The College Board is driven by a single goal — to ensure that every student has the opportunity to prepare for, enroll in and graduate from college.” This tutorial will show you have to use
CollegeBoard’s site to find the perfect school and hopefully ways to help pay for it!
The first step is to head over to www.collegeboard.com
.
From there, click on the
“College Search” option at the top of your screen.
We will now be able to search for the perfect college. If you happen to know the name of the school you are looking for, you can use the “College QuickFinder.” However, if you are not sure of a specific school, go ahead and click on “Start Here” in the “College MatchMaker” section.
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You will now be asked a series of questions to help narrow your college search. As you see above there are sections ranging from “Type of School” and “Location,” which are displayed below, to “Housing” and “Sports” options. Cruise through each section, answering questions about what you want in a school.
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As you move through the questions, you will see the above navigation bar. At any time you can “Start
Over,” jump to the end based on the questions you have already answered by clicking on “See
Results,” or continue to the next set of options by clicking on “Submit & Continue.”
Once you have completed the survey, you will see a results page similar to this one. You can sort by size, state, and even tuition costs.
To get more information about a school on your list, simply click on it.
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The details page with give you lots of information about the school, including contact information, costs, admission guidelines, and much more.

As you are looking through the list of schools, you will see a small window with the line “How Do I Stack Up?” This section of the site will help you see how your scores and educational history match the admissions requirements of the school you have chosen. So go ahead and click on the link.
This page will let you add as much or as little as you like.
You can input classes you have taken, scores you have received, and more.
On the left, you will see what the school requires for admission. Keep in mind, just because a school lists an item you do not have or meet as a requirement, it does not mean you would not be accepted. Schools often look at the whole body of educational work.
Searching for a college is only a piece of the puzzle. Now you have to find a way to pay for it! CollegeBoard has a section dedicated to scholarships, financial aid, and other options for funding.
Go ahead and click on “Pay for College” at the top of your window.
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If you are not sure where to start, how about looking for a scholarship? From the main
“Pay for College” page, click on
“Scholarship Search.”
This is the navigation menu for CollegeBoard’s “Pay for
College section. From here can quickly navigate to resources that will help you pay for school, learn about the financial aid process, and much more.
If you know what you are looking for, this is a good place to start. If you are new to this process, keep reading...
You will now be taken to the
“Welcome” page of the scholarship search. From here, click “Start.”
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Just like with the college search, the scholarship search is going to ask you a series of questions aimed at finding you scholarships that might fit.
Feel free to input as much information as you like, or even skip ahead sections.
Your final page will display your “Search Results.” Go ahead and scroll though the list and see if any interest you. Once you find one that you think you might qualify for, go ahead and click on the title.
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The details page will give you lots of information on the scholarship opportunity, including contact information on how to apply!
Another option for college funding is financial aid. This process can be complex and frustrating. CollegeBoard tries to make it more manageable.
Head back to the main “Pay for
College” page and click on
“Financial Aid EasyPlanner.”
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Welcome to the “Financial Aid
EasyPlanner.”
Go ahead and hit “Start Here.”
Like the college search and the scholarship search, you will now be able to look through many different options that might fit your needs. Go through each step by hitting “Next.”
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You will now be asked to create an account by adding some information, including a user name and password.
Make sure your user name and password are something you will remember.
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This is your summary page. Here you will see all the information and resources CollegeBoard believes may help with your financial aid search.
Hopefully many of these resources will make the financial aid process much easier!
As you have seen, there is a large amount of information on this website. It will likely take you multiple visits to get everything you need.
If you want to save your searches and much of the data you enter, you can create a free account.
Look for the “My Organizer” window on many of the pages. If you already have an account, enter your login info here. If you do not have an account, click on “Sign Up.”