College financial aid season is here.  College-bound seniors and their families are wading through the jungle of grants, scholarships, loans, and aid trying to learn what’s available and what they may qualify for.  What many families learn is that they are considered too wealthy for financial aid, but not wealthy enough to pay the full price especially of private college tuition.

Like the whole college admissions process, the finance part is also a game. You need to learn the rules, research possible strategies and work arounds to do whatever you can legitimately do to make yourself  look more qualified to college-aid officers.

In this Wall Street Journal article, the author offers up a range of tried and true suggestions of how you can manage your financial situation to appear more qualified. The article also provides advice on how to best fill out all the forms, the ups and downs of bringing in third party advisors and much, much more.