Category: College Planning

How to cut the cost college for families is based on your family’s situation. Business owners have special opportunities available to them through tax strategies. We want to demonstrate how families sometimes need to think outside the box to realize the most savings and utilize their own student’s tax capacity.

The reality today is not all marriages last forever. When a marriage results in children and those children grow up to be college-bound students, you need to know how your divorce impacts your college cost bottom line. The good news is the financial aid system can work to your benefit if you know how it all works!

Starting this fall, students will be able to file the famously complex Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) months earlier using older tax data. This year for the first time the FAFSA will open in October instead of January as it has in the past. What does this mean for you?

Last year at this time, we were writing about the record high average ACT scores for incoming Ohio State freshmen (28.9 in 2015). Guess what…the newest OSU class of freshmen has surpassed that record yet AGAIN. What’s the new number? 29.2!

Student loan debt! 38 million Americans have student loan debt! Federal student loans may have to be a part of your college funding plan. (Or maybe you are struggling with your own loans.) You need to know your repayment options. These plans can be confusing so grab your coffee and read.

FERPA…sounds like a weird noise doesn’t it? Like FERPA…oh, excuse me! But FERPA stands for Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 and is a federal law protecting the privacy rights of students. What comes as a surprise to parents is how a parent’s access to information suddenly and drastically changes as a result of FERPA when their student heads off to college.

Here’s what you need to know…

Teachers…we depend on them. We all know the starting salary of a teacher does not reflect their importance. In last week’s blog, I talked about the TEACH Grant Program and how a student can receive grant money to help pay for college. This week I’m going to talk about another program that can assist teaching professionals with their financial obligations—the Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program (TLFP).

Teachers…We appreciate the work you do every week and every day. Choosing to be an educator is not a profession that you enter into if you are not passionate about it. For many it is a true calling. But for some the low starting salaries deter them from following their passion. We need great teachers now more than ever, and the good news is a number of federal programs are now available to help aspiring teachers pay for college like the TEACH Grant program. 

Read the paper this morning? The news was not good…“Ohio No. 45 in College Affordability”. What does this mean? Ohio families have the hardest time paying for public colleges and universities—only 5 states had worse college affordability rankings. Ohio is one of the least affordable states in the US! How did this happen? But more importantly…what can be done?

At Capstone, our advisors sit with families every day to discuss their unique situations. One of the things we love about good financial planning is there is no one size fits all cookie cutter solutions. Sometimes we have a client whose situation may be similar to yours, and who we can learn from in the form of a case study. Their situation brings up many facets you can learn from including tax considerations, loan payments, and grandparent’s estate planning.