Education Spot explains how paying for school works, and how school itself works, in plain language and with the source and date attached to every figure.
Why this site exists
On 1 July 2026 the federal student aid system changed substantially. Borrowing limits moved, one loan programme ended, the roster of repayment plans was replaced, and eligibility for several things now depends on when a borrower’s loans were first disbursed.
The result is that a great deal of published guidance is quietly wrong. Not fabricated — just describing a system that has since changed, in articles that look current and carry no date on the figures inside them. Some of it sits on well-known sites. Some of it is being reproduced by AI summaries that strip away what little context there was.
We built this site around that problem. Every figure carries its source and the date somebody last checked it. Where an answer genuinely differs depending on when you borrowed, we show both, rather than picking the one that suits the sentence.
What we cover
Paying for college
Financial aid and the FAFSA, scholarships and grants, student loans, what college actually costs and how to save for it, and how to compare schools on outcomes rather than reputation.
School and learning
Choosing and enrolling in a school, supporting a student academically, and the parts of school life that have nothing to do with grades — friendships, stress, bullying, working with teachers, and getting ready for whatever comes next.
The two halves are connected more often than people expect. The decisions a family makes in ninth grade shape what the financial aid conversation looks like four years later.
What we will not do
We will not tell you what to do with your money, and we will not tell you anything about your own child. We are not a lender, a school, an aid office or a clinic, and we cannot look up your application.
We do not publish a figure we have not checked. Where we cannot verify something, the sentence comes out rather than getting softened into an estimate.
Our verification process and editorial policy set out the rest, including our use of AI in drafting and the three things that process is not permitted to do.
Who writes it
The money side of the site is written or reviewed by Cherisse Skeete. The school and family side is written and maintained by Charles Slocs, with no professional credential claimed, because none applies and pretending otherwise would be worse than saying so.
How we pay for it
Advertising and, on a narrow set of pages, affiliate links. Neither has any bearing on a figure, a comparison or what we choose to cover — see the affiliate disclosure for the specifics.
Get in touch
If a figure here looks wrong, please tell us. It is the most useful thing anyone sends us and we would much rather hear it than leave it up. Contact us.