Honest answers on paying for college.

Every guide here is built on federal data — the numbers colleges are required to report, not the ones they advertise.

The 2027–28 FAFSA: which deadline actually matters — when the form opens, why the federal deadline is the least useful date, and the new Parent PLUS cap
Why "graduate in four years" is the most expensive stat nobody checks — the median college graduates 40% of its students in four years and 60% in six, and the extra year costs a full extra year of price
The brag sheet: what to hand a teacher before asking for a recommendation — what goes on the one page, what stays off it, and why the ask has to happen at least four weeks before the first deadline
Should your student retake the SAT? The honest math — the same 1300 sits above Michigan State's reported average and below an Ivy's: the retake question is per school, not per score
The three-school floor: building a list that can't strand your kid — "safety" is an admissions word, not a price: 532 of the 906 high-admit schools cost a $75–110k family more than the typical reach school
The Parent PLUS loan is capped now — the new math for the class of 2027 — $20,000 a year, $65,000 total per student since July 2026: the unlimited federal backstop is gone, and the gap math changed
Early Decision: when the binding bet is worth it — and when it isn't — binding means accepting a price before you can compare: at 81 selective privates, the middle half of $75–110k prices spans $10,218 a year
Sticker price is a fiction — the number to look up instead — ten schools priced within 9% of each other, and the $27,719-a-year gap in what families actually pay
Do we make too much for financial aid? — the myth, measured: at the same income, real prices run $4,478 to $32,766 a year
What are your student's real chances? — how an admit estimate is actually built, factor by factor, and what the number can't tell you
Why trust these numbers? — where every figure comes from, why the math is visible, who pays us, and what we refuse to claim

Real costs by income at 200 schools → · About College Compass →