College planning checklist, grades 9–12
What actually matters in each of the four years — and what can safely wait until the next one.
Free · no account
Free for anyone
Free college planning
guides for families
Seven guides and calculators, open to anyone. The ones that compute something run on the same engines inside Bloom's product — the same aid determination, the same residency rule — so an answer here is the answer a family account would give. No signup, no email, nothing saved.
Seven guides
Start with the question you actually have.
Most families arrive with one — a course to pick this month, a number on an award letter, a status nobody can give them a straight answer about. Each guide answers its own question and says where its answer stops.
How to plan high school courses
Which classes carry weight with admissions, when to add rigor, and when a harder class costs more than it earns.
Free · no account
How to build a college list
Safety, match and reach — how many of each, and what makes a safety actually safe for your family.
Free · no account
How to compare net price and aid
Read an award letter for what it really costs, and tell a grant from a loan wearing the same font.
Free · no account
Is my child FAFSA-eligible?
One question about your child's immigration status, and one of three honest answers — including “not determined”.
Free · no account
Financial aid for H-1B and visa families
Every immigration status Bloom stores, with the federal aid engine's own verdict on each of them.
Free · no account
In-state vs out-of-state cost
Both tuitions at 300 public universities, the four-year surcharge, and why a published net price may not be yours.
Free · no account
Figures come from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard snapshot Bloom ships with the product and from the current federal aid formula. Verify anything you plan around with the college or with studentaid.gov.
Open to families
A guide answers one question. A plan answers four years.
Inside a family account these same engines run against your own student — their courses, their list, their state, their aid — and keep running as the years move.
Start your 14-day free trial
Family sign in
14-day free trial · $49/mo grades 9–11 · $99/mo application year · Cancel anytime