Last updated on November 26, 2024 by College Financial Aid Advice.
We are a team of parents, Kate and Sheila, who started this website in 2011 when researching financial aid for college for our high school seniors. We were disappointed with the lack of good, easy to find information about paying for college. Our passion and persistence led us to a lot of solid information which we decided to share with you - all for free. We do not require you to provide any personal information to access our website.
This research inspired Shelia to obtain a College Counseling Certificate. Shelia has counseled hundreds of students and helped them get into their dream schools. She coaches both high school and college students on college admissions, and critiques their essays. She also provides tutoring for SAT/ACT prep and math.
Our own experiences, and experiences of our collective 4 children, are varied and all successful in different ways.
Kate worked part-time while attending a community college for 2 years, then obtained a BS degree from a University of California. She graduated without any college debt.
Shelia attended the University of Oregon, where she obtained her BS and MS in Engineering.
Kate's 3 children chose different paths:
Child 1 attended a community college for 2 years, where she discovered a love for her chosen major. That gave her time to research the best school for that major, and she ended up graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Her college was paid by part-time work, summer internships, and a college savings plan.
Child 2 chose a small liberal arts private college, where he graduated in 4 years. His college was paid for by a combination of college savings, need-based institutional grants, federal work-study program, Pell Grants, and direct subsidized federal loans.
Child 3 chose to not attend college. After researching options in the military, he chose instead to go into the construction trades, and earns good wages as a journeyman in a union job. He is delighted with his choice, and works with many people in the construction trades who are paying off student loans for a degree that they never used.
Sheila's child got a full-ride scholarship to one of the top private universities in the country. After working for a few years, he decided to attend law school, which was funded by savings, scholarships and loans.
All of the information has been carefully researched and whenever possible, we provide you the links to the official website, e.g. the official FAFSA website, or corporate scholarship websites. Sometimes the information is not available on those websites, usually because it is seasonal. We provide you the most current information that we can find, which we believe to be reliable but is not guaranteed.
Most financial aid information for one year is fairly reliable for the next year. If you see a scholarship that looks interesting but the application deadline has passed, check back in time for the following year. Sometimes funding cuts mean a grant or scholarship is eliminated, but most will be offered again for the following year.
We hope you enjoy our website. If you would like to contact us, please use the form below.
Best regards,
Kate and Sheila
The Friendly Team at College Financial Aid Advice
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