Estimate your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) during your child's junior year. By getting an idea of what you might pay, you can find colleges within your price range and identify what you might need in scholarships and loans to manage your tuition costs.
An entire 20 percent of your child's assets are considered available for college, as opposed to just 5.6 percent of yours. Encourage your child to save, but keep college funds in a custodial account.
This is one of the most important aspects of competing for merit-based awards. Highlight your child's accomplishments and an award committee will be that much more likely to consider giving a scholarship to your son or daughter.
Ask to speak with someone in the financial aid office - it's the best way to get your family on the radar for campus-based awards. Afterwards, take some notes! These contacts could come in handy later.
Determine if your child's application for aid affects the probability of admittance. If so, find out how.
If your child is thinking of applying Early Decision or Early Action, determine how it will affect your chances for aid. Early Decision acceptance may prevent you from comparing awards, because your child will have to commit to the school before you see the aid offers from other applications. (This is not a factor if your child is accepted under an Early Action or Single-Choice Early Action application, as these are non-binding offers.)
If your child receives an outside scholarship, find out how it will affect your financial aid award. Some schools will lessen grant aid, and others will pare down on loans. The school’s policy will affect the amount you’ll have to borrow.
The sooner your child files his or her college applications, the better your chances of receiving aid. To assist with financial aid forms, file your taxes as early in the year as possible. Keep in mind that if you are applying to schools that require the PROFILE financial aid application, it may have an earlier deadline than the FAFSA.
If you have lost your job since completing the FAFSA or PROFILE, inform schools about your situation. Most have standard policies that allow for the use of projected income, which could increase financial assistance.