Affording College: Top Five Articles of the Week – April 5, 2013

Welcome to our first ever Weekly Roundup! One of the great things about the web is that it offers an unlimited amount of diverse information on any subject you can think of. The flip side is that it can be tough to sift through it all. Here at YesCollege.com, we want to bring you what we think are the best of the best when it comes to articles on affording college each week. With that in mind, here are our top 5!

Applying to College

• Forget tuition, just applying to college can cost thousands. Amy Scott over at Marketplace writes an insightful article that touches on an oft-overlooked subject, the cost of college applications themselves. Did you know that Harvard received over 35,000 applications this year? Even though they waive fees on 10%, they still earned well over $2 million on application fees alone.
• To (All) the Colleges That Rejected Me. Suzy Lee Weiss, a high school senior, offers up a dish of strong criticism with a side of sour grapes to admissions counselors and the colleges that rejected her. It’s a humorous take on a serious issue. How many quality students are rejected simply for not being absurdly unique?

Financial Aid

• How Final Is a College’s Financial Aid Offer?. Tanya Abrams at The Choice shares an informative Q&A session with a few financial aid and admissions experts. How final is a financial aid offer? How does a university select the loans that are listed on a student’s award letter? These are just a few of the many excellent questions answered.

Affording College

• How to Talk About College Costs With Your Kid. Emily Driscoll with Fox Business has a useful article for parents. Any way you slice it, college is expensive, and student loan debt can be crippling. When students are deciding where to apply or attend, it’s important that parents are up front with them about what exactly it will take, and what financial help they can expect.
• If Law School Affordability Doesn’t Improve, Enrollment Will Continue To Decline: Analysis. Tyler Kingkade shares a new academic paper written on law school affordability with The Huffington Post. If recent concerns over a lack of jobs for law school grads weren’t enough keep lowering enrollment rates, the ever-increasing costs associated with a law degree certainly will be.

Well that’s all for this week. Check back next week for more updates. Have a great weekend!