Common Student Loan Mistakes

Lighthouse College PlanningCollege Planning, financial planning

Taking out student loans tends to be a “given” for many students, and a given you feel you don’t need to think about until after college. While that is partially true, do not make these mistakes: Using a student loan to go to a college that expensive. A good way to think about it is this: the amount of money …

Financial Aid Award Letters

Lighthouse College PlanningCollege Life, College Planning, College Plannng, College Visit, Financial Aid, financial planning, Uncategorized

By Lighthouse Counselor Brooke Nowak – M.A. Financial Aid Award Letters: After a college accepts you, you’ll receive a letter that outlines how much the school will cost and what kind of financial aid package you’ll receive — including federal, state, and school sources. There’s no standard format for schools’ award letters, but they contain the same overall information. Here …

College Financial-Aid Offers: What Families Need to Know

Lighthouse College PlanningCollege Life, College Planning, College Plannng, Financial Aid, financial planning, Uncategorized

By Veronica Dagher As students’ college-acceptance letters arrive, their financial-aid award letters usually aren’t far behind. The letters detail the financial assistance each school is offering. However, not every school uses the same format, which often makes the award letters difficult to understand and compare. Here are seven common award-letter mistakes and advice from financial-aid experts on how to avoid …

Survey: Most College Students “financially illiterate”

Lighthouse College PlanningCollege Life, College Planning, College Plannng, financial planning, Uncategorized

Group finds widespread cluelessness when it comes to debt and credit By Mark Huffman Colleges are full of smart people. But when it comes to managing debt, there appears to be a huge knowledge gap at our institutions of higher learning. A couple of months ago a student loan site, LendEdu.com, visited a few California colleges and asked students a …

College savings plans to lobby for unlimited investment changes

Lighthouse College PlanningCollege Planning, College Plannng, financial planning, Uncategorized

By Liz Skinner The college savings community is pushing Congress to tweak the 20-year-old legislation that created tax-advantaged 529 plans, to allow for unlimited investment changes. Today account holders can make only two investment adjustments a year to the accounts, which allow investors to accumulate funds that can be tapped for college expenses without owing federal or state taxes on …

Make your holiday break count.

Lighthouse College PlanningCollege Planning, financial planning, Uncategorized

| Make your holiday break count | Staying up late, sleeping in, resting, regrouping, and relaxing are probably on every student’s to-do list. A break from school, whether it be high school or college, is a great respite. By all means, enjoy the time off but once you have been able to sleep in and recover from final exams, what …

Average Students: Where do they fit in?

Lighthouse College PlanningCollege Planning, financial planning, Uncategorized

Average students: Where do they fit in to the whole college admissions equation? Ask new residents how they ended up in a particular neighborhood and no doubt good schools and education will come up in the equation. You may be blessed to live in an area with high educational standards and achievement but recognize that that can be a challenge …

Happy New Year. Now fill out that FAFSA!

Lighthouse College PlanningCollege Planning, financial planning, Uncategorized

January 1 – Happy New Year’s! Don’t forget to get started on those important New Year’s resolutions – exercise more, eat healthier, get more sleep, get better organized, etc. Enjoy the day but don’t forget something very important – get that FAFSA completed. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid can be submitted on January 1st (midnight to be exact) …