| | Taxes and Paying For College...
âNothing can be said to be certain except for death andâŠyou knowâŠâ
The above quote has been attributed to Ben Franklin, but while he may have known something about taxes, we can assure you he never knew how much they impacted paying for college.
With tax season underway, understanding what college expenses are tax-deductible for parents â or students â is a big part of long-term planning.
From scholarships to 529s to student loans, there are tax considerations and education-related credits. âCollege Tax Guide (2018): What You Need to Know about Scholarships, Tuition, and Loansâ can tell you what you need to know about claiming tax benefits as well as how you might have to pay taxes on scholarships.
And finally, not all news about taxes has to be bad. When you have students in college, the American Opportunity Credit can give you money back and directly reduce how much you owe.
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| | | You got questions, we've got experts...
If you've got questions related to FAFSA, how the financial aid process works, or what does your student's award letter mean - get them answered!
Email your questions to me at debbie@road2college.com. I'll ask the experts from CommonBond, Keith Babich and Jane Lemke, during our Facebook Live on Monday, February 11th, at 11:30am EST.
Click here to get a reminder. |
| | | | If you're a family with a high school junior and you're searching for colleges with merit scholarships, you NEED to use one of these two tools.
COLLEGE DATA SPREADSHEET: This spreadsheet has a combination of data from IPEDS (the government source) and publicly available Common Data Sets. What makes this spreadsheet so great is you can sort, filter, and compare on ANY of the variables in the spreadsheet. Below is a sample of the data that is provided. |
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COLLEGE FREE MONEY FINDER: This tool gives you access to the LARGEST MERIT SCHOLARSHIP DIRECTORY available with over 15,000 merit scholarships offered by colleges around the U.S.
What makes the The College Free Money Finder so simple to use is the ability to enter your student's academic stats (GPA and test scores), along with preferences for location, size, sport, talent, etc. and the tool automatically generates a list of colleges that can offer your student merit scholarships.
In addition, the tool lets you sort the results to see which schools have honors programs, early admissions deadlines, require separate applications, the CSS Profile, and are test optional.
The College Free Money Finder eliminates hundreds of hours of research.
So, if you're a family that knows you need merit scholarships to make college more affordable, The College Free Money Finder gives you access to all the information you need to craft a list of colleges with the most generous scholarships your student qualifies for.
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| | | | | Debbie Schwartz Founder, Road2College I'm a parent, like many of you, navigating college admissions and paying for college. With an expertise in personal finance, analysis, and marketing, I'm working to give families the information and tools to make smarter financial college decisions. |
| | If this newsletter no longer fits your needs, consider receiving our new newsletter, focusing on financial issues related to students currently in college or recently graduated. |
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