Every parent frets, stresses and loses sleep over financing their college-bound teen’s college education. The good news is there is help available out there to ease your mind and get you on the right track to preparing for that day when your teen heads off to college. Here’s a list of my Top 10 College Money sites:
1. Reduce My College Costs–Marc Hill, CCPS, RFC® and founder of Reduce My College Costs, LLC. is both a financial planner and a parent, who know what you are going through. That’s why he created his firm to be a little different. It is not a scholarship search firm and not a student loan lender. He is well-versed in the financial aid process, but he knows not everyone is eligible for financial aid. So he takes a broader approach-identifying a variety of solutions that will make college more affordable for people at all income and asset levels.
2. FinAid–gives an overview of all types of college funding from scholarships, to loans, to savings, to military aid, to loans with links and information on each of them.
3, Saving for College–A top notch site explaining in great detail all the in and outs of college savings with calculators and tax information.
4. UPromise–A college savings service that harnesses the purchasing power of parents, extended family, family, and students to make it easier to pay for college. Members direct their spending to Upromise partners-including more than 600 online stores, 8,000+ restaurants, thousands of grocery and drugstore items-and earn money for college.
5. CollegeAnswer–Sallie Mae’s money management site gives an overview on college financing focusing on loans. The site provides a great School Affordability Analyzer.
6. CNN Money/College–A great site for the latest college financing news, calculators and how to maximize your financial aid.
7. MSN Money/College–A guide to saving for college with The Basics, Fast Answers and a message board.
8. CollegeBoard–The College Board’s EFC calculator which will help you determine your Expected Family Contribution BEFORE your teen starts applying to colleges.
9. Money Management 101–A blog created to help parents and students learn about money management.
10. StudentAid–A site for free information from the U.S. Department of Education and the home of the FAFSA4caster.