Online Resources for College

For Students

Prospective college students typically have lots of questions about how to make the best decisions in college planning, while current students can benefit from the myriad resources available for making the most of a college experience. This list of links covers a variety of sites specific to students on the Internet.

FastWeb: FastWeb links students to a database of more than $3 billion worth of scholarships. After answering a series of detailed questions, students are provided with customized information about colleges, scholarships, and more. Students are able to make comparisons of colleges based on the scholarship results.
FinAid: FinAid provides objective information about financial aid, including a scholarship search, details about loans and savings plans, military aid, financial calculators, details about applications, frequently asked questions, and more.
Adventures in Education: Adventures in Education provides resources for middle school, high school, and college students for college and career planning.
Campus Career Center: Campus Career Center connects college students and recent graduates with internship and entry-level job opportunities.
Campus Champs: Campus Champs is a resource for student athletes with information about finding colleges, contacting coaches, and balancing an education with athletics.
Campus Tours: Campus Tours provides virtual tours of more than 850 college campuses across the country.
College Confidential: College Confidential provides a plethora of resources, including a forum, for prospective college students on applying to, choosing, and funding a college education.
College Recruiter: College Recruiter is an entry-level job and internship search engine with thousands of job postings aimed at students and recent graduates. The site also includes articles about employment and continuing education resources.
Education Planner: Education Planner includes resources for students such as career assessment tests, information about developing study skills, preparing for college, and paying for an education.
FAFSA: The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, is the gateway to all federally-funded student aid programs such as Stafford loans and Pell grants. It is also the financial aid application used for most state aid programs, as well as by many colleges and universities for institutional aid. Students can use the website to complete the application, check the status of their application, and view and print aid reports.
Further Your Education: Further Your Education provides college resources for adult learners, transfer students, distance education students, and members of the military.
Kids Health: Kids Health provides information about college expectations, maintaining health, and reducing stress.
Mapping Your Future: Mapping Your Future is a non-profit organization that provides advice regarding college preparation and financial planning.
Quintessential Careers: Quint Careers provides resources for college students to choose a college and explore majors and career options.
StudentScoop.com: StudentScoop.com is part of the College Bound Network and provides a variety of resources about college survival.
The College Board: The College Board provides students with a multitude of information about college admissions and financial aid. They also administer the SAT and PSAT exams and the Advanced Placement program. The College Board is a non-profit membership association comprised of over 5,000 educational organizations.
The Princeton Review: The Princeton Review provides a comprehensive look at colleges, careers, tests, financial aid and scholarships, and other important college details.
The Student Center: The Student Center is an online community for high school and college students that includes forum and chat options.
US Department of Education: Especially for Students: The US Department of Education provides information specifically for students, including future preparation, college selection, international educational options, career and technical college information, financial aid programs, statistics, and much more.
The Ultimate Guide to Conquering Distractions: This guide was developed to help all aspiring students with finding a program that will keep their interests, setting goals, and graduating top of their class.
You Can Deal With It: You Can Deal With It provides college students and recent graduates with money management guidance, including tips on handling credit cards and paying back student loans.

For Parents

This list for parents of current and prospective college student links to a number of resources available on the web, including more information about financial aid and savings plans, dealing with stress, and helping children make smart decisions.

529 Plan Rewards: 529 Plan Rewards discusses the many reward programs available that contribute money to college savings plans. The site focuses on credit card rewards and savings clubs, such as Upromise.
AboutOurKids.org: Transition to College: An article from the New York University Child Study Center by Robin F. Goodman, Ph.D., about how parents can best handle the transition of their children from high school to college
ACT Information for Parents: ACT Inc. is well-known for administering the ACT exam. This parent resource site includes checklists of important steps parents can take with their children in college planning during each year of high school.
American Council on Education: College is Possible: Resources for parents from College Is Possible include articles about preparing for college, how to choose a college, and how to finance an education.
College Countdown Newsletter: This site by Wachovia provides planning guides for parents of juniors, seniors, and college freshmen. Information covered includes preparation and decision making, as well as financial planning.
College Drinking Prevention: What Parents Need to Know About College Drinking: College Drinking Prevention provides information specific to parents about what they can do to help curb problems associated with college drinking.
College Zone – Parent Zone: Sponsored by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, the Parent Zone is a step-by-step guide for what parents should do to help their children prepare for college.
Education Services Foundation: Education Services Foundation provides financial planning information specifically geared toward parents who are paying for their children's college education.
Education World: Parent Community: Education World provides articles and other resources for parents of children from kindergarten through college.
FinAid! For Parents: FinAid offers information to parents about financing a higher education.
Fox College Funding: Five Most Common Mistakes Parents Make: This article provided by Fox College Funding details the five most common mistakes made by parents when planning how to finance a college education.
Higher Education Center: A Parents' Guide: The Higher Education Center offers this guide for parents on how to address the subject of alcohol with their college-age children.
Inside Higher Ed: What Drives Parents Crazy: An article by Inside Higher Ed about what problems parents have encountered during the college application and admissions process.
Job Web: 10 Tips for Parents: JobWeb provides a list of ten helpful tips for parents of prospective college students.
Next Student: College Savings Plans: NextStudent provides parents with detailed information about the many college savings programs available.
NextStep Magazine: For Parents: NextStep Magazine has compiled a list of articles about how parents can help their children apply to college.
SavingforCollege.com: SavingforCollege.com provides detailed information for parents including articles about saving in general, 529 plans, the Coverdell ESA, and other financial aid sources.
Send Your Child to College: The Internet Guide for Parents: This online guide offers parents information about researching, applying to, and choosing a college, as well as financial aid resources.
Student Aid on the Web: Parents: Information from the US Department of Education on how parents can prepare their children for education after high school, including academics and financial aid.
The College Board: For Parents: The College Board provides numerous resources for parents, including a scholarship search and other financial aid information, articles about applying for and selecting a college, and details about the PSAT and SAT exams, which the College Board administers.

For Educators

The Internet is full of great resources specifically for teachers. Many organizations, such as National Geographic and NASA, provide curriculum guides and lesson plans. Other great web resources include forums and chats for peer-to-peer networking, as well as professional development opportunities, job postings, and teaching support.

AOL at School: America Online's site for educators includes education news, classroom tools, lesson plans, and more.
College Board: For Educators: The College Board provides K-12 and college-level educators information about the SAT test, AP courses, and preparing students for college.
Crayola Creativity Central: Crayola provides art teachers with activity ideas, lesson plans, and other resources.
Discovery Education: Resources from the Discovery Channel include lesson plans, curriculum guides, teaching tools, and Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators.
Education World: Education World provides teachers a number of resources, including lesson plans, professional development opportunities, technology information, and articles about school issues.
Educator's Reference Desk: The Educator's Reference Desk contains over 2,000 lesson plans, an archive of more than 200 questions and answers, and approximately 3,000 reference links.
Educators for Social Responsibility: Educators for Social Responsibility aims to help educators implement social responsibility into their teaching through character education, conflict resolution, and other methods.
Library of Congress Learning Page: This Library of Congress site provides access to more than seven million historical documents as well as lesson plans and activities that involve these documents.
NASA for Educators: NASA provides educational resources geared specifically to K-4, 5-8, 9-12, and post-secondary educational groups.
National Geographic Education Guide: This site for teachers from National Geographic offers lesson plans, maps, photographs, and professional development opportunities.
PBS Teacher Source: Resources for teachers from PBS include subject-specific lesson information, activity ideas, and online professional development courses.
Random House Educator Services: Random House offers teaching tools to teachers of elementary, secondary, and post-secondary school that include numerous resources for teaching reading and promoting literacy.
Regional Education Applicant Placement: Regional Education Applicant Placement (REAP) is a national database educators' resumes and completed job applications that can be matched to posted job positions.
Scholastic Teachers: Scholastic provides a number of resources for teachers including strategies for teaching, online activities, technology tools, and lesson plans.
Smithsonian Education: The Smithsonian's education site includes lesson plans regarding art and design, science and technology, history and culture, and language arts, as well as information about field trips, professional development opportunities, publications, and links.
Teachers @ Work: Teachers @ Work is a national database where schools can advertise jobs and teachers can post resumes.
Teachers First: Teachers First offers educators resources for the classroom and professional development, including lesson plans, teaching strategies, technological information, links, and books of interest.
Teachers.net: Teachers.net is a comprehensive resource for educators that includes lesson plans, message boards, job postings, and a chat feature.
The Educators' Network: The Educators' Network connects more than 30 websites of specific interest to teachers.
US Department of Education – Just for Teachers: Resources from the Department of Education include information on how to become a teacher, the Toolkit for Teachers, loan deferment and cancellation information, subject-specific resources, lesson ideas, and online workshops.

For School Counselors

Everything from professional support to career development tools are available on the web for school counselors. This list of sites covers a comprehensive spectrum of the resources school counselors can consult on the Internet.

Adolescence Directory Online: The Adolescence Directory Online provides resources for counselors to help troubled teens.
Annie E. Casey Foundation: The Annie E. Casey Foundation works to improve the futures of disadvantaged youth. The site includes resources of special interest to school counselors.
Bureau of Labor Statistics: The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides information about counseling careers, salaries, and job outlook.
Center for School Counseling Outcome Research: This organization is a national center for the evaluation of school counseling programs. Their findings are disseminated so that schools can use the research to set standards, establish benchmarks, and measure the effectiveness of their own programs.
Department of Education: Counselor's Role: This pamphlet covers how school counselors play a key role in ensuring equal educational opportunity in their schools.
Education World: School Counselors: In this article from Education World, School Counselors discuss what makes them effective in their work.
Edutopia: This article from the George Lucas Education Foundation discusses how school counselors can be more effective.
Guidance Resource Homepage: A retired counselor compiled this page with extensive counseling resource links.
National Center for Education Statistics: This report from the National Center for Education Statistics covers the findings of a national survey that discusses the types of counseling programs that are currently operating in schools.
National Clearinghouse for Careers in Special Education: The National Clearinghouse provides information about choosing a career as a school counselor.
National Office for School Counselor Advocacy: This organization provides public support on behalf of counselors in addition to a number of professional tools.
National School Counselor Training Initiative: Established by the Met Life Foundation, this initiative aims to help counselors create school environments that demand success from students.
Princeton Review: A Day in the Life of a Counselor: The Princeton Review provides a look into what it takes to become a counselor and what the job entails.
School Counselor Resources: This site provides a number of free resources to counselors, including feature articles and advice columns.
SchoolCounselor.com: SchoolCounselor.com provides resources for counselors to learn how to integrate technological tools into their counseling programs.
School-Counselors.com: This site includes suggestions for training programs and professional development, publications, and web resources.
Teen Advisors: Teen Advisors is a peer-to-peer resource center that counselors might consider referring students to.
The College Board's Counselor Connection: The College Board provides resources for counselors to employ when counseling students on college planning.
Wallace Foundation: School Counseling Resource Center: The Wallace Foundation provides reports on research about counseling programs in schools.
Youth Chance Solution Center: The Solution Center provides a number of resources to help troubled teens.

For Administrators

School administrators have a wealth of information at their disposal online. Education news and professional development sites are just two examples of the plethora of information that is available. This list covers a variety of websites administrators should consider visiting for professional support.

Bureau of Labor Statistics: The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides information about careers in education administration, including details about average salaries, work hours, and job responsibilities.
Coalition of Essential Schools: Principal's Role: The Coalition of Essential Schools presents archives of articles about principals.
Education Next: Education Next is a professional journal with articles posted online.
Education World Message Center: Education World provides a forum for administrators to post and answer questions.
Education World: School Administrators Center: Education World maintains an archive of articles that pertain to school administrators.
eSchool News Online: eSchool News is an up-to-the-minute news source for educators.
George Lucas Educational Foundation: Edutopia at the George Lucas Educational Foundation promotes exceptional K-12 educational programs and provides resources to help educators implement similar strategies into their own schools.
High School Principal Discussion: High School Principal Discussion is a blog spot for principals to communicate and share ideas.
Higher Ed Jobs: HigherEdJobs.com is a national database of job postings for higher education positions.
Middle Web: School Leadership: Middle Web provides a list of a series of articles of interest to school administrators at the middle school level.
National Association of Elementary School Principals: This guide by NAESP outlines No Child Left Behind specifically for use by principals.
National Association of Secondary School Principals: Bulletin Board: The National Association of Secondary School Principals hosts a bulletin board on their site where school principals can post messages and read the thoughts of their colleagues.
National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators: NETSA has established this list of technology standards that school administrators should have.
Reading Rockets: Reading Rockets offers a list of articles about promoting elementary school literacy specifically for principals.
School Matters: School administrators can use the data at School Matters to compare their district with others across the country; information provided includes demographics, performance, progress, and spending.
The Education Schools Project: The Education Schools Project assesses teacher and educational leadership preparation programs and generates reports on the findings.
The Knowledge Loom: The Knowledge Loom provides a list of articles and other for principals.
The Principals' Center: The Principals' Center at Georgia State University provides a forum for principals to communicate and participate in workshops.
The Wallace Foundation: The Wallace Foundation aims to improve education; one of their three primary goals is to strengthen educational leadership through awarding research grants and disseminating findings.
Top USA Jobs: Top USA jobs posts principal positions throughout the country.

Resources Compiled by Erin Hasinger, CollegesUSA.com Staff Writer.