By Marguerita (Rita) Chang The story is a familiar one. You planned to open a 529 savings account for your child the moment they were born. But the first year of parenthood passed in a blur of late nights and early mornings. On top of that, you were loaded with hospital bills to pay. Time..
By Adam Muri-Rosenthal, Ph.D. American students are certainly no strangers to study abroad. Prior to the pandemic, nearly 350,000 US students per year chose—whether for a week, a summer, a semester, or more—to engage in academic study at institutions located outside the United States (NAFSA), primarily in Europe. The far lower number of students who..
By – Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. We’re frequently asked if we can help identify scholarship opportunities for our families. While we happily forward on options that we serendipitously find, it’s nearly impossible to comb through the various databases out there to discover scholarships that perfectly fit each student. Some of the requirements are just too..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. Time and again, families cheat themselves out of money and admissions opportunities, for the simple reason that they don’t understand how financial aid works. Rather than keep your child out of a top choice institution or set yourself up for a late retirement, learn the facts, so that you can..
Are you wondering about which colleges are great financial deals this year? Check out this U.S. News and World Report article featuring Victoria: Some Colleges Choose to Slash, Freeze Tuition
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. This article first appeared on BuzzFeed on June 7, 2015. The sound of the ocean. The warmth of the sun. And… college applications? What? That can’t be what summer vacation is about. Yet, for rising high school seniors, that’s exactly what you need to be focusing on, that is, if..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. Most families preparing to send their children off to school plan under the assumption that college lasts only four years. After all, we only have the class designations freshman, sophomore, junior and senior. Financial aid is awarded on a four-year basis. And we use the term “four-year institution” to describe..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. While most American students set their sights on homegrown institutions, an increasing number are discovering the benefits of earning a college degree abroad. Canada, our gentle multicultural neighbor to the north, offers some amazing benefits to students who are looking for a great education in a country that embraces winter...
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. As early as mid-December, seniors start discovering where they will spend the next four years of their life. For those who applied Early Decision (the binding form of advanced application) and got into their first-choice school, the anxiety of the college application process comes to a screeching halt. No longer..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. As a independent educational consultant, I am constantly reading books about every aspect of the college admissions process. After all, my goal is to help families make the best decisions for their students by providing them with as much accurate information as possible, especially with regard to financial aid. Frank..