Mark Kantrowitz

About Mark

Mark Kantrowitz is an expert on student financial aid, the FAFSA, scholarships, 529 plans, education tax benefits and student loans. His mission is to deliver practical information, advice and tools to students and their families so they can make smarter, more informed decisions about planning and paying for college.

Mark has testified before Congress about student aid policy on several occasions and is frequently interviewed by news outlets. He has been quoted in more than 10,000 newspaper and magazine articles about college admissions and financial aid. Mark has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reuters, U.S. News & World Report, MarketWatch, Money Magazine, Forbes, Newsweek and Time.

Mark is the author of five bestselling books about scholarships and financial aid and holds eight patents. His most recent books are How to Appeal for More College Financial Aid and Who Graduates from College, Who Doesn’t.

Mark serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Student Financial Aid and is a member of the board of trustees of the Center for Excellence in Education. Mark previously served as publisher of the FinAid, Fastweb, Edvisors, Cappex and Savingforcollege.com web sites. Mark has also worked for Justsystem Pittsburgh Research Center ("Just Research"), the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Bitstream Inc., and the Planning Research Corporation.

Mark has two Bachelor's degrees in mathematics and philosophy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Master's degree in computer science from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU).

Mark has two children (one biological and one adopted), three cats and three dogs. He shows and breeds Cornish Rex cats, a curly-coated cat breed. In his spare time, Mark folds origami models, repairs antique battery-operated toys and creates stained glass windows. He collects Australian Aboriginal Art (http://aboriginality.us/). He is a two-time cancer survivor. As he writes in his cancer joke book, Tumor Humor, if you must get cancer, you might as well get the curable kind.

Mark wants you to see

• Bernice Napach, Mark Kantrowitz: College Financing Ace — The 2016 IA 25, Investment Advisor Magazine, May 24, 2016. 

• Steve Rosen, Expert discusses the rising cost of college and student loan debt, Kansas City Star, May 29, 2015. 

• Beckie Supiano, Everybody's Go-To Methodical Mind, Chronicle of Higher Education, July 15, 2013. 

• Jane J. Kim, Student-Loan Gadfly Gets a Starring Role as the U.S. Pushes Out the Private Lenders, Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2010.