Frequently Ask Questions

Some universities do offer incentives for parents with multiple students at the same university. To learn more, please contact your student's financial aid office.

Suggest your student first meet with the school's career services office. Often, career services offices offer testing services and internships with alumni. Assessments such as the Myers-Briggs can help match talent with logical career choices. Once the student has picked a career path - encourage them to meet with their academic adviser to determine which major may best prepare them for their desired career.

Students recommend that new students wait a couple months before going home for the first time, citing Thanksgiving to be a good goal. Staying at school forces your student to connect.

Hope Scholarship Tax Credit:
The Hope Scholarship tax credit allows students, or their parents or guardians, to claim up to $1,500 per student per year for out-of-pocket tuition and fee expenditures. This $1,500 tax credit may be claimed for the first two years of undergraduate study. The Hope credit is available to taxpayers with a gross income of up to $50,000 (up to $100,000 for joint filers). The credit is phased out on a sliding scale for taxpayers earning $40,000 and above (and $80,000 and above for joint filers).

Lifetime Learning Tax Credit:

First - encourage your student to be involved in campus activities in some way. For some - a Greek society may be a good fit, and intramural sports may be a better fit for others. Either way - studies have consistently shown that students actively involved in campus activities are more successful students.

A Section 529 college savings plan is a tax-advantaged state-administered investment program that is authorized under Internal Revenue Code Section 529. These plans allow investors to save money in an account in which the earnings will grow free from federal income tax and, when used to pay for "qualified higher education expenses," may be withdrawn federal income tax-free.

First year students face numerous challenges and some struggle at first. We advise them to give it a little time, get engaged with their academic work, eat the right foods, engage in regular exercise, get enough sleep, invest in their relationships with their roommates, join a club or organization, and establish a good working relationship with their advisor or another faculty or staff member.

Try myUsearch - an unbiased online resource dedicated to objectively matching students with colleges and providing fair and accurate college enrollment information.

No, unfortunately in-state and out-of-state tuition are specifically for public institutions.

Undergraduates are offered financial aid in the form of a 'package' — a combination of grants, loans, and work-study. The first step in determining a student's financial aid package is through the process of need analysis. There are two formulas for need analysis. The first is conducted by the federal government to determine eligibility for its programs. The second is sometimes conducted by colleges and universities to determine how they will distribute their own institutional aid.