General Information
Peterson's
Publisher of many of the most useful college information books. Useful site for researching your options in higher education.
https://www.petersons.com/
The College Board
Provides resources, tools and services to students, parents, colleges and universities in the areas of college planning, recruitment and admissions, financial aid, and retention. From the folks who bring you the SAT, APs, PSAT and more.
https://www.collegeboard.org/
National Center for Education Statistics. College Navigator.
Lots of statistics and costs to compare schools. Interactive maps, ability to save results and export them and build a list of schools to compare. Also the source for general education statistics at all levels.
http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/
Bloomberg Businessweek Business School Rankings
Comparison tools for both undergraduate and graduate business schools. Sort by region, part or full time, distance and more.
https://www.bloomberg.com/business-schools/
Affordable Online Colleges
A site to find financial information about affordability of Ohio colleges.
http://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/online-colleges/ohio/
Financial Info
FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid
The source for federal student aid information and application. Deadlines, school codes and filing options. Check the status of your application here.
https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa
Student Loan Borrower Assistance
Quality information about student loan rights and responsibilities. It is a program of the National Consumer Law Institute. Excellent source of information on types of loans, postponing repayment, deferment, forbearance, default
http://www.studentloanborrowerassistance.org/
U.S. Department of Education. Student Aid on the Web.
The mission of this office, Federal Student Aid, is to ensure that all eligible individuals benefit from federal financial assistance—grants, loans and work-study programs—for education beyond high school. They oversee the nation's largest source of student aid through grants and loans determined through the FAFSA. Website aids include:
- college savings calculator
- financial aid/scholarship wizard
- college finder/college matching wizard
- my FSA student planner
- my FSA application
FinAid
FinAid has earned a stellar reputation in the educational community as the best web site of its kind. It's comprehensive, it's informative, it's objective -- and it's the first stop on the web for students looking for ways to finance their education. It helps explain the complexity of student aid.
http://www.finaid.org/
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Students.
This site's purpose is to inform and protect students and parents in dealing with financial aid. It includes a student debt repayment assistant and in the future, they hope to add a financial aid shopping sheet that will let you compare financial aid offers.
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/students/
Rankings
US News and World Report. Ratings.
Online version of the annual issues rating undergraduate and graduate schools.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges
College and University Rankings
Guide to online rankings done by librarians at the University of Illinois.
http://www.library.illinois.edu/sshel/specialcollections/rankings/
Scholarships
FastWeb
Many scholarship searches start here. Watch out for pre-filled out credit/loan/whatever applications. Fill out a profile of yourself and related scholarships will be posted to your account (along with other offers)...it is a commercial site after all.
https://www.fastweb.com
Medina Area Scholarships
Listings of local area scholarships. https://mcdl.info/scholarships
Ohio Department of Higher Education
Information on programs for higher education financial aid from the State of Ohio.
https://highered.ohio.gov/initiatives/affordability/sgs
Scholarships for Military Children
Information on scholarships for relatives of the military. Sponsored by the Fisher House Foundation.
http://www.militaryscholar.org/
bigfuture Scholarship Search by The College Board
The College Boards collection of scholarships. Fill out a profile and watch the number of hits change as you fill it out. From the folks that bring you the PSAT, SAT, AP and more
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search
Librarian note: There are 5 places to look for scholarships:
- The college you attend
- Your local school district
- Our local scholarship page
- The State you live in
- National Scholarship databases
Textbooks
Note: be sure to note when renting or buying a used textbook whether CDs, access codes, or lab manuals are included.
Librarian tip regarding saving money on textbooks: find out as soon as you can (online, contacting professor or former students) what text will be used and try and borrow ASAP through OhioLINK (http://www.ohiolink.edu/), the inter-university book borrowing system. With any luck, you might get it for the whole semester or be able to renew it if there are enough copies in the system.
Chegg
Another place to rent and sell textbooks.
http://www.chegg.com/
Ebay
www.ebay.com
Craigslist
www.craigslist.com
Amazon
Buy new and used textbooks, rent textbooks and trade in textbooks.
https://www.amazon.com/New-Used-Textbooks-Books/b/?ie=UTF8&node=465600
Sites to gather quotes and compare prices of textbooks:
https://www.campusbooks.com
http://www.allbookstores.com
http://www.bigwords.com
http://www.dealoz.com
http://www.textbookrush.com/browse/textbooks
Getting Ready
LearningExpress Library offers online prep resources:
- SAT Test Preparation
- ACT Test Preparation
- AP Exam Test Preparation
- PSAT/NMSQT Test Preparation
- College Admissions Essay Writing