the Price, shows in damning detail exactly why college is far too expensive for many people today, and the confusing mix of federal, state, institutional, and private financial aid leaves countless students without the resources they need to pay for it. Drawing on an unprecedented study of 3,000 young adults who entered public colleges and universities in Wisconsin in 2008 with the support of federal aid and Pell Grants, Goldrick-Rab reveals the devastating effect of these shortfalls. Half the students in the study left college without a degree, while less than 20 percent finished within five years. The cause of their problems, time and again, was lack of money. Unable to afford tuition, books, and living expenses, they worked too many hours at outside jobs, dropped classes, took time off to save money, and even went without adequate food or housing. In many heartbreaking cases, they simply left school--not with a degree, but with crippling debt. Goldrick-Rab combines that shocking data with devastating stories of six individual students, whose struggles make clear the horrifying human and financial costs of our convoluted financial aid policies.

With insight and humor, Jodi Okun takes you inside the often murky world of college financing. First as a financial aid consultant at Occidental and Pitzer colleges, and then in her own successful consulting business, College Financial Aid Advisors (CFAA), Jodi learned firsthand the struggles families endure to find financing and pay for college. In Secrets of a Financial Aid Pro, she demystifies the process and presents sensible solutions any family can use as they go through what can be a complicated and intimidating affair. No matter where you are in the financing pipeline, this book will be an invaluable resource. Understand what you should be doing--and when you should be doing it--to set yourself up for the best possible college financing. Learn how to find and apply for every type of financial aid, including FAFSA, grants, scholarships, and loans. Find out how to give your student the financial skills they'll need for life--it all starts in college by helping them manage expenses and money. With insight and humor, Jodi Okun takes you inside the often murky world of college financing. First as a financial aid consultant at Occidental and Pitzer colleges, and then in her own successful consulting business, College Financial Aid Advisors (CFAA), Jodi learned firsthand the struggles families endure to find financing and pay for college. In Secrets of a Financial Aid Pro, she demystifies the process and presents sensible solutions any family can use as they go through what can be a complicated and intimidating affair. No matter where you are in the financing pipeline, this book will be an invaluable resource. Understand what you should be doing--and when you should be doing it--to set yourself up for the best possible college financing. Learn how to find and apply for every type of financial aid, including FAFSA, grants, scholarships, and loans. Find out how to give your student the financial skills they'll need for life--it all starts in college by helping them manage expenses and money.

Is it still worth it for low-income students to attend college, given the debt incurred? This book provides a new framework for evaluating the financial aid system in America, positing that aid must not only allow access to higher education, but also help students succeed in college and facilitate their financial health post-college. * Reveals the inadequacy of the scope of the current educational and economic policy debates, including moves to funnel low-income children toward two-year degrees, structure alternative debt repayment schedules, and constrain increases in college tuition * Answers the question: "Does the student who goes to college and graduates but has outstanding student debt achieve similar financial outcomes to the student who graduates from college without student debt?" * Examines an important subject of interest to educators, students, and general readers that is related to the larger topics of education, economics, social problems, social policy, public policy, debt, and asset building * Provides empirical evidence and theoretical support for a fundamental shift in U.S. financial aid policy, from debt dependence to asset empowerment, including an explanation of how institutional facilitation makes Children's Savings Accounts potentially potent levers for children's educational attainment and economic well-being, before, during, and after college