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I just finished tweaking tonight's "encore" presentation, "Late Stage College Planning for Juniors" and have been patting myself on the back since, because of all of the clever phrases and analogies I came up with.  Here's a few, submitted for your approval:

"The college process is like a train, it comes into the station and leaves the station, whether or not you are 'ready.'"

"There is life beyond the same Rear Window Sticker Colleges that everyone applies to"

"Each college application must have a 'Thread of Continuity' that runs through it, tying everything together"

There's a whole lot more where they came from, I'm merely scratching the surface (who's excited now????)!

If you're getting sick to your stomach about where to even get started in the process of making a list of colleges that your kiddo can even get into...

...i.e. are there any "Safety Schools" any more?  Or...

Do I have a snowball's chance in hell at...

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A client, Ava, just got into her Early Decision college.  Everything went silky smooth, and there wasn't a hint of a scintilla of any drama whatsoever during the 10 months we worked together.

Not.

Here's what really went down.  Literally the day before she got the GREAT news, Ava's mom and I spoke on the phone for about 25 minutes.  Most of the conversation was along the lines of:

*She's so bummed out, she doesn't think she's going to get into a "good school"

*None of her friends are getting into their top choice colleges, she's really, really nervous"

*What can we do, while we wait to hear from [College]? Anything?"

*When I ask her anything, she yells "I don't want to talk about it, mom!" and leaves the room.

That was Tuesday.  On Wednesday, I logged into my email, to see "I GOT IN!" screaming at me at the top of my inbox.

It's quite a roller coaster, this college admissions game.  You're down in the dumps one day,...

Good eeeeeve-a-ning...

(I know it's morning, just go with it.)

My undead but lovely Countess Pearlticia and I have never done anything like this in our 350+ years together, but right now, you can invite us (careful!) into your corner to help you conquer the FAFSA, CSS Profile and all other of your financial aid demons for 10% off  - AND claim a big fat bonus (see below)!

Why are we doing this goofy Halloween sale and gutting our prices?  

1. It’s our way to say “thank you” for being part of our community and helping refer and otherwise spread the word about our college planning services
2. It’s indisputable that this is one giant, MONSTA of a deal!  We actually lowered our prices...how many businesses do THAT????  (There’s a recession out there in case you didn’t notice.)
3. Pearl, the mother of our four “Children Of The Night,” prepares approximately 400 of our clients' financial...

Tutoring

Apparently First Son Hunter Biden used about $40,000 of his daughter's 529 college savings fund for drugs and prostitutes, according to the IRS. 

These are not "Qualified Higher Education" expenses under the Department of Treasury Rules, so I can see why they're miffed.

Here are some other, non-qualified things you can do with your 529:

• Fund a Super PAC
• Purchase jet skis
• Buy crypto through Sam Bankman-Fried

Proper use of the 529 is pretty much limited to direct college expenses, such as tuition, rent, books and even laptops. 

I don't know if Hunter used his 529 for The Laptop.  He would not turn my calls.

But here's the thing about the 529...

In financial aid, it PENALIZES, meaning, reduces your eligibility for aid.   Pretty weird, right?

One one hand, the government incentivizes you to save for college by creating the 529 plan.  

On the other hand, if you actually DO save money this way, you'll receive less financial...

I uploaded last week's webinar on the New Rules of Financial Aid  to our podcast,  The College Planning Edge. 

(Yes, I too have a podcast.)

The changes affect families applying for aid next year, who have more than child in college at the same time, as well as divorced families and small business owners.  

I'll be blunt:  most of the new rules are pretty sucky.  But some of the other ones ain't all bad, like the ones covering grandparents who help pay for college, and parents who contribute to their retirement accounts.

I also predicted delays and confusion surrounding the entire process.  That will be fun.  Not.

Here's where you can listen to this episode, and the tips and strategies I offered to cope...

...and get your hands on the financial aid and scholarships you deserve to take a bite out of the insane cost of college!

POCAST EPISODE

- Andy "Long Time Listener, First Time Caller" Lockwood

...

There's a not-so-silent financial aid killer, lurking in the shadows, awaiting hapless families looking to apply for college financial aid this year.

This assassin appears to have targeted middle class and upper middle class families with college-bound kids.

Who-slash-what is this criminal?

The federal Department of Education.  The Department has revamped its financial aid eligibility rules for the first time in 40 years.  The press has called these changes "tectonic."

I call them, "sh-tty."

Parden my francais, but I calls 'em like I sees 'em.  And in a few minutes, I'll be doing just that when we go live:

I'm doing a last-minute, quickie webinar on the changes -- and my thoughts and strategies on how to cope -- if you're applying for financial aid this year and beyond.

Here's some of what's on tap tonight:

*Rules changes for families with more than one child in college

*Rules changes for business owners

*Rules changes for divorced families

*Rules changes for how...

Everyone knows that the cost of college is waaaaaay of hand...

...except the Department of Education, it appears.

This year, they're implementing the largest overhaul of the rules about financial aid eligibility in 40 years.

I've seen these new rules, and they ain't pretty, for the most part.  Actually, they're pretty damn anti-middle class.

One of the changes that hits close to home for me, personally, is the one that pulls off the table the credit, or "discount" in the rules for families with multiple children in college.  I have three kids in college, which is why I'm taking this personally.  But it's not just me, 60% of families have more than one child in college.

Under the old rules, if you had two in college, your eligibility would be DOUBLE that of someone with the same income, savings, etc. but only one child in college.  

Now, both families are eligible for the same amount.  Even a family with quintuplets would be treated the same way as...

At 7:31 am I was on a morning news show that Pearl and I couldn't figure out how to watch, discussing the pending changes in financial aid, including the elimination of the "sibling discount."

As usual, I didn't have enough time to delve into all of the items I felt were important, possibly because the producers didn't want to put their audience to sleep.

So I decided to throw together a last minute, quickie webinar on the new rules of financial aid and what they mean for you, tomorrow night, to walk you through what you need to know if you're applying for financial aid for the upcoming year and/or beyond.

Here's some of what's on tap for tomorrow night:

*Rules changes for families with more than one child in college

*Rules changes for business owners

*Rules changes for divorced families

*Rules changes for how contributions from grandparents or others are treated in the financial aid formulas

*Changes in the timing of when you file

*The effect of the changes on...

Good morning!

I'm in the midst of three college drop-offs over a grueling,10 day stretch, but wanted to tell you about two financial aid-related stories that caught my bleary eyes over the past couple of days.

The first was about alleged price fixing among elite colleges.

The second related to incredible, nauseating amounts of cash spent by public universities on the most STUPID stuff.

Sadly, neither of these stories is breaking news. This stuff has been going on longer than the 21+ years I've been a college advisor.  

The first story was about U Chicago paying $13.5M to settle allegations of financial aid price-fixing.  I'm embarrassed to say that I don't quite get the plaintiff's point. According to the summary I read, it looked like the allegation was that U Chicago colluded with 16 colleges, including Brown, Columbia, MIT and Duke. 

But the collusion was not about U Chicago sharing their applicants' files and coming up with identical awards, they way the...