Mr. K's College Knowledge

Here we are...October 4th, and the applications are flying and the confusion is intense. With so many different college deadlines, application types, writing supplements, and forms that need to be completed, I'd imagine students and parents are already wishing the college application process was over! Well, while the college process will not be official over until May 1st, I do have some good news. For the first time, the FAFSA is now open well before January 1st. You may be wondering why this is a good thing...just more paperwork right? Well that is true, but in the long run, this should be a benefit to students and families...hopefully. For the 2017-2018 college academic year, families can now complete the FAFSA using their 2015 tax return. In the past, families would need to wait until after January 1st, file their taxes, then use that year's information to complete the FAFSA. This would only give school's a month or so to receive the information and send families a ...

As I am set to embark on a 3-day, 6-college tour of some of the more selective private colleges in New England, I came across this article from USA Today . Recently, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont officially introduced a new bill, titled the "College for All Act", which would eliminate undergraduate tuition at all 4-year public colleges and universities. Also, for all of those people who have graduated from college and are currently swimming in debt, the bill would also decrease interest rates on student loans, from 4.32 to 2.32%. This article describes how the bill would work, and the benefits for everyone. Please check it out, and let's all hope that this bill is a reality one day, or at least that the price of college gets under control. Enjoy the article, and as always, happy searching! Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

What many people want from college isn't too complicated. They desire a good education, a safe and comfortable environment, to be prepared for the workforce, and to not break the bank to attend the school. With soaring college costs and a competitive job landscape, it is more important than ever to find that perfect fit, where students will be challenged, graduate with marketable skills, and will not have loans to pay for the next 20 years. The website 'Money' recently came out with a list for colleges that are the best bang-for-your-buck. As you will see, many of them are some of the most selective schools in the country, but it is certainly worth a look. You can view the list here on their site . As always, happy searching! -Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

First of all, I just wanted wanted to extend a special thank-you to all active duty and Veterans of our country's armed forces. Thank you for all you have done and sacrificed and will continue to do so to protect our freedom. On Veteran's Day, I thought it would be appropriate to inform you all of a new initiative Michigan State University has started. They are now offering in-state tuition price for out-of-state residents who have a parent that is a Veteran or is active-duty in the armed forces. This takes the overall cost of attendance from $44,230 per year to $22,450 per year...quite the difference. This is also before any additional merit scholarships or financial aid comes into play for the student. If you feel you may qualify for this, and are interested in Michigan State University, make sure to indicate this status on your MSU application. Also, be sure to look into any other schools that may have similar opportunities. As always, happy searching! Joseph D. Korfmacher...

Bentley University - This is a fantastic school right outside of Boston, which specializes in Business, but is not just limited to this concentration. Bentley has an extremely high-tech campus with seven officially high-tech buildings and they even have a 3-D printer accessible for student use. The student population of 4,200 allows for small class sizes and personal relationships with professors. Bentley is a very active campus with 80% of the students participating in varsity or club sports, and 80% of students choose to live on the beautiful green campus all four years. Their top three majors are management, marketing, and finance, and business students have access to one of the nation’s best trading rooms on a college campus. Business students are given real money from the college to trade with and learn from. With career preparation and readiness at the forefront of Bentley’s mission, they are happy to report that 98% of seniors in the past few years have been placed in jobs or a...

Seniors and parents, January 1 st has finally come. Yes, the holidays were great, and celebrating the New Year is always a blast…but the biggest event to celebrate is that the FAFSA is finally live. OK, so completing the FAFSA isn’t the most fun activity in the world, but it is important. In order to receive any financial aid for college, students and their parents must complete the FAFSA online. The website is www.fafsa.ed.gov and the very first word in FAFSA is “free”. There is a FAFSA.com out there, but there is no need to do this one. That website will charge you and offers nothing more than the real FAFSA. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid will use the family’s previous tax returns to estimate how much a family can afford to pay for college and how much aid they can receive. Government aid in forms of grants, loans, and scholarships can potentially come from completing the FAFSA. In the simplest of terms, a family will complete the FAFSA, and the system will even...

As you are all aware, this is both a stressful and exciting time in your lives as seniors and parents of seniors. Many of you have applied to colleges, and others are working on submitting their applications in the next couple of months. Now there is quite a bit of time between waiting for an admission decision, discovering the financial aid package, and selecting the college you will attend. In many cases, a big part of selecting a college will depend on the ability to actually pay for that school. Although most private colleges and universities will average anywhere from $40,000-$60,000 per year in total cost of attendance, the financial aid they offer will vary greatly from next to nothing, to a whole lot of dough. In order for families to be considered for any type of financial aid, families must complete the FAFSA (more information on this below) after January 1 st . Many schools also require families to complete the CSS Profile, which can be completed now. Both of these syst...

As we all know, student debt in college, graduate school, and post-grad programs is a bit outrageous, intimidating, and all-around scary. Unless you have a rocket for an arm or can jump through the roof, receiving that full scholarship is not easy. Although the cost of a school should not be the only determining factor in college admissions, it should definitely be a big consideration. The cold hard truth is that most college students will graduate in debt. However, the range of debt can vary thousands and thousands of dollars, so it’s important to be smart with your decisions before and during college. From a paid internship to closely monitoring your expenses to choosing the right loans, your decisions will have a direct impact on your wallet. Take a moment to visit:   http://www.debt.org/students/ This is a very comprehensive website with a ton of information and tips on ways to reduce or eliminate student debt. Also check out these pages from the website:  debt.or...

So seniors…you are beginning to hear back from the colleges you applied to and most are happy to hear that you have been accepted to many of the schools. However, in the majority of cases, that initial joy inside you and your parents goes away when you see the amount of merit scholarship you are receiving. Sure, $10,000 is a big amount of money to earn in merit scholarship awards and is a great start…but for numerous schools, this is just 1/5 th   of the total amount it costs to attend. As countless private schools are reaching $40,000- $50,000 each year to attend, a $5,000-$10,000 merit scholarship just is not enough. So what do you do? Are you just expected to give up on a college that you think it a perfect fit? Well before you do that, check out these options that can help subsidize the total COA (cost of attendance) of college! FAFSA     - January 1st is the official start date to complete and submit the FAFSA to colleges. Many colleges have deadlines (that are...

It’s only September, but it’s never too early to start thinking about paying for college and financial aid options! Many private colleges cost around $35,000 in tuition and another $10,000 in room and board (and don’t forget about additional fees, including books). All of this equals a cost of attendance (COA) of $45,000+, which is certainly not rare. When financial aid reports come in, students and parents may be happy to see that they received $5,000 per year in merit scholarships and another $5,000 in financial aid. $10,000 a year is great…but that leaves $35,000 per year to possibly pay out of pocket, which comes to $140,000 for a four year education. For most families, this is a very scary sight and if a student is in love with a school, many parents will do whatever it takes to make sure their son or daughter is able to attend. Loans often come into play, either through the school, federally, or privately, and although this is certainly not ideal, in many cases this is the ...

Although I am sure that the parents out there with children in high school have heard of all of the college search websites including CollegeBoard, Naviance, and College Prowler, and you may not want to see another option with even more information, but part of my job is to get AS MUCH information out there as possible…so here is another extremely helpful college search resource:   U-CAN . U-CAN stands for University and College Accountability Network. What makes U-CAN different from other college search sites is that it is exclusive to the nation’s private, nonprofit colleges and universities. Since there are far fewer schools this resource concentrates on, they are able to provide much more detailed and up-to-date information on independent colleges and universities. On the profiles for each college, U-CAN provides parents and students information points across the following areas: ·           Admissions ·  ...