STUDENTS AND FAMILIES

Finances

Ahhh, winter break! Time to rest and relax. It’s also a great opportunity to zero in on your future. For students with their eyes set on college, take the most of your winter break with these tips

What are the differences between Career Clusters and Endorsements, and how do they hang together?
This is the second in a series of posts on high school endorsements.

What are endorsements? For parents and guardians, hearing that their eighth grader will have to select an endorsement can be confusing. After all, when today’s adults were in school, such a thing didn’t exist!

Find out your options on how to pay for college education costs. Understand tuition and fees, financial aid, and scholarships and loans.

Ahhh, winter break! Time to rest and relax. It’s also a great opportunity to zero in on your future. For students with their eyes set on college, take the most of your winter break with these tips

What are the differences between Career Clusters and Endorsements, and how do they hang together?
This is the second in a series of posts on high school endorsements.

The Texas Success Initiative Assessments (TSIA) are part of the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) program designed to help a student's college or university determine if the student is ready for college-level coursework in reading, writing, and mathematics. Let us explain when and why to take the exam!

The fall is PSAT season, which means students have questions about the National Merit Scholarship. Often, students don’t fully understand why the PSAT is important, except as a practice for the SAT. We've created simple graphs that can help you guide your students.

Undocumented and DACA-status students are often confused or frightened about how to seek financial aid. In today’s climate, students may have a particularly hard time seeking this sort of help from authority figures. As a Texas educator, you can assure students that in-state financial aid is available to all students who reside here, not just citizens.

Students often ask themselves, do I take the SAT or the ACT? We do recommend that students take full length practice tests of both, or even take both tests (both offer fee waivers!) - but included here is a chart detailing the similarities and differences between the two major college exams.

Curious how your college and career path will impact your future income? How easy it will be to pay off student loans? Find out.

Access financial aid information, money management tools, and scholarship opportunities as students prepare to pay for college.

Compare College TX enables you to compare Texas public two- and four-year universities by cost, graduation rate, and more.

Gain access to a collection of resources that help you and your student begin preparing for college in high school – including admissions, financial aid, and more.

Find out your options on how to pay for college education costs. Understand tuition and fees, financial aid, and scholarships and loans.

Learn what colleges offer your major, where you can get in, how much schools cost, and more with this College Board resource.

Learn about hundreds of careers with this career search for high school students. Explore salaries, popularity, and more. 

Explore handy charts to compare your choice of school, career, and income to others. Research your college and career options

As college acceptances and financial aid award letters start rolling in for high school seniors, families are beginning to count the cost of these postsecondary options. The cost of attendance for each college includes four main types of expenses. Understanding these types of expenses, some direct and some indirect, will help families decide whether a college is a financial fit and find ways to cut costs.

Ahhh, winter break! Time to rest and relax. It’s also a great opportunity to zero in on your future. For students with their eyes set on college, take the most of your winter break with these tips

As we leave 2018 FAFSA priority deadlines behind us, students are checking their portals and mailboxes for their financial aid award letters. As they gear up to make big decisions about their financial and educational future, here are a series of helpful terms and questions to help guide students through their award letters.

What are the differences between Career Clusters and Endorsements, and how do they hang together?
This is the second in a series of posts on high school endorsements.

Starting the scholarship process can be overwhelming for students! Here, we’ve organized our tips into four simple steps to get students started on their application process, with downloadable resources for students, parents, and educators.

The Texas Success Initiative Assessments (TSIA) are part of the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) program designed to help a student's college or university determine if the student is ready for college-level coursework in reading, writing, and mathematics. Let us explain when and why to take the exam!

The fall is PSAT season, which means students have questions about the National Merit Scholarship. Often, students don’t fully understand why the PSAT is important, except as a practice for the SAT. We've created simple graphs that can help you guide your students.

In October, many college counselors and advisers are heads-down focused on helping students with FAFSA and TASFA applications. However, did you know students and families may qualify for additional financial aid through the CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE application? This application is used by 300+ colleges and scholarship providers and, like the SAT, is administered by the College Board.

The various college application systems each have unique characteristics that that can make it hard for even the most seasoned counselor to quickly and easily remember specific details. Fortunately, Texas OnCourse has put together a one page resource you can hang in your classroom to make it easy to remember.

Undocumented and DACA-status students are often confused or frightened about how to seek financial aid. In today’s climate, students may have a particularly hard time seeking this sort of help from authority figures. As a Texas educator, you can assure students that in-state financial aid is available to all students who reside here, not just citizens.

Students often ask themselves, do I take the SAT or the ACT? We do recommend that students take full length practice tests of both, or even take both tests (both offer fee waivers!) - but included here is a chart detailing the similarities and differences between the two major college exams.

While the Common App makes it easier to apply to many colleges, including most Ivy League schools and many private colleges across the nation, that doesn’t make the college application process simple. Here are 3 top tips for students as well as for counselors, parents and guardians using the Common App.

Among young people who did not finish college, nearly seven in 10 have no idea what FAFSA is, according to a 2011 survey. This not only undercuts their ability to pay for, and complete, college. It also makes them vulnerable to scamming and other malicious acts.

Since 1965, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) has provided low-interest student loans in Texas to Texas residents who are eligible to pay in-state tuition. Because THECB does not sell its loans, all loans are serviced at THECB until they are paid in full.

Curious how your college and career path will impact your future income? How easy it will be to pay off student loans? Find out.

Access financial aid information, money management tools, and scholarship opportunities as students prepare to pay for college.

Federal funding is the largest source of financial aid. Apply for grants, loans, and other types of aid with this free application.

Understand exactly how FAFSA funds are distributed and benefit students with this tool from the US Department of Education.

This form lets foreign students and noncitizens who have filed taxes apply for financial aid.

Compare College TX enables you to compare Texas public two- and four-year universities by cost, graduation rate, and more.

Gain access to a collection of resources that help you and your student begin preparing for college in high school – including admissions, financial aid, and more.

Find out your options on how to pay for college education costs. Understand tuition and fees, financial aid, and scholarships and loans.

Compare colleges and universities based on information such as average cost, graduation rate, and salary after graduation.

Learn what colleges offer your major, where you can get in, how much schools cost, and more with this College Board resource.

Learn about hundreds of careers with this career search for high school students. Explore salaries, popularity, and more. 

Explore handy charts to compare your choice of school, career, and income to others. Research your college and career options

Help students explore the difference between future careers and how much they pay with this simple tool from the Texas Workforce Commission.