The easiest thing students can do to earn free money for college is get good grades and test well on the standardized tests (SAT/ACT). Now this doesn’t start when your student is in the middle of their senior year of high school. Start good grades when you are a Freshman in high school.

Yeah-yeah I know you would rather party, shop or play Xbox, but if you want to land enough financial aid for the upcoming college year you’ve got to do some work. And it starts early on in high school.

Parents and students have had a one-two punch with the economic crash, which has affected both household assets as well as higher education institution’s assets. The end result is more competition for less aid.

For parents and students in search of financial aid, success hinges on two key factors: filling out applications early and thoroughly. One wrong answer can mean the difference of thousands of dollars of aid lost. And with the clock ticking on most financial aid forms, this is one assignment you really shouldn’t procrastinate on.

The first time you can fill out the federal financial aid form is January of your students Senior year of high school.

Here are 5 keys to secure as much financial aid as possible.

1. Don’t believe the FAFSA Deadline. It is first come first serve. You snooze, you lose. The Pie is only so big. While the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form typically is accepted until the end of June (for the 2009-2010 academic year, it’s accepted until June 30, 2010), to get a sizeable financial aid package, students will need to file their FAFSA within the first few weeks of availability. Individual colleges and universities set their own priority deadlines, which tend to fall somewhere between mid-January and the beginning of March 2009 for incoming college students

Wait too long and the financial aid pie shrinks. Do you want crumbs or a nice slice?

2. Make sure the college knows your financial situation. A family’s financial situation is a key determinant in the amount of aid a student receives. The only thing on the financial aid form is a list of questions pertaining to money and numbers. Nowhere on the form does it ask if you were recently laid off or downsized, or had to pay excessive medical bills. College financial aid offices won’t open their tightfisted palms unless they think you really need it. It’s up to you to convince them.

Financial aid is based on an estimate of what the family’s tax return will look like for the year. But given this year’s crazy economic environment, which saw spikes in unemployment and many salaries chopped. To help improve the chances of receiving more financial aid, students or their parents should contact the college’s financial aid office and explain any recent changes in the family’s financial situation.

3. Beware of Scholarships. But I thought scholarships were good, you say. Even a few thousand dollars in scholarships can mean the difference between attending that pricey dream school versus going to your local back-up college. However, before students start applying for every scholarship they can get their hands on, they should consider the drawbacks. Landing a scholarship, or several scholarships, can actually decrease the amount of money a university or college is willing to give you in financial aid. Yep you heard that right, decrease. Many aid offices account for that free money as an asset they weigh into their aid calculations. Before applying for scholarships, ask the college’s financial aid office how they’ll affect your financial aid package. Plus check to see if the private scholarship you are aiming for is renewable. You may win $1,000 bucks for this year and the college will cut your financial aid package by that much. But what about next year? If that scholarship is not renewable and the college or university doesn’t account for this loss the following year it will cost you that much more.

4. Ask. The worst thing a family in need can do is give up. If you aren’t satisfied with the financial aid package you receive, appeal to the college’s financial aid office for a bigger one. Since some aid may free up later in the year (say, if they extend aid to a student who decides to go to another school) it’s always worth a shot.

Just be prepared for the plea to backfire. Because you are opening the door for financial aid officers to rummage deeper into the family’s finances, it’s possible you could walk out with less aid than you were originally given.

5. Get good grades. Remember my first comments. Get good grades, unweighted. And study for the PSAT, SAT and ACT. Talk to your teachers if you need help. Do your best.

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Financial Aid Scammers pop their foul heads up again

It is bad enough that students and parents are bombarded every which way with college admissions, essays, and financial aid. Now parents and students need to keep their antennas up for shady criminals.

Lets call them what they are low down dirty thieves, crooks, bandits. These unscrupulous villains prey on the innocent and greedy. If it is too good to be true, you know the old adage it probably is.

If ANY scholarship company asks you for money first then they will give you money, something is wrong with that. Check out my article top scholarship scams http://azcollegeplanning.com/2008/09/62/

Here is another article from an Iowa paper ———– 

Beware of college financial aid scams

By Andrew Potter, December 22, 2008

Paying for college is tougher than ever in these economic times, which means scholarships and financial aid can be a saving grace for some students.

Unfortunately, there are some companies who prey on these students promising them big money for college but then end up taking money from the student.

One scam has students cash a check for $50,000 which ends up being counterfeit and costing the student $4,000.

The Iowa College Aid Student Commission is advising never to pay a fee to confirm eligibility for a scholarship. (AZ College Planning advises the same.)

“Any promise made by a company claiming to guarantee scholarships for a fee should immediately raise a red flag,” said Karen Misjak, executive director of the Iowa College Student Aid Commission.

Misjak noted to never provide bank or credit card information to these companies. For more information on free resources for college aid visit www.iowacollegeaid.gov

original article is here- 

http://www.timesrepublican.com/page/content.detail/id/513243.html?nav=5005

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By J.D. Wyczalek

Remember the line in the hit movie Jerry Maguire “Show me the money!”

There is also an old adage why do thieves rob banks, because that is where the money is.

In the whole college financial aid game (and yes it is a game with players, winners and losers) in this game you have to know the rules and the playing field.

My son plays on a club soccer team. We had a game the other weekend at 8:00 AM. It was crisp and cold. At 8:20 AM the other team still had not showed up. And had they not showed up within the next 5 minutes, it would have been a forfeit.

So my point is, as a player in the college game first you must know which fields to play. Not every college is created equal. Some have bigger pots at the end of their rainbows than others. Yale for example has an asset bucket in the $17,000,000,000.00 (17 Billion). And they are shedding tears because their pot has lost value.

Yes, the economic turmoil has caused a lot of loss but lets look at it this way. In 2004 Yale had $12.7 billion and in 2005 their numbers were $15.2 billion. So they are still up from those numbers.

When your student applies to a college do you know how much is in their dowry? Colleges that have bigger cash rolls tend to be more generous in handing out scholarship/grant money.

An example is Rice University. They are changing the rules for financial aid for their institution. Rice University is raising the annual income threshold for need-based financial aid to $80,000 a year, up from $60,000, in response to the state of the U.S. economy.

“We don’t want any families to be deterred from sending a loved one to college because of the economy,” said President David Leebron.

Rice University also said it will continue to extend admission and financial aid to non-need students as well. Some 30 percent of the freshman class will receive a merit scholarship.

So schools like this have bucks to give out. This of course all started with Harvard and the IRS.

Uncle Sam’s IRS tax collectors started salivating when they turned their eyes towards the assets of colleges. The IRS created a 33-page questionnaire here is a link on the website  to the PDF.

So Harvard said look, look we are giving out more money. Harvard rewrote their rules for handing out financial aid and actually increased the amount of aid given out and has increased who is eligible to receive it.

Show me the money.

It all starts with the FAFSA the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Fill this form out and submit it to the colleges your student has applied to, to qualify for financial aid.

If you have ever played a game with a 3 year old child who changed the rules in the middle of the game only to make it confusing, difficult and even frustrating. So goes the financial aid rules as described in the updated amendment signed by President George Bush in August 2008 (Higher Education Opportunity Act). New rules, new game.

Who knows where the next administration is going to go with newer rules and newer regulations.

In a nutshell research your college choices. Best-fit college means more than majors offered, amenities and features.

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I bet you’ll be surprised about how student loans REALLY work.  Here’s what I mean.

On Monday, NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced a settlement with the College Board over its former loan practices.

That’s right, that’s the same College Board that tortures high schoolers with the SAT, the CSS/Profile financial aid form and other familiar items. Apparently the Board was making money from sources other than test registration fees, like lending to students. Which in it self isn’t bad, it’s just how they got the business.

Attorney General Cuomo had a problem with the way in which the College Board was conducting this business.

Cuomo found that the College Board gave discounts to certain colleges, breaks related to prices paid by the financial aid offices for software and other services.

How did these colleges earn this special pricing from the College Board?  By placing College Board loans in their list of recommended, or “preferred” lenders.

Its bad enough that parents and students have to jump through so many hoops to get aid and you pratically need a law degree and lawers dictionary just to understand the who-for what-too and such-not that is described in the Higher Education Opportunity Act.

In other words, the College Board was alleged to have “bribed” (my word, not Cuomo’s) these colleges into advertising the student loans offered by the College Board.

It kind of gives you the feel of a shady guy in a pinstriped suit that just stepped out of his Ford Model T and tells the storeowner if you want protection you gotta pay me. (Yeah I may be embellishing this but it makes for a better read!)

“Loans are hard enough to come by these days; the last thing we need are deceitful arrangements like this one that stand squarely in the way of students and parents getting the facts,” said Cuomo.

And I bet you thought the company that issues the SAT was a non-profit or educational institution, right?

Nope, they’re in business like everyone else involved in higher education. They’re out to make a buck.

Side note: J.D. the College Guy has been touting this for years! College is BIG business. If the profits don’t come in the college will shut its doors.

Not that there is anything wrong with that, of course. I make a nice living advising parents of college-bound kids how to slash their college expenses.  Everyone is entitled to make a few dollars, no matter who is President!

The real issue is the deceptive manner in which the College Board, and the colleges themselves, allegedly made their money Like a three year old with their hand in the cookie jar they admitted no wrongdoing, not surprisingly.

When you go to apply to college, understand the main point made by this blog – that college is a BUSINESS. Big Business, and in the case of some colleges really big business. We won’t mention Harvard who has a nice bank account in the $35 billion range even in todays market.

This knowledge should affect almost everything you do regarding your student’s college education, including where you apply for admission, how you apply for financial aid, how you apply for other scholarships and how you negotiate a financial aid award letter, among others.

If you don’t understand this, you’re setting yourself up to over-pay needlessly for your student’s college education.  You could be forcing your future college student to attend a “cheaper,” less-desirable college, than if you paid attention to the business of college.

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State offers $1 million in aid to low-income students
By:Philip Haldiman, Dec 3, 2008

(see J.D.’s comments at the end of this article.)

Low-income college and university students just received another financial-aid opportunity from the state.
Gov. Janet Napolitano announced Tuesday that $1 million in new financial-aid funding from the U.S. Department of Education will be available to continuing students who demonstrate financial need, said Shilo Mitchell, a spokeswoman for the governor.
“It’s another option for students who want to pursue higher education,” Mitchell said. “It could ensure that students who may not have the opportunity get that opportunity.”
Students must have completed at least one year of higher education and meet other eligibility requirements to apply.
Applicants could receive up to a $2,000 grant per year for two years. Students may apply for grants from the Arizona College Access Aid Program online at azgrants.gov.
“A good education — and higher education in particular — will be necessary to compete in Arizona’s 21st century economy,” Napolitano said in a press release. “In these tough economic times, this grant will open the door for Arizona students to continue pursuing college degrees, who may not have been able to otherwise.”
ASU’s financial-aid office did not provide comment on the grant program by press time.
The grants to low-income students are funded by a $2.7 million award the state of Arizona received through the U.S. Department of Education’s College Access Challenge Grant, which helps low-income students prepare for and attend college.
The $1.7 million that’s not distributed directly to students will be used to provide competitive grants to college access programs. These programs help low-income students and families prepare for higher education, Mitchell said.
The purpose of the federal grant program is to foster partnerships among federal, state, and local governments and philanthropic organizations through matching challenge grants that are aimed at increasing the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.

J.D.’s comments:
Okay that is all well and good for underprivileged families. But what about the backbone of America? The middleclass family, those that make $40,000 to $180,000.
I am all for helping those in need. The reality of it is middleclass families need help to.
The key (here I am on my soapbox again) is research and positioning. Did you know that there are colleges out there that would love to see your B average student and are willing to throw money at them? Even affluent families have captured these dollars.
Parents have been drilled in the head “you make to much to qualify for aid.” In the words of Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge “Baa-humbug! ”
Finding the right schools or coined “best fit” college is paramount.
What is best fit you say? Well, best fit is demographics. No, I am not talking about ethnicity or male-female ratios. It’s where does your student fall in the GPA and standardized test score demographics, top third, middle third or bottom third.
Some professionals say that your student should apply to 3 types of colleges. Safety schools, good match schools and reach schools.
I disagree. Here’s why. Sure you can apply to your reach schools and your student may get it. However, your student may be at the bottom of the grade scale and will most likely not be offered much or nothing at all in the form of scholarships or grants, because this type of student is not highly desirable by that particular institution.
Your student may want to apply to 1 or 2 (leaning more towards 1) reach school and the bulk of the other schools in good match with 2 safety schools to fall back on.
AZ College Planning recommends applying to 8 colleges, 1 reach (maybe) 5 good fit schools, and 2-3 safety colleges.
Also research what schools have money to give out.
Affluent or middleclass, you can position your student to be a highly desirable college candidate with a bit of research.

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