The Princeton Review Has Released 2022 Edition of Its Annually Updated Guide, "Paying for College"
— Includes Line-by-Line Strategies for the 2022-23 Financial Aid Forms, Plus a New Section on How Recent Federal Laws Will Affect College Funding
NEW YORK, September 21, 2021 /—The Princeton Review ®, known for its many services and resources that help students research and gain admission to college, today released the 30th edition of its annually updated guide to college financial aid and funding.
Paying for College: Everything You Need to Maximize Financial Aid and Afford College (Penguin Random House, 2022 Edition, September 21, 2021, $22.99) is authored by Kalman A. Chany, one of the nation's leading experts on college funding, with Geoff Martz.
As college costs have skyrocketed (figures reported by the College Board are here ), so have students' and parents' concerns about how they will pay for college. Among 14,000 college applicants and parents of applicants The Princeton Review surveyed in February for its 2021 College Hopes & Worries Survey, 82% said financial aid would be "very" or "extremely" necessary to pay for college. Nearly all respondents—98%—said they would need some form of aid (grants, scholarships and/or loans) to fund the cost of the degree.
As necessary as aid has become, in recent years many aid-eligible students sadly have failed to apply for aid. In July 2021, only about 53.3% of students in the high school class of 2021 completed the FAFSA ® (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)—a form that all aid applicants must submit. That figure marked a drop of 4.8% compared to July 2020.
For many years, the FAFSA, which numbers more than 100 questions, has stymied a good many people struggling to complete it. Indeed, former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan once said of the FAFSA: "You basically need a Ph.D. to figure that thing out."
Since 1992, Paying for College has provided detailed, line-by-line guidance on completing—and completing to one's best advantage—both the FAFSA and the College Board’s CSS Profile™, an even more complex form that hundreds of selective schools require in addition to the FAFSA.
For 30 years, this book has been the only annually updated guide to financial aid that offers such detailed information, coupled with advice on how the financial aid process works and insights into how aid offers are determined. The book also gives readers guidance on saving for college and exploring various loan options as well as education tax benefits.
Chany's advice applies the strategic planning techniques traditionally used by tax accountants to the world of financial aid. His recommendations—all legal—take into account year-to-year changes in both the aid application forms and the formulas used to determine aid offers.
In addition to its detailed strategies for completing the 2022–2023 FAFSA and the CSS Profile, the new 2022 edition of Paying for College provides:
- Guidance on COVID-related issues affecting college funding. Chany explains how to inform aid officers of major changes in family income when FAFSA data no longer accurately reflects the family's current financial circumstances. He discusses the impact of unemployment benefits, stimulus payments, and PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loans. He also discusses aid implications for students weighing whether to take the SAT® or ACT® (often used for merit award decisions) when applying to test-optional schools.
- Worksheets to determine aid eligibility. Using this resource, readers can get an advance estimate on what colleges will expect the family to ante up. Chany provides specific strategies to lower that figure and boost aid eligibility.
- A draft copy of the 2022–2023 FAFSA.
- “Changes on the Horizon.” This new 14-page section summarizes the sweeping changes to the federal aid system due to the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 that was signed into law on December 27, 2020. More commonly known as the Second Stimulus Package, the law has a lengthy section known as “FAFSA Simplification.” While the changes are currently not slated to go into effect until the 2023–2024 academic year (and possibly later), Chany reviews how various aspects of the law will impact the aid landscape. Most importantly he discusses what families need to know about this to maximize their eligibility for aid.
Chany also offers guidance on:
· What parents and students should—and shouldn’t—do to get the most aid.
- What single, separated, or divorced parents need to know about aid eligibility.
- How to appeal for more aid if the college’s initial offer isn’t enough.
- How to find the best education loans and handle repayment issues.
Paying for College has been recommended by many reviewers and reporters over the years. In one of her columns in Newsday, Lynn Brenner described the book as “a first-rate guide through the financial aid maze.” John Wasik, writing in Forbes, noted the book “can save thousands in college bills.”
Paying for College is one of more than 150 books developed by The Princeton Review and published by Penguin Random House. Others in the line include:The Best 387 Colleges,College Admissions During COVID, The College Wellness Guide,The Complete College Planner,How to Write Essays on Standardized Tests, and guides to the SAT and ACT as well as guides to other standardized tests.
About Kalman A. Chany
Kalman A. Chany is the founder and president of Campus Consultants Inc., a Manhattan-based firm that has guided thousands of parents and students through the financial aid process since 1984. Over his 37-year career, Kal has helped his many clients and readers who follow the successful steps in his book cut tens of thousands of dollars off the cost of their child's college education. He has discussed college funding and financial aid advice on ABC’s Good Morning America and World News Tonight, CBS’s Evening News, NBC’s Nightly News, and NPR's Talk of the Nation. He has also been sourced in publications from Money to The Wall Street Journal.
About The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review ® , is a leading tutoring, test prep, and college admission services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school–bound students achieve their education and career goals through online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors, online resources, and its more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House. The company’s Tutor.com brand is one of the largest online tutoring services in the U.S. It comprises a community of thousands of tutors who have delivered more than 21 million one-to-one tutoring sessions. The Princeton Review is headquartered in New York, NY. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University. For more information, visit PrincetonReview.com and the company's Media Center. Follow the company on Twitter ( @ThePrincetonRev) and Instagram ( @theprincetonreview ).
PAYING FOR COLLEGE:
Everything You Need to Maximize Financial Aid and Afford College
by Kalman A. Chany with Geoff Martz
Penguin Random House • 2022 Edition • On Sale Date Sept. 21, 2021
$22.99 (Canada $29.99) • 373 pages • ISBN 978-0-525-57154-4
SAT® is a trademark registered and owned by the College Board, and CSS Profile™ is a trademark owned by the College Board which is not affiliated with and does not endorse this product. FAFSA ® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Education. ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc.
Contact: Jeanne Krier, Publicist for The Princeton Review, pressoffice@review.com
