MEFA Blog
Keep up to date with the latest news about planning and financing a college education and preparing for your financial future, from experts here at MEFA and across the industry. Browse through our blog and use it as your very own college planning guide.
The Act allows 529 distributions to pay back student loans and may give grandparents a new way to take advantage of their savings. …
By
Jonathan Hughes
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Retirement savings are not reported on the FAFSA, but they are reported on the CSS Profile, meaning they could potentially affect your financial aid award at certain schools. …
By
Lauren Patten
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We provide tips on how you should file the FAFSA, who you should contact at the colleges you are applying to, which loans you can borrow, and what scholarships to apply for. …
By
Meredith Clement
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Question topics include work-study, other real estate, legal guardianship, savings bonds, loan interest rates, businesses, parent credit, and transgender students…
By
Meredith Clement
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Mistakes include missing a school's deadline, putting parent info in the student section, using a nickname, forgetting to add schools, incorrectly reporting taxable grants and scholarships, leaving college-going siblings out of the household size, using the wrong Social Security number, and not using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.…
By
Meredith Clement
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Topics include completing financial aid applications, getting an FSA ID, who requires the CSS Profile, applying for financial aid without a Social Security number, who should complete the financial aid applications, the affect of 529 accounts on financial aid, the financial aid timeline, EFC Calculators, and helpful websites. …
By
Meredith Clement
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Items needed include an FSA ID, a College Board username and password, a student's driver's license, a list of colleges where the student is applying, Social Security numbers, W-2 form(s), and untaxed income records. …
By
Meredith Clement
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We discuss work study, the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship, how scholarships affect financial aid, subsidized vs unsubsidized loans, Federal Direct Loan limits and interest rates, MA state aid, and how to use your college savings funds. …
By
Meredith Clement
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If parents are U.S. citizens living abroad, they can still create an FSA ID, but will need to convert income and assets into U.S. dollars. If parents are not U.S. citizens, they will not be able to create an FSA ID and will need to print out the signature page and mail it to the address indicated. …
By
Jonathan Hughes
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Learn how to file the FAFSA (where only the custodial parent will provide information), how to file the CSS Profile (where both custodial and noncustodial parents usually provide information), and what to do if the noncustodial parent is not available. …
By
Julie Shields-Rutyna
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