July 25th, 2010

Whether your child plans to go to a traditional or online college, one thing is certain: there's a lot of planning to do before they get there. You can find lots of help getting through the college planning process in online tools for finance, college search, and more. Read on to find 60 of the best tools for college parents.

Search

Search tools can help you and your child find a great set of colleges to choose from.

1. College MatchMaker: This MatchMaker tool will help find the college for your student.
2. ACT College Search: Narrow down your child's college search using this tool.
3. Peterson's College Search: Peterson's has a search tool and more for finding a great college.
4. US News & World Report Best Colleges: Here you'll find rankings, search tools, and more.
5. CollegeView College Search: Find a school by areas of study, name, location, and more.
6. My College Options: Search for colleges and universities with this tool.
7. Glossary of Admission Terms: Make sense of admission terms with the help of this tool.

Choosing a School

Use these schools to choose a school that fits your child.

8. College Comparison Checklist: With this checklist, you can make sure you're getting the entire picture.
9. College Comparison Tool: US News & World Report's tool is great for assessing college side by side.
10. Campus Tours: Find interactive maps and tours online here.
11. College QuickFinder: Compare: You can compare three different schools at a time using this QuickFinder.

Preparation

Make use of these tools to prepare for college with your student.

12. GreatSchools: Use GreatSchools to find the best educational institution for your child.
13. Glossary: Use this glossary to make sense of college terms.
14. Action Plan: Your Senior: Follow this action plan, and you'll know what you need to be doing during your child's senior year.
15. Action Plan: Your Junior: Take care of business in junior year using this action plan.
16. College Planning Tutorial: This college planning tutorial is great for empowering college-bound students.
17. College Readiness Calendar: 9th and 10th Grades: This calendar will help you and your student get a jump start in college readiness.
18. College Readiness Calendar: 11th and 12th Grades: Use this calendar to make sure you and your student are right where you need to be.
19. College Confidential: Read and participate in this forum to talk about college with other parents.
20. Transcript Evaluation: This tool will help you understand your student's transcript and make sure they're on the right track.
21. Checklists for Parents of College Students: Prepare your children for college using these checklists.
22. The Four Keys: The Four Keys will help put your student on the path to college.
23. Fact Sheet: Alcohol: Read this fact sheet about student statistics on alcohol consumption and abuse.
24. Checklist for College Planning: With this checklist, you can guide your student into the right decisions.
25. End of year College Planning Checklist: Use this checklist to make sure your student is on the right track in high school.
26. Questions to Motivate & to Stimulate Thinking: Ask these questions to improve your student's motivation.
27. Common App: Save time by filling out this application, and your child can submit it to several schools.

Paying for School

Take a look at these tools to find help paying for school.

28. Financial Aid Calendar: This calendar will help make sure you're on top of important dates and deadlines for college financial aid.
29. College Calculators: These calculators offer a calculation of cost, how much to borrow, and more.
30. FastWeb: Using FastWeb, you can search for qualifying scholarships, grants, and more.
31. Compare Your Aid Awards: This tool makes it easy to compare your aid awards.
32. Establish a College Budget: You can plan for each academic year using this budget tool.
33. Education Savings Comparison Chart: Check out this chart to learn about the pros and cons of a variety of savings plans.
34. College Board Scholarship Search: College Board's Scholarship Search has opportunities totaling almost $3 billion.
35. FAFSA: Fill out the FAFSA online to get federal student aid.
36. Paying and Saving for College: Find a financial aid timeline and more in this tool.
37. My State's 529 Plan: Research 529s in your state here.
38. Student Loan Comparison: This tool takes a look at different student loans available.
39. FAFSA4Caster: The FAFSA4Caster will give you an estimate of your student aid eligibility.
40. Are You Saving Enough for College?: Use this tool to develop a college savings plan.
41. ACT's Financial Aid Need Estimator: With this estimator, you'll find out how much you'll need for financial aid.
42. How Much Can You Borrow?: This calculator will help you determine how much you can borrow for college.
43. Online College Planning Service: Use this system to find out how you can reduce your college costs.
44. The Cost of College: The Cost of College will give you a good look at what a college education costs.
45. 529 Plan Comparison By Feature: Compare 104 plans using this 529 tool.

Test Prep

Put these tools to work to get your child ready for standardized testing.

46. ACT Test Prep: Give these sample tests to your child to find out how well they're doing in test preparation.
47. Homeschool Solutions: ACT offers these online test preps and assessments.
48. Sample Essays: Share these sample essays with your student.

Career

These tools can help your child plan their future career, as well as student jobs and internships.

49. BLS Career Information Home Page: This resource explores career information from the BLS.
50. Education and Training Finder: Browse occupations with Career OneStop.
51. Majors and Career Profiles: These profiles can help your student explore different majors and careers.
52. MyMajors: MyMajors can give your student suggestions for a college major based on interests.
53. Occupational Outlook Handbook: With this handbook, you can help your student choose a career.
54. CareerKey: This scientifically valid career test will help your student choose a career.
55. TrueCareers: TrueCareers is a great place to find an internship.
56. InternJobs: Use this site to search for internships and entry-level positions.
57. AmeriCorps: AmeriCorps can help your student find a great volunteer or internship opportunity.
58. StudentJobs: Check out StudentJobs to find federal government opportunities for your child.

Shopping

Find what your student needs for college using these sites.

59. Off to College Checklist: Using this checklist, you'll have everything your student needs for their first college year.
60. eCampus: eCampus will help you save money on college textbooks.

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