How to Make College Affordable
An OnDemand Mini-Course for U.S. Students and Families
With Amanda Miller, Financial Aid Specialist
How families can find often-missed scholarship opportunities, navigate the financial aid process, and reduce the cost of college.
Let's talk money.
Confusing. Stressful. Complicated. These are the most common descriptors my students and their families use when we first start the conversation about paying for college.
- Where are all the scholarships that apply to me/my student? How do we find them?
- Is it actually worth taking the time to look for them and apply?
- Why are the costs listed by the college and the bill students/parents actually pay so unpredictably different?
- Why can’t the colleges tell me upfront–before the application–what we’ll pay?
- What’s a CSS Profile, and why do some colleges ask for it and not others? And is it really that difficult to fill out?
All of these questions are totally understandable, since “How to FAFSA” and “Scholarships 101” aren’t classes offered at most high schools.
Thankfully, those are precisely the things we’ll be covering in this course.
My name is Amanda Miller, and I’m hosting this accelerated course to do on a mass scale what I’ve been doing in person for years: connecting students to the opportunities they didn’t know they were missing.
By the end of our course, you’ll know how to...
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Find and apply for scholarships efficiently and successfully
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Determine which colleges are most likely to be affordable for you
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Apply for grants with minimal stress (#FAFSA), and
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Make sense of your financial aid award letters so you can make informed decisions about your college costs
Sounds doable, right?
Good. Because it is. You can do this.
How to Make College Affordable
An OnDemand Mini-Course for U.S. Students and Families
This comprehensive, pay-what-you-can course — intended for 9th to 12th graders and their families — will guide you through pretty much all the things you need to know when it comes to paying for college.
We’ll cover:
- The three types of scholarships, their pros/cons, where/when to find them and who should probably pursue them
- Questions students who win scholarships need to ask
- A simple, two-question framework and 3 favorite tools to identify colleges that are most likely to make themselves affordable to you
- How the FAFSA overhaul and delay will impact the aid eligibility and timeline 8 different types of students and families
- What to have on hand/do in advance to make completing the FAFSA less stressful
- Common sticking points between students and parents in the paying for college conversation and some conversational scaffolding to help you move past them
- A handy tool to make interpreting aid offers simpler
- A couple ways you might reduce the billable expenses listed on the financial aid award letter
- Why it is so very important, for the vast majority of students, to wait to commit to a college until they’ve compared financial aid offers
- The basics of when and how to navigate an appeals process
- Lots more
Get access to the Paying for College in Four Steps guide
This comprehensive, super-practical guide covers:
- Step 1: Scholarshipping Strategically
- Step 2: Building an Affordable College List
- Step 3: Conquering the FAFSA (& Other Forms)
- Step 4: Understanding Financial Aid Offers and Next Steps
Find Affordable Colleges
Learn how to expand your search: There are hundreds of great universities in the U.S., and many of them will give you an excellent financial aid offering.
A Mindful Scholarship Search
There are so many scholarships, it can be overwhelming to look. We'll show you how to apply for the right scholarships with efficiency in mind.
How to FAFSA
Everything you need to know to correctly fill out the new FAFSA application and maximize your chances for federal aid
Meet Your Facilitator:
Amanda Miller
Amanda Miller is a financial aid specialist and upbeat presenter who authored the Paying For College in Four Steps resource.
Amanda is an educator who especially loves three things: student empowerment, engaging presentations, and math problems. Over the past decade, she has served in overlapping roles as a public middle school history/math teacher, an independent test prep instructor, an in-school nonprofit college adviser, and a private high school math teacher. All these experiences, alongside her three passions, have woven together to make financial aid advising a natural fit to her strengths and values. Through one-on-one conversations and group presentations, she has guided thousands of families to find their best paths through the dual processes of college admissions and college affordability.
Amanda is a member of IECA–including its Subcommittee on College Affordability–and SACAC as well as a big fan of NASFAA and NCAG. She lives and works near her alma mater, Davidson College, with her incredibly supportive husband and two objectively adorable children.
Can’t afford this course?
We're offering pay-what-you-can spots
Access is really important to me. In fact, it’s at the heart of most of everything I do. It’s why I’m offering pay-what-you-can spots for any family who can't afford the sticker price.
If that’s you, request a pay-what-you-can spot.
Don’t be shy; we’d love to have you.
