Wed, Jul 16, 2025 11:30 AM

When it comes to paying for college, financial aid has not kept up with the ever-increasing cost. The truth is that many colleges saddle students and parents with huge amounts of debt.  The allure of getting accepted to a selective, brand name college often leads families to make big mistakes when it comes to paying for a college that doesn’t fit their family budget.

Unfortunately, colleges often fill a family’s Financial Aid Award Package with college loans. The best example of this is when a college bundles in a Federal Parent PLUS Loan, a loan that is 100% in the parent’s name,  which gives the allusion that it will cost $0 to send their student to that college. It looks great on paper until a family discovers they will be forced to take out a bunch of debt to cover the large funding gap the college has left in their offer.  Please do not get trapped in this nasty game.

If you are considering a PLUS loan, which I am NOT a big fan of, you do need to know there have been significant changes to how much money and the type of repayment options that parents will have available to them moving forward.  Starting in 2026, families will be limited to taking out $20,000 per year in PLUS Loans per student with an overall maximum per student of $65,000. For families who need these PLUS Loans to pay for college – this is a huge problem. PLUS loans are usually easier to qualify for than private college loans because both take a parent’s credit score into consideration. The difference is PLUS loans have a lower threshold than what private student loan lenders require.  Also, the only repayment option available moving forward will be the traditional 10 year loan – the Income Based Repayment option is being eliminated in 2026.

A great way to help your son or daughter avoid applying to the wrong colleges is to set up a MyCAP Account by CLICKING HERE.  You will be asked to input both factual and financial details and it will run your Student Aid Index amount for you – see prior Blog Posts to learn more about this. You will be able to enter in up to 3 colleges on the FREE Version and for only $4.99 per month you get access to ALL the colleges in the platform. This way you will quickly see what each college is going to expect you to pay. Do your research today, so that you do not have any regrets in the future.

And if you still need to find more money to pay the bill in the future – check out my online College Financial Aid & Scholarship Course: Show Me Where To Find The Money. In this self-paced course, I teach you what you need to know about financial aid and where to find great scholarships. By doing this work ahead of time and communicating as a family, you can avoid making this common college mistake.

Need help finding the best colleges for your student and your family budget – schedule a meeting with me today.

Need help with the College Admissions Process, Finding Scholarships, or with Financial Aid?

Schedule your Meeting with Dan Bisig – TODAY!