Chatbug Karen

With a new administration in our government, hopefully, the chances of getting into college will be better. It has become so expensive to attend college. There is more to consider than tuition when planning on attending college. The cost of books has sky rocketed and don’t let anyone fool you into thinking you will get much back when selling them back. The price of gasoline has increased so much that it is expensive just to get your kid to college let alone buy the supplies they need. Something has to change. It is good to apply to many colleges to increase your choices of financial aid. Learn more about college application assistance at CollegeZapps.com. The following press release gives important information on how to apply and why it is important.

Student Aid Requests Soar – Families Feel Pinch in Tight Economy

Littleton, CO – August 27, 2008 – Facing a sputtering economy, escalating tuition costs and a rise in college admission applications; would be college students are applying for financial aid in surging numbers. Nationally, 8.9 million students filed federal student aid forms during the first half of 2008, a 16.3 percent increase over the same period last year.

For decades, the federal student loan program has helped tens of millions of students pay for college. About 47 percent of families borrow money to help get kids through college, according to a study released August 20th by lender Sallie Mae and Gallup. The study affirmed that federal loans are easily the most popular source of borrowing.

“The student loan industry has experienced a volatile year and the impact of this volatility is starting to trickle down to parents and students. Tighter lending standards and falling housing prices have made it harder for parents to tap home-equity loans and lines of credit to pay their kids’ education bills,” said David Kenney, CEO of CollegeZapps. It is critical for parents and students to have options. If you don’t apply – you can’t be accepted. If you are not accepted to multiple colleges – you don’t have choices.”

“Each college has a different cost of attendance based on factors such as tuition, fees, room, board, projected expenses and regional costs of living. Parents and students want to weigh their best options of grants, scholarships, loans, and work study,” continued Kenney.

In an interview titled “The Credit Crisis and Student Loans” on the PBS Nightly Business Report, Brian Lee Sang, Financial Aid Director at American University said, “It’s creating issues where families are coming to us asking us for institutional help, saying, hey can I get more money any way to try to help get us through the spring semester. But I think more colleges are going to see even more of this and feel the impact of this next year.”

Families are looking for more options.

CollegeZapps www.collegezapps.com has opened a window of options for parents and college applicants by simplifying and streamlining the college application process. With CollegeZapps completing actual college applications is now fast, accurate and professional. Students can spend more time choosing what colleges best fit them, applying to more colleges in less time, and reducing the redundancy that comes with filling out multiple application forms.
CollegeZapps recommends applying to as many as 10 colleges and dividing them up into three groups:

Group one: Apply to colleges where you feel you’ll most likely to be accepted. These are usually called “safeties” or “back ups.”
Group two: Apply to colleges that are overall good matches, with a high probability that you will be accepted. These are colleges that fit academically and socially.
Group three: Apply to “reach” colleges. These are colleges that present an admissions challenge.

For more information, visit www.collegezapps.com or contact Scot Talcott at (866) 492.7607 or (303) 785.8600.

Tags: college