College Admissions Help Blog

A new tool lets you watch the country's collected student debt pile up in real time. Sponsored by FinAid.org, the Student Loan Debt Clock tallies an estimate of total private and federal outstanding student debt. According to FinAid, now is peak time for debt growth, as more student loans are doled out at the semester's start. In June, a report from FastWeb.com revealed that, for the first time in history, total student loan debt exceeded credit card debt. As the report's author (and FinAid and FastWeb publisher) Mark Kantrowitz discovered:

Student loan debt outstanding totaled at least $830 billion as of June 2010, with roughly $665 billion in federal education loans and $168 billion in private student loans. The President's FY2011 budget reports actual federal education loans totaling $605.648 billion as of FY2009. The first nine months of FY2010 involved approximately $59 billion in additional federal student loan debt.

The New York Times has more on how Kantrowitz calculated the debt clock's algorithm:

He started with the government figure for total federal and direct loans outstanding at the end of fiscal year 2009 of $605 billion. Then he estimated how much private loan debt was outstanding as of June 2010, and added an increment to account for the growth in federal loan debt from September 2009 to June 2010. He came up with a starting figure of $830 billion in private and federal loans outstanding as of June 2010, which he further estimated was growing by about $2,854 a second.

reported by: Huffington Post Aug. 31, 2010

Ask Admissions Girl: I am an upcoming junior, is there anything I can do to alleviate the senior burden?

It’s never too early to start planning! If you are a junior, sophomore or even a freshman there are ways to prepare before senior year.  Making college decisions can be stressful and as written in my last post there is a lot to do senior year, so it is best to be organized.  Alleviate or ease the “burden” senior year by starting early, and continually researching and applying yourself.

Gather as much information as you can about colleges, loans and scholarships, and you can make an educated decisions when the time comes without the stress.  We offer a helpful high school timeline and links here: How to Plan for College.

Below is another planning guide that can be used throughout high school to help make the college search and application process more manageable:

1: Start with research:

• Consider possible career options and investigate the type of education that is needed.
• Request materials from schools that interest you and visit their websites to read reviews and requirements.
• Arrange campus visits to those schools that interest you.
• Look at scholarship options and ways you can work to obtain one or more.
• Understand the loan process, look at requirements and provisions from federal loans versus private loans.
• Talk with upper classman, older siblings or college grads you know. Ask what to expect, and if they have advice. Find someone to support and mentor you through the process at school, through a friend or at home.

2: Organize yourself for success:

• Take the PSAT to prepare for the SAT, and to identify areas where you need improvement. Look for test-prep tools online or your local book store for help.
• Register for and take the ACT and/or SAT in the spring of Junior year.
• Make sure you are meeting your high school graduation requirements, and stay focused on your schoolwork.
• Sign up for classes for Senior year that support and represent your interests.
• Start saving to pay for test and application fees as well as tuitions.

3: Show schools what you are all about:

• Participate in extracurricular activities or volunteer locally.
• Explore your interests and gain experience by getting a job, internship or apprenticeship.
• Continue building relationships with teachers, managers and coaches that can eventually write a letter of recommendation for you.

Ask Admissions Girl: What do I need to do in my senior year of high school to plan for college?

If you are a rising high school senior, one of the first things on your mind is probably college. From this point, you have about twelve months until you enroll as a college freshman. If you are feeling nervous, disorganized or unsure about what needs to be done, here are all of the things you need to do this year to get ready:

1: Narrow your college list to 5-10 school choices.

2: Make a list of the following:

• Test dates, fees, and deadlines
• College application due dates
• Required financial aid applications and their deadlines
• Recommendations, transcripts, and other necessary materials
• Your high school’s deadlines for application requests, such as your transcript

3: Send in your college applications. Most applications are due between January 1st and February 15th.

4: Have your high school send your transcript to colleges.

5: Contact colleges to make sure they’ve received all application materials.

6: Submit your FAFSA as soon after January 1st as possible.

7: Explore other financial aid options including private student loans and free college scholarships.

8: You should get acceptance letters and financial aid offers by mid-April and you must tell every college of you acceptance of rejection of offers of admission by May 1st.

This may seem like a lot right now, but if you stay organized and on top of deadlines you will have no problems! Good luck with the process!

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