The College Whisperer™ | Navigating The Road To College

With the 2012 summer Olympic games about to get underway in London (Go USA!), The College Whisperer has been giving some thought to the benefits (okay, absolute necessity) of having a coach as students wend their way along that long, winding and often treacherous road toward college admissions.

After all, name just one successful Olympic athlete who went for the gold without a comparably winning coach. Odds are, you cannot.

Where would Nadia Comaneci have been in pursuit of the perfect 10 without Bela Karolyi? Linda Fratianne, Michelle Kwan, and Evan Lysacek without Frank Carroll? The 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team without Herb Brooks? [If you think applying and getting in to college isn't a team effort, just ask Mom and Dad.]

Come now, College Whisperer. [That's The College Whisperer to you :-) ] How can you compare making the Olympic team, let alone going for gold, to the college application and admissions process? 

You're right. These days, with colleges and universities becoming ever more selective, and the competition for each available seat being fiercely keen, it may well be tougher to get into the college of your choice than to take the top spot on the Olympic podium in London.

Sure. This college coach talk may seem blatantly self-serving. A shameless bid at self-promotion. [In a way, it is. For in the college admissions game, as in life itself, if you don't toot your own horn, no one else will!] So, don't take our word alone on The Perks of Having A College Coach. The folks at Newsday's College PrepTalk have chimed in on this one.

In a world where you're competing against the best of the best -- with the rest of the world literally clamoring at the college gates -- having a college coach is no longer a luxury. Proceed on your own at your peril. You've got one bite at the apple (or several bites of the variety of apples that you've wisely placed in your college selection basket). Choose those apples with care and don't bite into any worms!

Commenting on our post, How Much Is That College Coach In The Window?, John T. Weir, Founder and CEO of The College Planning Network, had these words of wisdom to students -- and parents -- interested in college planning services:

I spent the past few years researching the college planning resources that are available for young adults and their families. I found that high school guidance counselors can be a great resource, but their time is very limited and they are spread too thin. So, parents have naturally turned to private options for advice-college planning experts. And it sure makes sense! You would seek a real estate agent if you were buying a home in a new neighborhood and you probably employ an accountant to do your taxes. You plan for retirement, consider investments, purchase insurance, and plan for your estate, all with the help of qualified professionals. Many folks even hire an expert to plan their wedding! So, it only stands to reason that you would want to hire a college planning professional, especially when you consider that the investment in a college education could easily top $100,000...

Sound advice, indeed.

As the Olympic torch is lit, showcasing the athletes as the world comes together for two, all too short weeks, so too must the college-bound showcase their talents, making sure their light shines brightly before the ultimate judges of their college quest -- the college admissions officers (hopefully, the Russian judges won't be sitting on that Admissions Committee. :-)

For the youth of the world now gathered in London to Inspire A Generation, it's  "Citius, Altius, Fortius." Faster, Higher, Stronger. For the high school student preparing for college, it's Plan, Prepare, Prevail!
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 Got College Questions? Ask The College Whisperer. Write us at info@TheCollegeWhisperer.com.
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Give yourself the competitive edge with COLLEGE CONNECTION, the Official Sponsor of College Admission Success! Whether you are applying to college, planning for college, paying for college or simply thinking about college, COLLEGE CONNECTION can help. Call us today at 516-345-8766 for a FREE telephone consultation. The road to college starts at COLLEGE CONNECTION.

 

Okay, so you've started to look for the big bucks in college scholarship money. Good for you! But don't overlook the small change -- or even the loose change hidden behind the cushions of the sofa. It all adds up!

Yes, the tedium of the search. The burden of the essays. The agony of defeat. Oh, ye of little faith...

Sure, it's summer. Who wants to apply for countless scholarships? [You do!] Who needs to spend hours on end mining the scholarship search engines? [Again, that would be you!] Who needs money to pay for college? [Hellllllooooooo? Mr. Money Bags?]

All right. You'll search. You'll register. You'll scour the web, roam the community, check every nook and cranny for free money for college.

Then again, it is summer. Why not have some fun?

Those college scholarship sweepstakes and contests, where all you have to do is provide your name and email address. Take a look at ScholarshipPoints.com for the easy schmeezy. Wait. You can text, can't you? Enter to win $10,000 from DoSomething.org.

There's Zinch's Weekly "Three Sentence Essay" Scholarship and College Prowler's $2,000 "No Essay" Scholarship (enter monthly). And let's not forget Publisher's Clearing House $5000 a Week Forever. [So what if your chances of winning are 1 in 200 billion. You gotta be in it to win it, right? :-)]

Not every college scholarship has to be about money, though. After all, students do not live by tuition, room and board alone, do they? No sir. Sometimes they need underwear, flip flops or a Frisbee. In that case, check out these fun scholarship opportunities from Target at http://apps.facebook.com/targetscholarships. A year's supply of ramen noodles? Go for it!

Consider yourself artful? Try your hand at the Create-A-Greeting Card $10,000 Scholarship Contest. Banking on some newly minted greenbacks? Check out U.S. Bank's $1000 Scholarship Contest. Come September 14, you can enter the SunTrust Scholarship Contest.

Love peanut butter sandwiches? Jif is giving away $25,000 in their Most Creative Sandwich Contest. Hmmm. I don't know about you, but The College Whisperer is getting mighty hungry...

As you can glean, there are scholarship opportunities galore. The chance to take home some money for college abounds, provided that you know where to look. Then again, knowing, and actually looking -- let alone APPLYING -- are not necessarily the same.

In less than 5 minutes we found the scholarships highlighted in this post. Imagine how many scholarship opportunities -- from the unusual to the sublime -- you could find (and APPLY for) with just a bit of gumption and a little help from your guidance counselor, scholarship search engines and that fella with the college know-how, your college coach.

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Got College Questions? Ask The College Whisperer. Write us at info@TheCollegeWhisperer.com.
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Give yourself the competitive edge with COLLEGE CONNECTION, Official Sponsor of College Admissions Success! Whether you are applying to college, planning for college, paying for college or simply thinking about college, COLLEGE CONNECTION can help. Call us today at 516-345-8766 for a FREE telephone consultation. The road to college starts at COLLEGE CONNECTION.

Michelle of Mineola, NY asks: My daughter is going into her Junior year in high school. When is the best time to apply for college scholarships?

The College Whisperer™ replies: Great question, Carolyn. Answer? NOW!

Yes, it is rarely too soon to begin that scholarship search, and never too early to start saving for college.

While many students wait until they are in the throes of the college application process to even inquire about scholarships, grants and financial aid in general (and, unfortunately, far too many students never bother to seek out scholarship money at all), the scholarship hunt truly knows no season, save the deadline dates for particular scholarship applications.

True, a vast array of scholarships are available only to high school seniors, or to students already enrolled in college. And yet, more and more scholarships -- as in, FREE MONEY -- are open to high school juniors, and even to freshmen and sophs.

You simply have to look -- and actually apply!

So, why wait? When seniors -- and their frantic parents -- are scambling for college bucks in the fall, high school juniors can -- and should -- be looking for the money at their leisure, without the added pressures of essays, college application deadlines and that whole "where will I get in?" noose hanging down over their heads.

Start early, when few, if any of your peers are applying for scholarships, and you place yourself way ahead of the field. Fewer applicants. Greater chance of garnering that scholarship.

Where to start that college scholarship search? At the beginning, of course! :-) Sign up with scholarship registries, such as Fastweb.com and MeritAid.com. Complete the profiles. Check your email regularly for new scholarship opportunities. Log on to the scholarship search engines frequently and review the scholarships for which you may qualify. Then, apply, apply, apply!

Go for the big bucks, sure, but keep in mind that $50 here and $100 there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money (or at least enough to pay for books).

There are, literally, billions of dollars in scholarship money out there, ripe for the picking. Indeed, the search can be daunting and, most assuredly, time-consuming. Nevertheless, make the effort, spend the time (hey, you're already online, anyway), and you will be rewarded.

To get those "show me the money" juices flowing, here are but a few of the scholarships in the offing:

ScholarshipPoints.com Scholarships

Eligibility: Scholarships for high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors, undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education students

Deadline: July 31

Amount: Up to $10,000

Platt Family Scholarship Essay Contest

Eligibility: Scholarships for undergraduate college students

Deadline: July 31

Amount: Up to $1,500

Heritage Scholarship

Eligibility: Scholarships for high school seniors and undergraduate college students

Deadline: July 31

Amount: $500

FastWeb Refer A Friend Scholarship

Eligibility: Scholarships for high school students, undergraduate students, and graduate students

Deadline: July 31

Amount: $500

Courage to Grow Scholarship

Eligibility: Scholarships for high school juniors, high school seniors, and undergraduate students

Deadline: July 31

Amount: $500

$2,000 "No Essay" College Scholarship

Eligibility: Scholarship for current students and those planning to enroll within 12 months

Deadline: July 31

Amount: $2,000

ThumbWars Texting and Driving Awareness Scholarship

Eligibility: Scholarship for U.S. and Canadian citizens between the ages of 13 and 25

Deadline: August 2

Amount: $10,000

Digital Innovation Scholarship

Eligibility: Scholarship for high school seniors and undergraduate college students

Deadline: August 12

Amount: $1,000

AFSA Scholarship Program

Eligibility: Scholarship for graduated high school seniors

Deadline: August 22

Amount: $1,000

Ayn Rand Atlas Shrugged Scholarship

Eligibility: Scholarship for high school seniors, undergraduate college students, and graduate students

Deadline: September 17

Amount: Up to $10,000

AES Engineering Scholarship

Eligibility: Scholarship for high school seniors and undergraduate college students

Deadline: October 5

Amount: $500

Voice of Democracy Scholarship

Eligibility: Scholarship for high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors

Deadline: November 1

Amount: $500

Imagine America Scholarship

Eligibility: Scholarship for high school seniors or recent graduates who attend a participating career college

Deadline: December 

Amount: $1,000

Tip of the iceberg!

Okay. Some scholarships require an essay. Big deal. You know how to write -- or at least, Text. Go for it! Others require little more than an email address or the completion of a short series of questions. Hey, if it takes an hour to get a $250 scholarship, you just made $250 per hour. Not bad for a kid without a degree.
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For more on scholarships and paying for college, check out these posts:
Win A Free Ride To College  
Scholarships Are Not Just For High School Seniors 
Calculating The Real Cost Of College

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Got College Questions? Ask The College Whisperer™. Write us at info@TheCollegeWhisperer.com.

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Give yourself the competitive edge with COLLEGE CONNECTION, Official Sponsor of College Admissions Success! Whether you are applying to college, planning for college, paying for college or simply thinking about college, COLLEGE CONNECTION can help. Call us today at 516-345-8766 for a FREE telephone consultation. The road to college starts at COLLEGE CONNECTION.

From time to time, The College Whisperer publishes posts of guest bloggers, whose musings may be of interest and/or benefit to our readers.

Today, a guest post from Maureen (no last name, like Cher and Madonna, just Maureen) on the timely (and costly) topic of paying off college loans.

Enjoy!
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How To Have Someone Else Help Pay Off College Loans
By Maureen

One of the biggest recent changes in college education is the level of debt that many students build up while they get their degrees. ABC News reports that 94% of graduates have some level of debt, and many leave college tens of thousands of dollars of debt. It’s scary. The good news, however, is that if you’re flexible, you can get some serious help in paying off those student loans.

Live in a Specific Place

More and more cities are offering programs designed to attract young graduates to help revitalize their towns. Here are just a couple programs, but they’re working so well that other programs are under consideration in other cities and states:

·         Niagara Falls, New York will pay recent graduates (within the past 2 years) who have either a 2-year or 4-year degree up to $3500/year toward repaying their debts for up to 2 years, if they buy or rent a home in the downtown area.

·         Fifty rural Kansas counties not only offer up to $15,000 in student loan repayments over five years, but also a waiver of income tax for five years for 2-year, 4-year, or post-graduate degree holders with outstanding debts.

Train in a Specific Career

You can also get your loans paid off if you decide to get your degree in certain professions. Consider these options:

·         Become a public school teacher.  If you become a teacher, you’ll find  that economically struggling  areas of the country are desperate for you to come work there. In fact, they’d love you to do that so much, they have government and private programs set up to help you pay for those pesky school loans!  Check out Americorps and Teach For America for a couple specific programs. Teach For America will pay up to $10,700 in student loan costs after only two years of service!

·         Work in the healthcare industry. Most loan forgiveness and loan assistance programs involve working in poor or inner-city areas.  Depending on whether you’re a nurse or a doctor or other medical professional, and on how long you work, you can have up to $30,000 per year of student loans paid off for you.  Check out the National Health Services Corps for more information.  And if you’re still in school and training in a healthcare profession, take a look at the NHSC scholarship program—you can have your tuition, fees, and other educational costs paid via NHSC scholarships and not rack up those loans in the first place!

·         Become a lawyer. It takes longer to pay off the large debts generally racked up in law school, but legal aid societies often include loan repayment programs as a benefit. Also,  cities, states, and towns include loan repayments as part of the compensation for becoming public defenders or community legal advisers.  Check out your state’s bar association for details of programs that might help.

·         Join the military. Yes, you heard me. Not only do those who enter the military without a degree have benefits to help them pay for college, but if you already have a degree—and student loans—when you enter the military, there are programs in the Army, Navy, and Air Force to help you repay those debts. The amounts and restrictions vary by the branch of the military, so you’ll need to check with a recruitment office for details.

Graduating from college doesn’t have to mean being burdened with crippling debt for the rest of your life. If you’re willing to be flexible—and maybe spend a few years helping people in disadvantaged parts of the country—you can get lots of assistance with paying off those school loans. Not to mention that you’ll feel good about helping people who really need your expertise!

Maureen is a skilled freelance writer working for a professional writing and research agency BestEssayHelp.com. When she’s not busy helping people edit and revise their writing pieces, she spends her time joining a team of top article writers in pursuit of completing original and interesting articles on virtually any topic. For more information about the writer or the writing services she’s able to help with, please visit http://www.bestessayhelp.com.

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Of course, the best way to escape the student loan debt trap is to avoid taking out loans (and certainly not to excess) in the first place.

There are literally billions of dollars in scholarship -- that's FREE MONEY, folks -- out there in the grantosphere, ripe for the picking.

Know how to pay for your college education, where the funds are, and how to get your hands on the dough, and you nip the college debt crunch in the bud.

By the way, the appearance of this or any other guest blog is by no means an endorsement of the product or services offered by the guest blogger. Just saying... :-)
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Got College Questions? Ask The College Whisperer. Write us at info@TheCollegeWhisperer.com.
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Give yourself the competitive edge with COLLEGE CONNECTION, Official Sponsor of college admissions success! Whether you are applying to college, planning for college, paying for college or simply thinking about college, COLLEGE CONNECTION can help. Call us today at 516-345-8766 for a FREE telephone consultation. The road to college starts at COLLEGE CONNECTION.

J.R. of Albertson, NY writes:

I've heard talk of a Bill in Congress that would provide much needed relief to college students in the form of student loan forgiveness. Could you elaborate?

The College Whisperer replies:

Much more than just talk on the college loan forgiveness front. Indeed, the House of Representatives has before it key legislation -- know as the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012 -- which would, in effect, erase college loan indebtedness for many students.

In part, the Act would provide that any student who has made loan payments of 10% of his or her discretionary income for 10 years will qualify for forgiveness of the remaining debt. Students who have already paid 10 percent of their discretionary income for 10 years will immediately qualify for debt forgiveness.

In addition, the forgiven debt would not be counted as taxable income and interest rates on all federal loans would be capped at 3.4 percent.

For more answers to frequently asked questions on the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012, click HERE.

While not perfect, the Bill now before Congress would go a long way in helping to reduce the student loan debt burden, which presently stands at more than $1 trillion.

With a weak economy, jobs for newly minted college graduates hard to come by, and students graduating with more and more debt as tuition continues to rise, the Student Loan Forgiveness Act would offer welcome relief to students and parents alike.

An online Petition in support of the Act, already having garnered more than one million signatures, can be found by clicking HERE. Readers of this blog are urged to sign the Petition, to encourage friends, relatives and colleagues to do likewise, and to contact their Representatives in Congress asking them to pass the Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012.

The time has come to end the spiraling student loan debt. It is a burden that neither students nor this nation can long afford to bear.
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Got College Questions? Ask The College Whisperer. Write us at info@TheCollegeWhisperer.com.
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Give yourself the competitive edge with COLLEGE CONNECTION, Official Sponsor of college admissions success! Whether you are applying to college, planning for college, paying for college or simply thinking about college, COLLEGE CONNECTION can help. Call us today at 516-345-8766 for a FREE telephone consultation. The road to college starts at COLLEGE CONNECTION.

Interest rates on home loans may be at the lowest levels ever, but the feds are tightening up, raising rates and limiting grace periods on Direct loans to students, many of whom are already over their heads in college and graduate school debt.

Note the following changes to Direct Student Loans:

Direct Subsidized loans will not be eligible for an interest subsidy during the six-month grace period.

• Subsidized loans are loans for which the borrower is not responsible for the interest while the student is enrolled in college on at least a half-time basis, when the loan is in the six-month grace period after the student is no longer enrolled at least half time, or if the loan is in a deferment status. This provision eliminates the interest subsidy provided during the six-month grace period for subsidized loans for which the first disbursement is made on or after July 1, 2012, and before July 1, 2014. If you receive a subsidized loan during this timeframe, you will be responsible for the interest that accrues while your loan is in the grace period. You do not have to make payments during the grace period (unless you choose to) but the interest will be added (capitalized) to the principal amount of your loan when the grace period ends. This provision does not eliminate the interest subsidy while the borrower is in school or during eligible periods of deferment.

All subsidized loans made to undergraduate students will have a fixed interest rate of 6.8%.

• Subsidized loans for which the first disbursement is on or after July 1, 2012, will have a 6.8% fixed interest rate. Note: In the President's FY2013 budget request, the Administration has proposed maintaining the interest rate on subsidized loans at the current rate of 3.4% for the 2012-2013 school year.

Graduate and professional students are no longer eligible to receive subsidized loans.

• Effective for loans made for payment periods that begin on or after July 1, 2012, graduate and professional students are no longer eligible to receive subsidized loans. However, if you are a graduate or professional student, you may still qualify for up to $20,500 in unsubsidized loans each year.

The U.S. Department of Education can no longer offer borrowers repayment incentives.

• Effective for loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2012, the Department of Education is prohibited from offering any repayment incentives to Direct Loan borrowers, except interest rate reductions to borrowers who agree to have payments automatically electronically debited from their bank account).

If you have any questions about how these changes could impact you, please contact the financial aid administrator at your school or call 1-800-4-FED-AID.

As if it wasn't difficult enough these days for college students and their primary benefactors (read as, parental units) to make ends meet, pay tuition, room and board, and simply have enough money on hand come the end of the week to eat.

For additional changes and updates on the student aid front, check out Student Aid on the Web.

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Student Tested. Parent Approved.

Whether graduating from college, high school or kindergarten, the keynote speech can be the highlight of the day -- or not.

From the pages of The New York Times, a compendium of short-takes from Familiar Faces Offering Advice, Idealism and Humor.

Don your cap and gown, have a good read, and please, don't forget the sunscreen!

To all our graduates, CONGRATS!

Acceptance rates at many colleges are lower this year than in the past, and the prediction is for those percentages to drop further still next year.

College-bound students, and their parents, are scratching their heads. Why is a college that was a "safety" school, just a few short years ago, now a "reach," or even beyond?

Are college applicants becoming smarter? Are colleges recruiting too many international students? [Colleges spend millions each year recruiting foreign students, and while International students make up but 4% of the student body across American college campuses, at some schools this number is closer to 10% (the other 90% consisting of professors and Teaching Assistants who don't speak a word of English :-).] Are there no workhouses? Are there no prisons? [Sorry, Mr. Dickens. Couldn't resist. :-)]

Click HERE to read, Why Has College Admissions Become So Competitive?

Public universities, once the domain of the masses and open to virtually all, are now among the most highly selective. Here in New York, for instance, students who routinely apply to very selective University Centers, such as Binghamton, Buffalo and Albany, also apply to state colleges like Oneonta and New Paltz as their "safety" schools. And yet, this year, the rejection letters have been outnumbering the acceptances, and the "sure thing" is no longer a shoe in. [Indeed, at SUNY Oneonta, the 2011-12 (most recent available) acceptance rate was 41%. OMG!

So, what's happening out there? Where have all those freshman seats on campus gone?

While the reasons for the declining acceptance rates are legion (and, having been rejected, have you considered the French Foreign Legion? LOL), one fact provides a compelling argument in favor of selectivity: The sheer number of applicants.

More students than ever (nearly 20 million enrolled in colleges in 2011) are graduating from high school and applying to college. Add to this that there are a heck of a lot more students applying to far fewer colleges these days, with public universities, particularly in-state colleges, seeing the greatest rise in applicants over the course of the past decade. [If 911 didn't keep the kids closer to home, then the economic downturn and the ever-shrinking wallet surely has!]

Yes, there are more than 3000 accredited colleges in the United States, many of them with seats begging to be filled, even as classes start in September. High School students, however, are only applying to maybe 10% of these colleges in any measurable number. [Just ask any high school senior. Doesn't it seem that every student is applying to the same colleges across the board? Guess what? They are!]

With math so simple that even an English major could figure it out, while you may be able to squeeze 20 college students into a VW Beetle (do not try this at home), you cannot squeeze ten pounds of baloney into a five pound bag (tripling up on the baloney slices notwithstanding).

The college that, a decade ago, had 4000 freshman seats up for grabs, and 4800 applicants, had an 83% acceptance rate. Back in the day, many, if not most colleges, had more spaces to fill than applicants. Selective, schmelective. They needed to fill those seats!

This year, that same college with the very same 4000 seats, had some 15,000 applicants (imagine reading all those essays). That, my friends, brings the acceptance rate down to (let me check the logarithm tables) 27%. Now, that college can well afford to be highly selective, picking and choosing from the best of the best.

Think about it. In the late 1960s, if you could gain entrance to the City University of New York (CUNY), you could get into New York University (NYU). And while CUNY was tuition-free in those days, NYU didn't cost that much more. Today, it's about as tough to get into NYU as it is to gain admission to the Ivies (I blame Lady Gaga :-), and the school is among the most expensive colleges in the nation (hey, someone has to pay to buy up all the real estate in lower Manhattan and to maintain a campus in Abu Dhabi, right?)

Yes, it is a simple and sometimes frightening fact: As More Students Apply to College, Schools Become More Selective. Supply and demand, with the scarcity in the chosen market dictating the cost.

Which means there's only one sure thing on the college application and admissions scene: Colleges have become -- and will continue to be -- more competitive than ever. If you want to get in to the college of your choice, you need to be as well!

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 Got College Questions? Ask The College Whisperer. Write us at info@TheCollegeWhisperer.com.
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Give yourself the competitive edge with COLLEGE CONNECTION, the first and last words in college admissions success! Whether you are applying to college, planning for college, paying for college or simply thinking about college, COLLEGE CONNECTION can help. Call us today at 516-345-8766 for a FREE telephone consultation. The road to college starts at COLLEGE CONNECTION.

The New York Times reports that which most college students -- and their parents -- already know too well: Student loan debt is out of control! [Read, A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College.]

More than $1 trillion in outstanding student debt, and that number is rising.

Of course, with tuition alone topping $50,000 at some colleges, and rising every year, despite an ailing and stagnant economy, and internal scholarship dollars as awarded by these same institutions shrinking, is it any surprise that students are graduating with loan debt that may well keep them in hock for the rest of their lives?

The specious argument that we, the people, cannot control burgeoning college costs is, well, for lack of a more appropriate word, baloney. Colleges charge what the market will bear, and if folks are willing to line up and pay colleges like Sarah Lawrence and NYU what amounts to extortion money for the privilege of going there, God bless 'em. [It is no surprise to us that public colleges that were once a sure thing for applicants are now becoming highly selective. They have the luxury of a growing applicant base, owing to a number of factors, among them, the outrageous cost of a private college education.]

We could write a dissertation on how to contain college costs reasonably and over the long run, thus alleviating, if not entirely eliminating, student debt. Of course, one of these over-priced universities would then have to bestow an honorary Doctorate (Doctor of Emails, perhaps -- Doctor of Letters being so arcane :-)] upon The College Whisperer, so let's stay on topic.

How do we lighten the debt load of college students?

Well, for starters, how about offering federal student loans at rates equivalent to those of Treasury Bills, currently hovering around 0.15%. Rather than haggle over how to pay for holding the current undergraduate Stafford Loan rate at 3.4% (it already stands at 6.8% for graduate students), Congress should put a premium on higher education by lowering student loan rates to what it pays the public on its bonds and notes. That would help.

Then again, avoiding the need for a loan in the first place -- which should be the goal of every student, right alongside actually getting in to the college of choice -- is the real answer here.

No loans? How is that possible?

One word: SCHOLARSHIPS!

Scholarships, grants, fellowships, yes, FREE money from outside the college. Community organizations. Not-for-Profit groups. Everyone from your local Kiwanis Club to the National FFA (Future Farmers of America) Organization collectively award millions (if not billions) of dollars in scholarships every academic year.

And yet, beyond signing up on Fastweb, if that, most students do very little, if anything, to actually pursue scholarship money for which they qualify. Even those who do seek out and apply for scholarships suddenly give up the hunt once accepted to college, and rarely pick up the trail again during the freshman, sophomore and junior years of college (as if, miraculously, there were no tuition bills to be paid over the course of four or more years of college).

Not knowing where to look. Neglecting the obvious. Lacking the resolve. Overlooking the "smaller" scholarship opportunities for $100 or $500 (failing to realize that, add 'em up, and pretty soon you're talking about real money).

As we've pointed out here on this blog, college scholarship opportunities abound. And this is but the tip of the proverbial iceberg! Scholarships are not only for high school seniors (juniors should get a jump start, and those in college need to keep on digging), nor are they the sole domain of those who demonstrate financial need.

"No one ever gets scholarship money!" Nonsense. You only hear that from those who never bother to look in the right places and apply, apply, apply, or from those who expect Ed McMahon (does anyone still remember Ed McMahon?) to show up at the front door with a check from Publishers Clearing House. [Which, in and of itself, would be a true feat these days, Ed having left this mortal sphere in 2009.]

You really CAN pay for college without either going broke or getting into debt over Wilt Chaimberlain's head. Through diligent savings over the years (think 529 Plan), a prudent and comprehensive scholarship search effort, a few hours of part-time work during the school year (think "Work-Study") and, where absolutely necessary, federally subsidized student loans (think Stafford), that overwhelming college debt can be managed quite nicely, if not eliminated altogether.

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Got College Questions? Ask The College Whisperer. Write us at info@TheCollegeWhisperer.com.
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Whether you are applying to college, planning for college, paying for college or simply thinking about college, COLLEGE CONNECTION can help. Call us today at 516-345-8766 for a FREE telephone consultation. The road to college starts at COLLEGE CONNECTION.

You're a high school senior, about to graduate, and the Common App is about as uncommon to you as 365 consecutive days of sunshine are to the rain forest.

Somehow, for reasons only known to, um, well, who knows -- you are just now starting down that long and winding road that leads to the ivy-covered gates known as college. Game Over, or good things come to those who wait?

As The Choice, The New York Times' informative college admissions blog attests, Many Colleges Are Still Taking Applications For The Fall.

Indeed they are!

Take a gander at the 2012 Space Availability Survey as compiled by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. Colleges aplenty that will welcome your college applications -- as well as your tuition dollars -- with open arms.

As we opined previously on this blog, there are literally hundreds of excellent colleges and universities that, space permitting, accept applications on a "rolling" basis, and dozens that will take your application (perhaps with an additional fee) post-application deadline. Read all about it in, It's Not Too Late To Apply To College!

Whether you are that great procrastinator, or applying to college simply slipped your mind, it is not necessarily Game Over, the date on the calendar notwithstanding. In fact, with a staunch resolve and a smidgen of luck, something good may just come to (s)he who waited!

Delay no further, however. Time -- and college admissions -- waits for no (wo)man. Not even high school seniors!
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Got College Questions? Ask The College Whisperer. Write us at info@TheCollegeWhisperer.com.
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Whether you are applying to college, planning for college, or simply thinking about college, COLLEGE CONNECTION can help. Call us today at 516-345-8766 for a FREE telephone consultation. The road to college starts at COLLEGE CONNECTION.

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