Yes, the new year. And with it, resolutions, fresh starts, W-2s in the mail, and the annual preparation and submission of college financial aid forms.

January marks the official start of the college financial aid season (though the eager high school student started searching and applying for scholarships weeks, if not months ago), and we now usher in that hallowed time for the preparation, completion and submission of FAFSA, CSS-Profile (for those colleges and scholarship programs requiring sa...
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Ever notice how every company, from the largest corporation in America to the smallest Mom and Pop store on Main Street, has relinquished control of their telephone to the relentlessly annoying and endlessly mind-boggling automated answering systems?

"For billing, press 6." "To check the status of your order, press 7." "For repairs and technical support, press 9."

Assuming you have figured out the correct menu item (which, by the way, has never really changed), you are, more often than not, no ...
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Our friend and colleague, Michael Szerak of College Counseling for the Rest of Us, is known for his poignant commentary and timely posits. True to form, he has hit that proverbial nail on the head yet again, this time on the topic near and dear to all those in search of the almighty dollar (or was that a buck fifty?) to pay for college: FAFSA -- the FREE Application for Federal Student Aid.

Check out this informative, accurate and undeniably essential post on the DOs and DON'Ts of FAFSA, entit...
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