FINANCIAL AID INFORMATIONNOTE: You may have already gathered from other sections on this site, but we are NOT big fans of the idea of students taking out massive loans to finance their college educations. While some form of loan may be needed, we don't buy into the idea that $80,000 in debt is an "investment in your future." It's insanity.
That said, you may need a small loan (We advise nothing more than $5000.) to finish up your degree. Also, you may qualify for a Pell Grant, and that doesn't have to be paid back. |
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To apply for financial aid, you will need to go through all the steps at the FAFSA website. This link takes you to the official site. If you ever look up FAFSA online through a search engine, make sure you are going to the URL than ends in ".gov". There are plenty of sites out there with FAFSA in the name, but they are fee-based services that "assist" you with applying, or free services that push a lot of ads on you.
The process the first time around can be very time consuming, but it's not terribly difficult. The site takes you through things step-by-step. Just be aware you will need your federal income tax information. There is a way to access this online and have the information automatically added to your FAFSA file.
Once you have FAFSA approval, the information is sent to your college of choice. From there, the school will actually determine your award. The school FA office may also request some additional forms and paperwork.
THINGS TO REMEMBER:
1. Just because you are awarded $16K in loans, doesn't mean you need to take all that money. A loan will eventually need to be paid back. It is standard practice for the school to send the student any "left over" money from his term, supposedly to help with "living expenses and books." This may seem like a real boon, but again, it will eventually need to be paid back. If your entire term only costs $1500 and you have $5000 in loans, turn the rest down!
2. Schools will use any grant money first before tapping loans. This is good, because it lowers the amount you'll need to pay back.
3. READ EVERYTHING CAREFULLY. Although this seems like a no-brainer, we can't begin to count the number of times we've read news articles about student loan debt where a new graduate is quoted as saying, "I had no idea I would owe this much!" And use common sense here! Even if you for some reason decide to not read the FA paper work you are signing (which actually indicates you are in no way ready for college), if your school costs $20,000 a year in tuition, fees, room, and board, and you go there for four years, paying with loans the entire time, you are going to owe $80,000 plus interest. This is elementary school math here. NO EXCUSES.
4. There are a staggering number of scholarships out there. If you are going to a school that costs more than you can afford out-of-pocket or through grants, it is worth it to spend several weeks researching scholarship possibilities.
SPECIAL NOTE FOR HOMESCHOOLERS:
Please see this page about what to do if you have a college or university insist you must have an accredited high school diploma or GED in order to qualify for financial aid.
The process the first time around can be very time consuming, but it's not terribly difficult. The site takes you through things step-by-step. Just be aware you will need your federal income tax information. There is a way to access this online and have the information automatically added to your FAFSA file.
Once you have FAFSA approval, the information is sent to your college of choice. From there, the school will actually determine your award. The school FA office may also request some additional forms and paperwork.
THINGS TO REMEMBER:
1. Just because you are awarded $16K in loans, doesn't mean you need to take all that money. A loan will eventually need to be paid back. It is standard practice for the school to send the student any "left over" money from his term, supposedly to help with "living expenses and books." This may seem like a real boon, but again, it will eventually need to be paid back. If your entire term only costs $1500 and you have $5000 in loans, turn the rest down!
2. Schools will use any grant money first before tapping loans. This is good, because it lowers the amount you'll need to pay back.
3. READ EVERYTHING CAREFULLY. Although this seems like a no-brainer, we can't begin to count the number of times we've read news articles about student loan debt where a new graduate is quoted as saying, "I had no idea I would owe this much!" And use common sense here! Even if you for some reason decide to not read the FA paper work you are signing (which actually indicates you are in no way ready for college), if your school costs $20,000 a year in tuition, fees, room, and board, and you go there for four years, paying with loans the entire time, you are going to owe $80,000 plus interest. This is elementary school math here. NO EXCUSES.
4. There are a staggering number of scholarships out there. If you are going to a school that costs more than you can afford out-of-pocket or through grants, it is worth it to spend several weeks researching scholarship possibilities.
SPECIAL NOTE FOR HOMESCHOOLERS:
Please see this page about what to do if you have a college or university insist you must have an accredited high school diploma or GED in order to qualify for financial aid.
