Financial Aid to the Student

A college education has become mandatory for most careers.  Hundreds and thousands of applications are sent by students trying to make their way into the school of their choice.  Unfortunately, a solid college education is never cheap!  Due to financial restrictions, students often feel that they may have to change the college or field of their choice.  However, our economy encourages education and therefore has provided financial help for those who need it.  There are always plenty of options and a little research could help you establish enough financial aid to help get you to and through almost any college. Grants or scholarships, work programs, and loan programs the three kinds of financial categories available to students.

Grants (or scholarships) are a very desirable form of financial aid because they come free of charge to the student and don’t need to be paid back. They also do not require any sort of credit (whether it be bad or good credit.) They are usually awarded to students with special qualifications such as good academic records or athletic and artistic talents.  Grants are also disbursed to students from underrepresented groups who live in certain areas of the country or to students with excessive financial need.  Sometimes you can even find unusual scholarships, such as the left-handed scholarship, that award students with random qualifications.

 The government financial aid programs are the most commonly used.  There are Federal Pell Grants and Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants that award around $4000 per year (per student) to the most qualified or neediest. For the most part, grants and scholarships are easy to find and easy to apply for. There are plenty of websites dedicated to providing you with free information and options.  You can use a personalized search that applies your background educational and financial information to match you with schools and grants that you qualify for.  Some schools (especially community colleges) can be fully covered by scholarships or grants!

If a scholarship or grant does not quite cover what you need for school, there are other options as well. Federal Work Study (or FWS) is a program that provides employment to the student.  These jobs are distributed by the school based on your study field and your need for financial assistance.  The school will send you an awarded amount per year and this is used to pay for part of your tuition.  Usually schools award about 10 to 15 hours of FWS per week and students are paid on an hourly, minimum-wage basis.  Students are able to keep their hourly income and use it on whatever they would like.  However, if FWS awards you $1000 (for example), then you are only able to work up to $1000.  After that, you are unqualified to receive any more money from your FWS job.

Most students cannot fully pay for school with just scholarships and Federal Work Study.  That is why there are is an abundance of school loans available for everyone.  Fortunately, most loans are very lenient with repayment.  They know that students may have a hard time repaying their debts and have designed their programs to meet their needs.  Stafford loans are very commonly used.  They have a fixed 6.8% APR that is often tax-deductable.  These loans are required to be paid back only after you have finished attending school.  If after you are done with your degree and you are not prepared to pay the loan back, you could enroll in a community college as a part time student to delay the repayment. They will not hassle you until you are fully done with school!

Plus loans are made for students who don’t qualify for a loan on their own.  They are required to be cosigned by a qualified parent who will borrow the money to pay for their children’s educational needs.  These loans are based on good credit, and the better your parent’s credit score is, the more money you will be awarded.  They come with an 8.5% fixed APR and the loan can be repaid over a ten-year period.

Finally, there are private loans.  These loans are based on credit history and may have a fixed or variable interest rate.  When the loan is required to be repaid and at what APR, depends on the private loan provider.  These tend to be harder to qualify for and are more expensive to pay back.

As you can see, there is an endless amount of school payment options.  Don’t let the cost of your education stop you from getting the degree you desire.  If you are lucky, the school you want may have financial aid available for the whole tuition!  Research your options; there are many loan websites available and a lot of free money out there!

Jackie B
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