The Princeton Review’s Annual Guide "Paying for College" Now Out in Updated 2023 Edition

Includes Line-by-Line Strategies for the 2023-24 Financial Aid Forms, Plus Information on Changes Ahead Affecting Student Aid


NEW YORK, September 20, 2022 /— The Princeton Review ®, known for its education services and resources that help students research and gain admission to college, today released the 31st edition of its annually updated guide to college financial aid.

Paying for College: Everything You Need to Maximize Financial Aid and Afford College (Penguin Random House, 2023 Edition, September 20, 2022, $25.99) is authored by Kalman A. Chany, one of the nation's leading experts on college funding, with Geoff Martz.  

Since 1992, Paying for College has provided line-by-line guidance on completing—and to one's best advantage—the FAFSA® (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), a lengthy form that all aid applicants must submit, and the College Board’s CSS Profile®, an even more complex form that hundreds of selective schools require in addition to the FAFSA. For 31 years, this book has been the only annually updated guide to financial aid that offers such detailed guidance.

The strategic and timely information in Paying for College has become even more important as college costs have skyrocketed (current figures reported by the College Board are here) and parents' and students’ concerns about affording college have risen commensurately. Among 14,100 college applicants and parents The Princeton Review surveyed in February for the company’s 2022 College Hopes & Worries Survey, 98% of the respondents said they would need some form of aid (grants, scholarships and/or loans) to pay for college and 80% of that cohort said financial aid would be "very" or "extremely" necessary.

The 2023 edition of Paying for College includes:

  • 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.
  • Guidance for completing the 2023-24 FAFSA and for competing the CSS Profile. Chany’s advice applies the strategic planning techniques traditionally used by tax accountants to the world of financial aid. His recommendations take into account year-to-year changes in the aid application forms and the formulas used to determine aid offers. The book also includes a draft copy of the 2023-24 FAFSA.
  • “Changes on the Horizon.” This 14-page special section of the book reports on sweeping changes ahead in the federal aid system due to a law that was passed in December 2020—the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. There will be changes affecting federal student aid, especially the federal methodology by which need is assessed and aid awarded. While the changes are not slated to go into effect until 2024 (possibly later), Chany discusses what families need to know about them now.

The book also presents Chany’s timely advice on long- and short-term strategies, including:

  • 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. 

Readers that purchase the book and register it at PrincetonReview.com/guidebooks can access free content from The Princeton Review including updates about financial aid formulas and college funding. Icons in the margins of the book flag topics that were pending as the book went to press for which updates will be important to know. Registered purchasers of the book can also take a full-length practice SAT® or ACT® test and access other resources and online tools.   

Paying for College has been recommended by scores of reviewers and personal finance professionals. Washington Post columnist Michelle Singletary chose the book as a selection for her Color of Money book club. Newsday columnist Lynn Brenner praised the book as “a first-rate guide through the financial aid maze,” and John Wasik, writing in Forbes, noted it “can save thousands in college bills.” 

The book 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 388 Colleges (August 2022), College Admission 101 (3rd edition, May 2022) and The Ultimate Guide to HBCUs (July 2022), as well as guides to the SAT, ACT , and AP® exams and other tests. The Princeton Review also publishes annual Best Value Colleges lists and school rankings.

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. His advice has helped many of them 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, CBS’s Evening News, NBC’s Nightly News, and NPR's Talk of the Nation. He has been sourced in publications from Money magazine to The Wall Street Journal.

About The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review® is a leading tutoring, test prep, and college admissions services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school–bound students achieve their education and career goals through its: online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors; online resources; more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House; and dozens of categories of school rankings. Founded in 1981, The Princeton Review is now in its 41st year. The company’s Tutor.com brand, now in its 21st year, is one of the world’s largest and most innovative online tutoring organizations. It comprises a community of thousands of tutors who have delivered more than 22 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 • 2023 Edition September 20, 2022

$25.99 (Canada $34.99) • 373 pages • ISBN 978-0-593-51649-2

FAFSA® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Education.

ACT® is a registered trademark of ACT, Inc.

SAT®, AP®, and CSS Profile® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with, and does not endorse this product.

Contact: Jeanne Krier, Publicist for The Princeton Review and Tutor.com, pressoffice@review,.com

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