Category Archives: financial planning

college planning, college prep, financial planning, parenting

What is the Parent’s Role in the College Prep Process?

parent's role

If you have a college-bound student, how do you help them will college prep while letting them own the process? What is the parent’s role?

With all the talk of helicopter parenting, over parenting, and parents refusing to allow their students to become independent adults, it’s important to understand how to coach your teenager without crossing the line.

An article in Forbes magazine quoted a study conducted by Florida State University focusing on some of the issues with today’s parenting:

Helicopter parents are “overly involved, protective parents who provide substantial support (e.g., financial, emotional, physical health advice) to their emerging adult children, often intervening in their affairs and making decisions for them.

Individuals with parents who engage in highly controlling, overprotective behaviors have been characterized as being overly needy in terms of seeking attention, approval and direction from others,” the authors wrote in summarizing past research. “In addition, they have been found to utilize more ineffective coping skills, express higher levels of narcissism and demonstrate lower self-efficacy.

In contrast…

“Developmentally appropriate parenting can promote healthy decision-making and a child’s development of autonomy, increasing the likelihood that their children will become independent, well-adjusted, problem-solving adults. They tend to cope better with stress, have more self-esteem and experience less depression.”

Knowing this…

What is a parent’s role during the college prep process?

How can you successfully coach your college bound student?  

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admissions, college planning, college prep, college visits, financial planning, parenting

10 Ways Parents Can Help With College Prep

college prep

As a parent, you most certainly think about your child’s future and so often college prep is a part of that future. You may see them as an engineer, a teacher, or a doctor. You may picture them at your alma mater, or being the first in your family to attend college. Maybe you just hope they find a passion and pursue it. Whatever you hope, you want what is best for your child and to support them in achieving their goals.

College prep is a team effort. While the student leads the team and is ultimately the one who makes the final decision, parents can participate. This is an overwhelming process to handle alone and parents can ease some of the tremendous stress and burden.

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100+ College Prep Resources

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college prep resources

It’s exhausting searching and scouring the internet for the right information when it comes to helping your student prepare for college. But what if you could use ONLY ONE RESOURCE and find everything you ever wanted to know about college prep? Wouldn’t that be amazing?

Here it is. I’ve done the research, examined the links and their resources, and compiled a list of 100+ college prep resources for you. (If you know of others, please leave them in the comments and I will add them to the list!)

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admissions, college guidance, financial aid, financial planning, parenting

Southern Truisms for the College Admissions Process

southern truisms

I’ll admit (willingly) that I like to offer my unsolicited advice to my children, often in the form of southern truisms (I grew up in the south and was raised by a family of southerners). Even though they are grown, I feel the need to continue to parent. As they did when they were younger, they smile, listen, and then do things their own way. It’s a type of dance parents and kids do with one another.

The hardest part of the college admissions process for a parent is finding a balance in your parenting. You want to encourage them, guide them and help them make the right choices. But when you push too hard, nag and set guidelines that interfere with their independence and individual choices you create a stressful and frustrating college preparation experience. This is a monumental step in your child’s life and you don’t want to taint it with fighting, frustration and family discourse.

Following are 5 tips for parents of college-bound teens (based around good old southern truisms) to keep peace in the home and reduce the stress related to the college admissions process:

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admissions, financial aid, financial planning, parenting, work study

Different Types of Financial Aid

types of financial aid

Those two little words — “financial aid” — can be music to a parent’s ears. I know they were to me!

What I didn’t know as I began the college application process with my daughter was that there are a number of different types of aid available. Not only that, but the awards colleges offer when they offer admission can vary tremendously.

I was surprised to find that many private colleges can be generous with merit aid because they have institutional funds to distribute as well as federal dollars, while public universities with tight budgets may offer less aid. This can result in a private college with a higher “sticker price” costing less to attend than a public university.

Back to the example of my daughter, who applied to a mix of public and private universities. We knew we would need help financing her education, so when she applied to college she also applied for financial aid and we completed two online forms: the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE (administered by the College Board and required by many private schools and some flagship state universities).

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admissions, financial aid, financial planning, scholarships

6 Ways to Search for College Scholarships

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college scholarships

For college-bound students, scholarships can fill in the gap between what you can afford and the cost of the school. Most students believe college scholarships are a pipe dream if they aren’t athletes or 4.0 students. But nothing could be further from the truth. There are thousands of scholarships available for the taking. You just need to find them.

There are six key places to look. But remember: Finding them is half the battle. You have to put in the effort to apply and be vigilant in paying attention to requirements and deadlines.

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FAFSA, financial aid, financial planning, parenting

10 Reasons to Complete the FAFSA

complete the fafsa

The FAFSA for the 2022-23 school year will be available on October 1. The earlier you file, the better your chances of getting some of the money colleges allocate for financial aid. In order to help parents understand the FAFSA and answer some of your questions, this week is FAFSA week.

According to a new SallieMae study, 70% of families reported submitting the FAFSA for AY 2021–22. This figure represents the first time in four years that FAFSA submission rates did not decline-last year it was 68%. Low- and middle-income families submitted the FAFSA® at a higher rate than their higher-income counterparts.

Many families believe their income is too high to submit the FAFSA. Most families who didn’t file the FAFSA® said it was because they believed their income was too high (36%). While families earning more than $150,000 annually were most likely to select this reason (74%), 26% of families making less than $150,000 also believed their income is too high to qualify for aid.

Here are the other reasons for not submitting the FAFSA:

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FAFSA, financial aid, financial planning, parenting

Just for Parents: Understanding the FAFSA

understanding the fafsa

For many parents, understanding the FAFSA can be complicated. It’s not meant to be, but as with all government forms, it can be daunting.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form is the student’s responsibility, but when a student is considered a dependent student for FAFSA purposes, parents have a large role in the application process. Educate yourself about the process and opportunities so you can provide the guidance your child needs to do their part. 

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college news, FAFSA, financial aid, financial planning

Changes Coming to the FAFSA in October

FAFSA CHANGES

This year’s FAFSA changes are mainly cosmetic. The online FAFSA form is receiving a visual update that gives it a similar look and feel that puts it more in line with other tools featured on StudentAid.gov. A new simplified form being released in October of 2022 also has just 36 questions to answer, down from the 108 of previous years.

Noticeable changes you may see if you fill out the FAFSA later this year include:

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