Sunday, February 5th, 2012

The Student Guide to Receiving the Most Financial Aid

18

There are many hidden or hard to find resources that seem to go unnoticed until the student is slipping financially and the danger of having to quit college is upon them. In order to avoid this stress and complication, it is the student’s responsibility to probe and search, ask plenty of questions, and scout for monetary contribution opportunities wherever they may be. Though admissions and guidance counselors are often the best resources that the student can utilize, there are funding opportunities that these specialists may not be aware of, or that they are not authorized to submit upon for the student, so depending fully upon their expertise may not be enough.

Once you have filled out the all-important FAFSA, as you should ideally have done at least 8 months before the term begins, you might need to fill out the CSS form as well, so ask your admissions representative if this is necessary for the school that interests you. The earlier the FAFSA is completed and submitted by you, the more federal funding opportunities you are likely to capitalize on. Depending on your financial needs, you might end up with the twice the grant money earlier in the year than you will get if your application is late.

The next step is to begin canvassing the organizations and memberships that you or your family participate in. Churches, social groups, and clubs, no matter their size, often fund scholarship programs that are not made public, and you will never know until you ask. Try grocers and pharmacies in your area, or an uncle’s restaurant chain. There are a great many small scholarships that are not advertised to the public, mainly because they are small and private amounts. If you don’t ask about them, or bring attention to yourself as a deserving prospect, they will simply pass you by.

Ask your parents if there are any scholarships offered by their employers as well. Once you have exhausted these resources, you will be ready to crunch the numbers and figure out what you need versus what you have. There are programs which allow you to work for your college funding, the most popular one being the Federal Work Study program. You will need to weight this decision before you make it, as many of the jobs offered through these programs do not pay as well as the ones that you could find on your own.

There are some great new interest rates being introduced on federal and private student loans, and this is great news for those who haven’t collected enough money through scholarships and grants to pay for their entire tuition. As with everything else throughout this process, be sure to shop around and find the loan terms that are right for you. Traditionally, you will not be asked to repay these funds until you have graduated and are working. This helps to take the stress and load off, opening your mind to your studies rather than your finances.

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