Figuring out how pay for your child’s college education is one of the most anxiety-inducing milestones in parenting — and it doesn’t help that it's always easy to find out how much tuition is. 

It happens all the time. Aid that covered you in the fall isn't available in the spring.

As the holiday shopping season ramps up and the fall semester wraps up, many families find there is a difference between their budget and the tuition bill due.

But you don’t have to set your family’s educational progress back by taking a semester off. Here are five ways to make up the balance.

We know that filling out the FAFSA can be frustrating, which is we created our step-by-step guide for filling out the form.

However, even with specialized guidance, individual circumstances may make some of the FAFSA questions difficult to answer. That’s why we recently gathered your most complicated FAFSA questions and posed them to college financial aid pros to get the info you need.

When your kid was little, it was pretty easy to say no.

No, you’re not going to jump in the mud in your new shoes.
No, it’s not time for a cookie. It’s time for kale.
No, you cannot smear yourself with butter before school.

When you said no back then it was to keep them safe, healthy, and socially responsible. As they’ve gotten older, it’s harder to say no because they ask for less ridiculous things. You’ve set curfews, insisted they send text messages, and even loaned them your car. You see them growing into an adult right before your eyes. So saying no feels different.

There’s a certain thrill to going to a big state university. Besides the massive name recognition, there are often huge sports programs to participate in or root for, a buffet of majors to choose from, and a vibrant on-campus life.

But what happens after you toss your mortar board in the air and enter the so-called real world? Is going to a big state school a good investment when it comes to your future?

That’s a question we explored in a landmark research study on Student Debt and Future Earnings. We looked at over 4,600 colleges and universities in the U.S. to find out which schools offered the best value, and which schools might cause you to take on more debt than you anticipated.

If you’re planning on applying for FAFSA (a.k.a., the Free Application for Federal Student Aid) for 2018-2019, there are a few changes you should be aware of.

We spoke to John Haggerty, the assistant director of financial aid at Swarthmore College, to find out what students and parents need to know for the coming year.