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sooner you start searching for money for college, the
better off you’ll be. Many awards have early deadlines,
so don’t procrastinate.
There are three main sources of financial aid for
college, namely the government, the colleges themselves,
and the private sector.
To apply for federal and state aid, you need to submit
the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
You can obtain a copy from your guidance counselor,
college financial aid personnel, or local library. You
can also fill it out on the web at
www.fafsa.ed.gov. For
help completing the FAFSA form, call 1-800-4-FED-AID.
The FAFSA form should be submitted as soon as possible
after January 1st.
A few weeks after you submit the FAFSA, you will receive
your Student Aid Report (SAR), which summarizes the
information you submitted. The SAR will also contain
your Expected Family Contribution (EFC), which is the
amount of money the government believes your family will
be able to contribute to your education.
If you feel that your EFC figure does not reflect your
ability to pay, or there are unusual financial
circumstances, talk to the financial aid administrator
(FAA) at the college you plan to attend. Ask him or her
for a “Professional Judgment” (PJ) review, in which the
FAA can override certain aspects of the need analysis
formula if circumstances merit. Mention anything and
everything that might be unusual about
your
circumstances, and bring along documentation (proof) of
those circumstances. Examples of unusual circumstances
include (but are not limited to): student being the
primary wage-earner for the family, recent job loss or
anticipated job loss during the upcoming year, high
medical/dental expenses, death or disability of a
wage-earner, estranged family relationships, private
elementary and/or secondary school tuition expenses,
casualty losses (fire, theft), unusual changes in income
and assets, and so on.
You
can list up to six colleges on the FAFSA form to receive
a copy of your financial aid application information.
More can be added later, when you get your SAR. Some
colleges may have their own forms or require the
Financial Aid PROFILE form.
For private sector scholarships, the best source is
FastWeb.com. FastWeb is the largest and most
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popular free scholarship search site. FastWeb will also
automatically send you email about new awards that match
your profile. Private scholarships account for only
about seven percent of all student aid, so the process
is somewhat competitive.
Never pay money to get information about scholarships or
to apply for scholarships. If you have to pay money to
get money, it’s probably a scam.
The best scholarship programs for minority students
include:
Another good resource
of general information about student financial aid
is
FinAid.org.
FinAid.org has a particularly
detailed section devoted to financial aid for Native
American students.
Other
major types of financial aid include education loans
and military aid. Education loans include the
Perkins, Stafford and PLUS loans programs. Although
loans aren’t as good as grants and scholarships, the
interest rate on these federally-guaranteed loan
programs is among the lowest available. Military aid
includes US Armed Forces recruiting programs such as
ROTC as well as student aid for veterans and their
dependents. FinAid provides good general information
about education loans and military aid. |
