Our high school holds a financial aid presentation for parents. It is held in the evening both in the spring and fall and they generally have a speaker. In recent years it has been the financial aid director from a local college. They post a power point presentation on the school’s website for parents who couldn’t make the meeting. I never attended the presentation because I have a pretty good understanding of financial aid and also knew that my kids would never qualify for any need-based aid and would not be taking out loans. I have glanced at the materials on-line, though, and they appear to be quite comprehensive.
OTOH, I don’t think the school provides much, if any, information on financial aid to students. In fact, when my oldest daughter and I sat down for a mandatory meeting with her guidance counselor in spring of her junior year, he told her not to take cost into account when formulating her list. What?? He has no idea of our financial situation (nor should he), so I don’t know why in the world he would say such a thing. It would seem more appropriate for the GC to advise the student to have a discussion with the parents as to how much they could afford. Our HS is located in a fairly affluent area where many families can afford to pay full boat at an expensive private, but there are plenty of families who cannot. Few families in our district would qualify for federal or state aid other than loans, plus we’re in a state (Illinois) with a very expensive flagship, so not taking cost into account seems to me a recipe for disaster.