fafsa

With student loan debt at a trillion dollars and rising, it's no surprise that more students are searching for creative ways to finance their college educations. Alltuition and CollegeNET are among the companies that want to help.

College costs are rising, student loan debt is nearing $1 trillion, and money is still tight everywhere. So if you're a parents or a soon-to-matriculate student, you'll want to hear what the Princeton Review's Rob Franek has to say about the best value colleges of 2012.

Oct. 29 is the deadline for U.S. colleges to put "net price calculators" on their websites -- tools intended to estimate the real cost of attending for each specific student. But the most widely adopted calculator is inaccurate -- to the tune of thousands of dollars, experts say.

Last month we wrote about the Get Schooled College Affordability Challenge, a national competition organized by MTV, the College Board, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to re-imagine and simplify the college financial-aid process by using digital tools. The submissions were winnowed...

The idea of need-blind admissions is noble: Offering qualified applicants admission to a university, regardless of their financial circumstances. But in too many cases, need-blind admissions mean young scholars are accepted to their dream schools under circumstances that would make attending financial suicide.

Applying for financial aid is a byzantine process that frustrates even the smartest whiz kid. Now there's a contest geared toward finding new ways toward simplifying the process -- and you get to vote on the idea you think is best. The Get Schooled College Affordability Challenge is a national...

Like many major purchases, the best tip for paying for college is simple but difficult: Start saving early -- like during infancy. Contributing to a college savings plan early will lead to more money saved and more tax benefits. But even with such foresight, it still may only cover a third of the...

It started Jan. 1 as one of the first challenges facing college-bound students: Filling out the form for FAFSA -- the Free Application for Federal Student Aid -- which can make that first college class seem like a breeze. Less than two months after the start of the student financial aid program's...

It's that time again. College acceptances are starting to arrive, and students already enrolled in college need to prepare for next year's finances. It's also time to complete online the federal government's Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. Checking on your FAFSA status after...

It isn't easy, filling out college forms for FAFSA -- the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. In trying to determine how much financial aid you or your child are eligible for, you're likely to make at least one error (although corrections can be made later). Lynn O'Shaughnessy, who covers...