Recently Elizabeth Spiers of Slate.com asked me to comment on one of their readers’ questions on divorced parents, college financial aid, & FAFSA. This advice also applies to step-parents, domestic partners, and others that want to help with the cost of education or don’t know to what extent they are responsible.

Parents in this scenario do have options to better their odds in obtaining more financial aid for the student’s education. Many factors come into play in various situations. Parents need to be savvy and proactive in pursuing college financial aid, especially in this example. How the school will assess the family’s information will differ from college to college. What form(s) is the college requiring? FAFSA or the CSS Profile? If Profile, many will require an additional form called the Non-Custodial Parent. In my opinion, this form is unfair for several reasons. For example, if the ex is remarried, now the system (colleges) is trying to assess three parents instead of two. How about if both parents are remarried? Yes, now they want four parents’ information.

If you have questions about divorced parents, college financial aid, FAFSA, would like more information or clarification, please contact our staff.

Slate.com Article
I’m Worried the Government Will Force Me to Pay for My Stepkids’ College
https://slate.com/business/2022/02/advice-for-step-parenting-how-to-handle-fafsa-when-youre-about-to-divorce.html

College students get Federal student loan relief until May 2022. The current administration extended a student loan moratorium that has allowed families to put off debt payments during the pandemic. Payments on Federal student loans will be paused through May 1, 2022.

Some of the benefits for students and parents are, no mandatory federal student loan payments, no new student loan interest accrual, and no collection of student loans in default. In addition, wage garnishment and the reduction of tax refunds have been prohibited, providing help for student loan borrowers struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even though students have more time to pay off their loans, they should not sit back and relax. Borrowers might want to continue making payments on federal loans if they want to pay down their debt faster.

If you do continue making payments, you won’t pay any new interest on your loans during the forbearance. The 0% interest rate will save you money overall, even though your payment won’t be lower.

The full amount of your payment will be applied to the principal balance of your loan once all interest accrued prior to March 13 is paid. The student loans relief until May 2022 could be extended, but don’t count on it. Now is a great time to make extra payments if you are able.

If you are looking to lower your out-of-pocket cost for college and want options other than student loans. Contact us now for a FREE consultation. We are full-service financial aid consultants and can act as your fafsa preparer.

The Ultimate Guide to College virtual summit focuses on helping students and parents understand the current college landscape. Watch the video from the virtual summit below to learn “What parents can be doing to prepare for the cost of college.”

During the Ultimate Guide To College summit, I was interviewed by Kathryn Clowes with March Consulting. The interview will be part of a 7-day summit that the team at March Consulting has just pulled together that will include 16 college and career experts.

Industry professionals provide insights for students and parents to help guide them in the right direction in today’s current college landscape. This is an opportunity for a wide range of students to be exposed to different opportunities where their futures are concerned in an informative, fun, casual, and distanced environment.

Watch my interview from the virtual summit. If you would like more financial aid consulting services, including a complimentary consultation, please contact us. Until then, enjoy the video.

The Simple Dollar reached out to me for their list of “100+ Scholarships for International Students” resource. They wanted to see what advice I could offer international students looking scholarships and financial aid.  While I offered a number of different suggestion based on my 26 years of experience, they choose to focus on my dos and don’ts for international students applying for scholarships.

If you are an international student I highly recommend you read “100+ Scholarships for International Students” as part of your search to lower the cost of the education.

100+ Scholarships for International Students (2017-18)