College Planning For Parents

Help Your Student Prepare for College

Know what your family and college-bound student should do to prepare for their college years, with a simplified college-planning process.

Fastweb's Parent Page provides scholarship information, financial aid tips, important dates, current events related to student life, an internship directory, and helpful articles for parents.

Search the College Parent FAQ Page to get answers to commonly asked questions.

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Important Dates & Deadlines

FAFSA is Available

High school seniors and college students should submit their FAFSA each year. Prepare ahead with a FAFSA Checklist and by checking out FAFSA FAQ's.

Meet the FAFSA Deadline

This date is the government deadline for students requesting aid; it's based on what school year aid is needed.

Deadlines Vary by State

Find your state's financial aid deadline and apply for aid.

National Decision Day

Many high school seniors officially pick the college they'll be attending on National Decision Day. Your child's college deposits and letter of intent are typically due on the first day of May.

Helpful articles:

Parent Guide for College Admission: Month-by-Month Timeline

Planning for College as a High School Junior: Month-by-Month Guide

Planning for College as a High School Senior: Month-by-Month Guide

How to Start the College Application Process

Get more information about college application timelines.

Applying for Scholarships

There are many ways to help lower the cost of college for your student; start with the scholarship search. Create a parent Fastweb profile and encourage your child to create their own fastweb profile, too: a parent-student partnership is a fantastic way to support your students scholarship-application efforts.

Fastweb is the perfect scholarship finder because it matches your student to scholarships using their Fastweb profile. This streamlined process saves a lot of time!

Find Scholarships

75%

of students who are awarded scholarships receive them from private or community organizations.

source: educationdata.org

Helpful articles:

24 Scholarships to Apply for in 2024

Scholarships for High School Seniors

Scholarships for High School Juniors

7 Common Traits of Scholarship Winners

Financial Aid Information for Parents

There are many options to help your family, or your child, pay for a college education. A final stage in the college decision process includes evaluating the financial aid award letters from the schools your child is considering attending. Many parents don’t know their child can appeal their financial aid package!

The best developed plans to pay for college include the following:

Student loans should be your final option to pay for school. However, there are student loan options available that offer reasonable terms. Parents and students should never use credit cards to help pay for college.