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College List BuildingUC Berkeley Common Data Set
Sifting through a college’s Common Data Set can take a lot of time. Instead, we’ve gathered the most important information from UC Berkeley’s most recent Common Data Set to provide you with the information you need at a quick glance. This guide contains key information from UC Berkeley Common Data Set 2025-2026. Berkeley Common Data…
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College Financial PlanningScholarships with June Deadlines
Art & Design Scholarship Amount: $300 Apply by: June 1, 2026 Description: Scholarship is open to graduating high school seniors and current college students who are studying Art or Liberal Arts. Art students should submit a piece of art (a painting, photograph, statue, song, animation, video, film, illustration, story, poem, or any other type of…
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CostsThe True Cost of College
Remember when gas was less than $1, the only place to see movies was at the theater, and when you left your house no one could call you? If your memory is that good, you might remember when paying for college didn’t cost an arm and a leg. Over the past 20 years, tuition and…
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High School Academics & ActivitiesHow Families Are Celebrating Their High School Seniors
COVID-19 has proven to be the ultimate disrupter; most evidenced in the education sector and the lives of graduating high school seniors. With the absence of the regular school system and the cloud of uncertainty hovering over what happens next, families are celebrating their seniors in unique and fabulous ways. Graduations and Family: Celebrating Milestones…
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College Financial PlanningHow I Took Out $30K in Student Loans and Still Graduated College Almost Debt-Free
My story begins like many high school seniors preparing to go to college. I had no idea where I wanted to go to college, and I didn’t really even know what I wanted to major in. And I certainly wasn’t thinking about how I was going to pay for it. I assumed I’d apply for…
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College Financial PlanningA Family’s Journey To Find An Affordable College
Anna Velazco, a parent in our Paying For College 101 Facebook group, agreed to share her daughter’s journey to find an affordable college with us. This will give you an in-depth look at one family’s focus and determination to meet their goals in academic, social, and financial fit. Beginning the College Admissions Process I had…
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College Financial PlanningHow to Take Advantage of Lower Interest Rates for Students and Parents
Over the course of a few weeks, the government’s COVID-19 assistance for federal student loans went from waiving interest on some student loans, to suspending payments for two months, to stopping payments for six months. Loan servicers are scrambling to update their systems to reflect these changes. In the wake of these changes, the U.S.…
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College LifeMother’s Day Wishes Moms Make for Their College-Bound Children
Mothers make lots of wishes for their children. Toss in a pandemic, and a few themes begin to emerge. That’s exactly what happened when we asked moms in our Paying for College 101 Facebook Group to tell us one wish they’d make on Mother’s Day for their soon-to-be college freshmen. Here are some highlights, edited…
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College LifeThe College Waitlist Game Just Got More Interesting
Many high school seniors have put off making a decision about what college to attend, hoping to get a better idea of how COVID-19 will affect the upcoming school year. That wave of postponement is further shaking the already financially challenged world of higher education to its core, with the pandemic now responsible for losses…
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College SavingsPros and Cons to Using Home Equity Loans to Pay for College
You may have heard that tapping into home equity is a great way to bridge the gap in paying for college. Certainly, many families find that federal student loans and other financial aid is not enough. However, as with all types of debt, there are pros and cons of using home equity to pay for…
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COVID-19Making Time for Family Fun During the Quarantine
We asked our Paying for College 101 Facebook Group to share how their families have made some of the darkness of the quarantine a little brighter. Here are the highlights (edited for clarity and length), along with some related links we added so you too can try these at home… Being Creative During a Quarantine…
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COVID-19Why Some High School Students Are Feeling Less Anxious in Spite of the Pandemic
We all react differently to stressful situations. COVID-19 has challenged the best of us, but for some high school students, as the days pass and timetables are relaxed, the switch to learning from home may provide a temporary respite from some of the stressors of everyday life. The Teen Years Aren’t Easy The teen years…
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Essays5 Things Colleges Look for in a College Essay
Think of the college application process as a video game, and the dreaded college essay is the dragon that needs to be slayed. Most essays are typical and, frankly, boring. Students have no clue what to write that will wow admissions staff and faculty members from hundreds of other essays they will read. But the…
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College Financial PlanningVanderbilt Merit Scholarships
Finding individual college merit scholarship information can take a lot of time. Instead, we’ve gathered the statistics you need to know about Vanderbilt’s merit scholarships, at a quick glance. Before diving in, make sure to review The Ultimate Guide to Merit Scholarships. Vanderbilt’s Merit Scholarships Statistics Vanderbilt’s Merit Scholarships Ingram Scholars Cornelius Vanderbilt Scholars Chancellor’s…
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COVID-19Are Colleges Giving Refunds to Students For Room & Board and Tuition?
With most of the country on lockdown due to COVID-19, high school and college students have been hit hard with school closures and an uncertain academic future. Most if not all classes have been moved to remote online learning for the remainder of the school year, with cherished traditions such as basketball games and graduation…
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College Financial Planning8 Financial Aid Mistakes to Avoid
Figuring out what your child’s college will cost and how your family is going to pay for it are enough to keep you up at night crunching numbers in your head. You can contact your child’s college for help on the fine print, but in the end it’s up to us individual families to educate…
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SurviveWill Students Say YES this Fall to Online Learning at a Four-Year College?
It’s that time of year again, when high school seniors are trying to decide where to go to school. With colleges unsure about how and if they will teach in the fall, the stakes for students making the right choice about if and where to attend are greater than ever. Here’s the latest on the…
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Merit ScholarshipsProfile of a Coca-Cola Scholar
When you’re searching for scholarships, sometimes it pays to take a chance on a big fish. The Coca-Cola Scholar Foundation is a highly competitive scholarship that rewards students who put in consistent effort over the course of their four years in high school. Here you’ll find all you need to know about the scholarship, how…
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College AdmissionsCarnegie Mellon Merit Scholarships
Finding individual colleges’ merit scholarship information can take a lot of time. Instead, we’ve gathered the statistics you need to know about Carnegie Mellon’s merit scholarships, at a quick glance. Before diving in, make sure to review The Ultimate Guide to Merit Scholarships. Carnegie Mellon’s Merit Scholarships Statistics Carnegie Mellon’s Merit Scholarships Carnegie Mellon does…
