Collage of money, loan applications, parent and child, our best advice logo

Our Best Advice to Help You Pay for a College Education

Don’t think you can afford to go to college? This collection of advice covers scholarships, grants, loans, FAFSA tips, and more ways to make it possible.

The high cost of college may have you wondering if earning your degree is impossible. But with some savvy planning and financial aid know-how, you can make your higher education dreams a reality. It can be overwhelming knowing where to start—we have a ton of advice on the topic in our Financial Aid section, let alone all the other content you’ll find on the internet. That’s why we’ve collected our very best advice for you right here in one place!

Below, you’ll find articles from admission experts, financial planners, and real students on all the ways you and your family can pay for college—we’re talking scholarships and grants, the FAFSA and CSS Profile, savings and loans, and everything in between. Scroll to the bottom for specific information just for parents as well as transfer, graduate, and international students. You can make college affordable—start learning and planning now!  

Financial aid 101

Understanding college costs

The application process

Scholarships and grants

Student loans

FAFSA tips

Financial aid packages

Smart strategies to pay and save

Advice just for transfer students

Advice just for graduate students

Advice just for international students

Be sure to check out our Financial Aid section frequently for new articles and advice, and use our Scholarship Search tool to start building your college fund today.

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Join Now

Join our community of
over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Join CollegeXpress
Carlie Cadet

Carlie Cadet

High School Class of 2019

CollegeXpress has helped me learn about an abundance of scholarships available to me and my situation. I was able to do research for colleges in my best interest with your website. I've had multiple colleges email me and offer me multiple scholarships and things of that nature because of this website! Thank you so much for uploading scholarships I didn’t even know existed, even if my life took a huge turn and I wasn’t able to go to college straight out of high school. CollegeXpress helped me a lot in high school to be even more motivated to get into my dream college (which I did, by the way). I'm looking forward to using the materials CollegeXpress has kindly provided me for free to look for scholarships to help pay for college.

Heather McCarty

Heather McCarty

High School Class of 2020

CollegeXpress has helped me with the college application process. The tips and tricks for important essays were so helpful. I also gained useful knowledge about college life. Even though I’m fully online, CollegeXpress has helped me develop a sense of how college is in person. The experiences from college students that were featured on their Instagram page have shown the good, the bad, and the “secret” life on campus from a reliable perspective. Not to mention, they relieved my feelings of anxiety about the workload. I can now understand how it can be stressful, but it takes self-control and willpower to get assignments completed on time and with quality.

Sierra Carranza

Sierra Carranza

High School Class of 2022

I had absolutely no idea where I wanted to go to school; I was considering colleges in almost every state. CollegeXpress was an amazing resource and helped me compare all of my top schools. Without the help of CollegeXpress, I probably wouldn't have made such an informed and confident decision.

Daniel Ogunlokun

Daniel Ogunlokun

High School Class of 2022

When I started looking at colleges in the beginning of my senior year, I was conflicted about which ones I wanted to attend based on safety, tuition costs, location, academic rigor, and prestige. Searching the internet and getting more questions than answers, I came across CollegeXpress, which made all the steps I had taken look like a minor issue. Everything was summarized and detailed, and I couldn't be more thankful and appreciative.

Katelyn

Katelyn

High School Class of 2021

CollegeXpress gave me options of schools with my major and from there I was able to pick what was most important to me in a school. Everything was so organized that I could see all the information I needed.

College Matches
X

Colleges You May Be Interested In

High Point University

High Point, NC

Randolph College

Lynchburg, VA