I’m thrilled to welcome top financial aid expert Bill Smith to the College Pathways team. With a unique background creating online financial aid calculators for colleges with large endowments, Bill brings one of a kind expertise to financial aid consulting. As he worked with more and more colleges he became an expert at calculating need: determining the EFC (Expected Family Contribution) using both the FAFSA and the CSS Profile methodologies. He also became an expert in “packaging,” the process colleges use to determine how much merit and need based aid to award, and the mix of gift aid, loans, and work-study. Bill’s early work made him the “go-to” resourc...

The deadline for submitting the FASFA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) to the UC and Cal State systems is March 2nd. Many private universities have similar deadlines. For those of you who are new to the financial aid maze, the FAFSA is the financial aid application used by colleges to determine eligibility for need based federal financial aid, i.e., grants, low interest loans, and work study. In California the FAFSA must be submitted for the student to be eligible for a Cal Grant and the new California Middle Class Scholarship. The Middle Class Scholarship is for undergraduate students from families with incomes up to $150,000 who attend a University of California or Cal State camp...