I lost my teaching job last June and got a half year's salary instead of a full year. I did not get a job in the fall, so our household income was operating on half of my income. My husband's work status is the same, so we are at three-quarters. This year I do not have a job. Is there any ...

I am going to be attending a New York university this spring as a music major. My ultimate goal is to get a doctorate of ethnomusicology and to teach at a university while also completing fieldwork research. My loan debt will be very high (at least $100,000). Do you know how to attempt to get a high-paying college job right out ...

I am currently a single parent with a daughter receiving financial aid. However, I plan to marry and am curious how that affects my child’s financial aid. Will his income be considered when completing the FAFSA next year even if we don’t share financial responsibility for her or commingle our bank accounts? — Terri S. If a dependent student's custodial parent ...

I filled out the FAFSA in March and recently received a letter that offered me a $3,500 unsubsidized Stafford loan. I did a little research and found out I would have to pay interest on interest. I'm thinking about declining it and mailing it back to the school I attend. Will I be offered any other financial aid or is this ...

We asked parents to share their advice on the financial aid process, based on their experiences with their children. Here's what they said: "Keep a file folder with each piece of correspondence in it. That way you have a paper trail. Every time a new loan, grant or financial aid comes in, you may receive a revised bill. Also, make sure ...

Euro. Yen. Dollar. Whatever you call it, if you want to study abroad you're going to need it. There are ways to get financial aid to study abroad. Find out how to make your trip overseas more affordable. The Ins and Outs of Aid Eligibility Before you rule out study abroad because of the cost, find out whether you may be ...

My wife is looking to go back to school for a new career. But I'm pretty lost as to how to help her with all this financial aid stuff. Can you help me to get started, or at least point me in the right direction? — Skyler G. Most of the answer to the first question in last week's Ask Kantro ...

I am currently a senior at a high school. If I want to dorm at a private university, which adds $10,000 more to the $40,000 tuition, do the universities take into account the financial aid as a whole thing with tuition and room and board, or do they just give financial aid for the tuition? To simplify this, my total costs ...

A staggering economy, issues obtaining student loans and rising tuition are making it increasingly harder to pay for college. But there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel for those in the know. The yearly phenomenon known within the financial aid community as the "summer melt" is working in students' favor -- this year more than ever -- ...

Sallie Mae and Gallup just released the results of their third annual survey of how American families pay for college. The survey found that families perceived college costs as increasing by more than 17% compared with last year. As a result, families are becoming more cost conscious in their college choices. Family estimates of the total cost of attendance increased 17% ...

Having grown up with depression era parents, I've never been someone that liked to have debt. I'm told that avoiding debt will not work in my favor when applying for financial aid for my son's education. What should I know and is there something I should do to improve my odds of getting what other typically debt-ridden families in our tax ...

I am hoping you can help me with my FAFSA issue. I am 16 and a senior this year in high school, so I plan on attending a university in the fall. However, my dream college is a private university and is extremely expensive. My parents refuse to help pay a dime towards furthering my education — they believe college isn't ...

Sallie Mae and Gallup just released the results of a survey of how American families save for college. The survey found that most parents are continuing to save for college despite the economy and that saving for college slightly trails saving for retirement. More than 9 in 10 of the parents (92%) think that it is likely or very likely that ...

Winning the grant you've worked so hard to achieve is one thing. Taking steps to ensure the award will be one of many is something completely different. Get to Know Your Grant Sometimes the greatest challenge is figuring out how you are allowed to spend "your" money. A lot of expenses you expect to be covered could be restricted. For example, ...

If you've never set eyes on a Student Aid Report (SAR) before, it can be a dizzying experience. What do all those acronyms and numbers mean? It all looks so official and important. If you've recently submitted a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) you can expect to receive a SAR in return. And while the SAR is long on ...

Is your financial aid advice featured in The New York Times? Didn’t think so. Mark Kantrowitz, is nationally recognized as an often quoted leading financial aid expert. With degrees from M.I.T., Carnegie-Mellon and more quotes than Webster’s, he is the financial aid guy’s financial aid guy. Here’s his advice for these tough times. Kantrowitz strongly encourages families to save 1/3 of ...

President Barack Obama has vowed to make education a top priority. But what does that mean for you? According to Education.com, America lags behind many nations in the world when it comes to making college affordable. To make college more affordable for Americans, Obama plans center around two goals: his American Opportunity Tax Credit and freeing up more money for aid ...

We the parents screwed up financially and had to file for bankruptcy and are in a Chapter 13 repayment program. The FAFSA thinks according to their estimator that we can afford to pay $10,000 a year (parent contribution) but there is no way. There is no provision for us to show that $1,500 a month goes to courts. (That's $18,000 a ...

Tom is a graduate student at a Midwestern university completing a major research and writing project on student credit card debt. When Tom was in college, he built up $15,000 of credit card debt because he never learned how to use credit cards responsibly. In some ways, Tom was fortunate. He didn’t suffer many of the consequences of getting into that ...

The US House of Representatives approved the student loan and health care reform legislation on Sunday night, March 21, 2010, by a vote of 220 to 211. No Republicans voted in favor of the legislation. The US Senate is expected to pass the legislation within about a week. The student loan bill will end the federally-guaranteed student loan program, where banks ...