College Application Fees and Waiver Codes

It’s the time of year when seniors are starting to apply to college and parents are realizing something they may not have considered before, application fees.  A lot of these application fees can approach $85 per application and at a time when many students these days are applying to 15 -20 schools things can really add up quickly.

What Can You Do to Help Reduce the Cost of Applying to Schools?

Common App fee waiver  

If your family meets certain conditions your student may be eligible for a Common App fee waiver that allows them to apply to member colleges with paying a fee.

Steps to request a fee waiver on the Common App:

• Go to Profile

• Select Common App fee waiver

• Review eligibility requirements

• Enter your signature to confirm you’re eligible

Use Promotional Waiver Codes

Many colleges will send out fee waiver codes to students that attend either virtual or in person tours. I know your student’s email inbox probably gets slammed with emails from colleges, but it is important to keep an eyes on emails from schools you visited or are interested in applying to because you may miss the waiver codes if you ignore them.

State Free Application Periods

 There are several states offer free college application periods where resident students can apply to participating public and private universities without paying fees.  For example,  during New York's College Application Month and College Application Initiative, there are over a 100 public and private colleges and universities that waive application fees during certain periods in the months of October and November.

Here are several states that offer some type of free application period.

• Colorado

• Delaware

• Idaho

• Indiana

• Kansas

• Minnesota

• Montana

• New York

• North Carolina

• South Dakota

• Tennessee

• Virginia

Every little bit helps so if you are able to avoid racking up application fees take advantage of every opportunity that you can.