More useful resources for the college-bound

1. Here's a website with an awesome goal: guiding students from families without college knowledge who are working the process themselves: First in the Family. It looks both admirable and also like a useful resource for anyone looking for basic information.


2. At yesterday's Performing and Visual Arts College Fair I picked up a flyer from the fair's sponsor (NACAC, the National Association for College Admission Counseling): Countdown to College. It's a helpful basic guide too. The financial-aid information seemed especially useful, so I found the flyer online and am pasting that part here. Note this extremely useful website especially, calculating your family's eligibility for federal student aid.
   
   (The online version is in the actual form of the flyer, meaning some of it is upside down, designed to print out on 11x17 paper.)
   
   From the NACAC flyer Countdown to College:
   

   COA - EFC = Student Need
   [That's "cost of attendance" minus "expected family contribution."]
   
   No dollar amount will generate the same Expected Family Contribution because of several factors:
   

   • Age of parents/guardians
   • Size of family
   • Personal assets
   • Medical expenses
   • Healthcare for aging parents

   Whether or not you can save, make sure your teen succeeds in school. Colleges and universities often reward good grades with both need- and merit-based aid. It is also important that students apply on time and complete forms correctly in order to receive the best financial aid package.
   
   Three important forms
   

   • Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
     This form, required by all schools, should be mailed no later than February 1
     
   • College Scholarship Service Profile (CSS Profile)
     This form, required by some schools, should be mailed no later than February 1
     
   • Institutional Forms
     These are financial aid forms specific to individual colleges. Deadline dates will vary.

   
   By completing the FAFSA students may qualify for the following:

   • Pell Grants––do not have to be repaid
   • Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG) — do not have to be repaid
   • Perkins Loan (for students)––must be repaid
   • Stafford Loan (for students)––must be repaid
   • Plus Loan (for parents)––must be repaid
   • Work Study––students work for pay (on-campus jobs
     are specifically set aside for this program)
   • Institutional Aid––money from the college, does not have to be repaid

   
   To get an early start on the financial aid process, try the FAFSA4caster at www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov. It will give you an early estimate of eligibility for federal student aid.

3. The San Francisco Mayor's Department of Children, Youth and Their Families (DCYF) has created (and is still building) an all-purpose resource, www.sfkids.org. It already has useful information posted about college application (click Education, then Beyond High School). I'm starting to contribute content to that page and others. I compiled a couple of items that I think are pretty useful, if I do say so myself: A brief description of the first five things you should do to start the college admissions process, and a timeline broken out by high school year (that's not unique, needless to say; I tried to do a condensed version of the essentials). I'll post links to those items as soon as they're posted on www.sfkids.org.