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What Types of Assistance Can You Receive if You Apply for Financial Aid?

As college costs continue to rise, financial assistance has become a necessity for most college students. Ideally, the listed price of omnipresence won't deter you lot from applying to or attending the college of your dreams. Knowing about the process will enable you to maximize the amount of financial aid for higher you receive and prevent finances from becoming an impediment to reaching your college goals.

In this article, I volition define and explain the unlike types of financial assist that are available for college. Furthermore, I will explain how colleges determine your eligibility for financial aid, and I'll offer you lot guidance and resources to make sure you know all the different types of aid available to you.

What Is Financial Aid?

Simply put, fiscal assist helps students and their families pay for college. Financial aid can cover all educational expenses including tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and transportation.

Financial aid can consist of grants , scholarships , piece of work-study , and loans .

How Do You Get Financial Assistance?

For the purposes of this article, I'm going to focus primarily on need-based aid. Need-based aid is financial assistance that is awarded based on demonstrated fiscal need. Aid that may non be need-based includes private scholarships, merit scholarships, and athletic scholarships.

More often than not, the first footstep for getting demand-based financial assist is filling out the FAFSA, the Free Awarding for Federal Student Aid. Also, most states and colleges require the FAFSA to receive state-sponsored and institution-sponsored aid. Additionally, some private scholarships like the Gates Millennium Scholarship require applicants to complete a FAFSA.

Bank check the financial assistance requirements for the schools you're applying to. Some colleges have their own forms or use the CSS/Financial Aid Profile Form for non-federal fiscal aid. After yous fill up out the required forms, colleges volition determine your eligibility for demand-based financial aid. Following notification of your college acceptances, each college volition send you a financial aid award letter outlining the corporeality and types of help it's offer you.

401K 2012/flickr

How Is Your Eligibility Determined for Financial Aid?

Within three-5 days of filing your FAFSA (slightly longer if you don't fill it out online), y'all'll be able to admission your SAR, or Student Help Written report. Your SAR is a summary of the data you provided on your FAFSA and includes an EFC, or Expected Family Contribution. Your EFC determines your eligibility for fiscal aid.

The colleges you listed on your FAFSA volition have access to your SAR and EFC. Colleges base your assist eligibility and offering on your EFC.

What Are Some of the Specific Types of Fiscal Aid You Can Receive?

Federal Grants

Grants are a preferable type of financial aid for college because they don't need to be paid back. Essentially, grants are free money for college. Y'all must submit a FAFSA and meet federal aid eligibility requirements to be eligible to receive federal grants.

Pell Grants

The Pell Grant is intended to help low-income students finance their post-secondary pedagogy.

For the 2015-2016 yr, the maximum Pell Grant award is $v,775. The amount of your laurels is based on your demonstrated financial need, which is determined from the data on your FAFSA.

You lot can guess the amount of your Pell Grant before you lot submit your FAFSA past using the Pell Grant figurer.

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants

The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) is a grant for undergraduates with exceptional fiscal demand. Again, need is adamant from the information on your FAFSA. Different Pell Grants, in that location is only a limited corporeality of FSEOG money. Students who receive Pell Grants and have the most demand become FSEOGs first.

The FSEOG program is administered by the financial assist office at each school. Not every college participates in the program. Y'all can check with a school's fiscal assist function to detect out if it awards the FSEOG.

The corporeality you tin receive ranges from between $100 and $4,000 annually. The corporeality of your grant depends on your fiscal need, when you apply, the amount of other aid you get, and the availability of funds at your school.

Instructor Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grants

The Teacher Education Assistance for Higher and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant is given to students who programme to pursue a career in instruction.

As a status for receiving a TEACH Grant, you must sign a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve in which you hold to teach in a high-demand field at an elementary school, secondary school, or educational service agency that serves students from low-income families. You lot must practice this for at least 4 academic years within eight years afterwards completing the course of study for which you received the grant. If you lot do not fulfill the understanding, your grant will be converted into a loan that has to be paid back with interest.

The maximum honor for grants disbursed between October ane, 2015, and Oct 1, 2016, is $three,728. If you're interested in the TEACH Grant, you should contact college financial help offices to find out if they participate in the TEACH Grant Programme and to learn near the programs of study at each school that are TEACH Grant-eligible.

Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant

The Iraq and Transitional islamic state of afghanistan Service Grant is for students whose parents were members of the Usa armed forces and died as a result of military service performed in Iraq or Transitional islamic state of afghanistan later ix/xi.

Hither are the other eligibility requirements for this grant:

  • You're NOT eligible for a Pell Grant on the basis of your Expected Family unit Contribution.
  • Y'all meet the other Pell Grant eligibility requirements.
  • Y'all were under 24 years erstwhile or enrolled in college at least part-fourth dimension at the time of your parent'due south or guardian's death.

The maximum award for Republic of iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants disbursed betwixt October i, 2015, and October one, 2016, is $five,382.30.

Federal Loans

Most students can't cover the total toll of attendance with grants and scholarships solitary; they take to accept out loans to help pay for their college teaching. Loans have to be paid back with interest. Federal loans are preferable to loans from private lenders because federal loans typically have lower involvement rates and price less to pay back.

Y'all must submit a FAFSA to be eligible for near federal loans.

Perkins Loan

The Perkins Loan is a government-backed, low-interest loan meant for students who demonstrate infrequent financial need.

Perkins Loans are unique in that no interest accrues on these loans while you're in school. Likewise, the grace catamenia for a Perkins Loan is 9 months versus the standard 6 month grace catamenia of near other higher loans. The grace period is the flow after graduation when you won't be accruing interest on your loan.

Straight Stafford Loan

A Direct Stafford Loan can be subsidized or unsubsidized. For subsidized loans, the US Department of Educational activity pays the interest on the loan while you're in school, during the 6-month grace period after y'all graduate, and during a menstruation of deferment.

You tin can merely receive a subsidized loan if you demonstrate fiscal need, but whatsoever pupil who attends a school that participates in the Direct Loan Program tin can receive an unsubsidized loan.

PLUS Loans

PLUS Loans are federal loans that graduate students or professional caste students and parents of dependent undergraduate students can utilize to help pay education expenses.

You must not accept an agin credit history and must attend a schoolhouse that participates in the Direct PLUS Loan Program to receive a PLUS Loan.

The maximum PLUS Loan amount is the cost of attendance minus any other fiscal assistance received. All PLUS Loans are unsubsidized.

Simon Cunningham/flickr

Additional Loans and Grants

States and individual colleges also award grants and loans. You can wait up state financial aid programs or contact college financial assistance offices to learn more almost country-sponsored and higher-sponsored financial help programs.

In full general, federal Stafford and PLUS loans are preferable to individual loans, but individual loans are another pick if you don't receive enough federal assistance. Nonetheless, federal loans tend to be cheaper and take a fixed interest rate, which means that the rate you're quoted volition not change for the lifetime of the loan.

Work-Written report

The federal work-study plan is a need-based program in which the regime will subsidize wages for on-campus jobs. Basically, if you're eligible for piece of work-written report, y'all can get an on-campus job to help finance your education. Sure on-campus jobs are but offered to work-study students, and the wages can exist relatively generous.

Eligibility for work-study is determined through the FAFSA and the other financial aid forms required past your college.

Tuition Benefits

Some employers offer tuition benefit programs for employees or their dependents. Employers will pay a designated amount of your college tuition through these programs.

Bank check with your employer or your parents' employers to meet if they offer any tuition do good programs.

Revenue enhancement Credits

A tax credit will reduce the corporeality of income revenue enhancement you lot or your parents take to pay to help ease the burden of financing your teaching.

The American Opportunity Credit

The American Opportunity Tax Credit allows y'all or your parent to claim upwards to $2,500 per pupil per year for the outset four years of schoolhouse as the pupil works toward a degree or similar credential.

The Lifetime Learning Credit

The Lifetime Learning Credit allows you or your parent to claim up to $2,000 per yr per student for any college or career school tuition and fees. Information technology can too be used for books, supplies, and equipment that were required and had to be purchased from the school.

Scholarships

Like grants, scholarships are free money that is given to you to help finance your education. Scholarships tin can be awarded based on financial need, extracurricular activity interest, or academic accomplishment.

Army Recruiting/Flickr

Athletic Scholarships

If yous're a recruited athlete, you lot may be given a scholarship to participate in sports for your college.

Ivy League and NCAA Division III schools don't award athletic scholarships.

Merit Scholarships

Many colleges will provide scholarships if you have stellar academic credentials. The most selective colleges are less probable to award merit scholarships because the vast majority of students has excelled academically.

Also, some colleges will offer scholarships for an extracurricular activity like cheerleading or the marching band.

Individual Scholarships

In that location are tons of private scholarships available to help pay for college. Each one has different requirements. Some are based on merit. Some are based on fiscal demand. Some are based on your groundwork, affiliations, or extracurricular activities. Some are very unique.

You can search for scholarships at College Board'due south Big Future. Also, Fastweb is some other good site to notice scholarships.

Military Scholarships

Additionally, there are ROTC scholarships and scholarships sponsored by veteran services organizations. Furthermore, the GI Pecker tin assist finance the educations of military service members and their immediate families.

How to Maximize Your Fiscal Help for Higher

Brand sure you submit your FAFSA and whatsoever other required forms by the advisable deadlines.

Search and apply for scholarships. Check with the financial aid departments at the colleges y'all're interested in attending to come across how scholarship awards tin can affect your demand-based financial assist.

If you're hoping to receive an able-bodied scholarship, be proactive in the higher able-bodied recruiting process. Contact higher coaches, brand a highlight video, and if possible, nourish camps that allow you to showcase your athletic skills to higher coaches.

I too recommend checking out studentaid.gov to learn more about the different types of federal assistance, how to apply for them, and the eligibility criteria for federal student help programs.

What's Next?

Now that we've answered the question, "what is financial assist?" learn more most specific ways you can get fiscal assistance.

If you're an undocumented immigrant, you can't submit a FAFSA or receive federal financial aid, but you can withal get financial help for college.

As well, find out how to win a National Merit Scholarship or scholarships based on your Sat/ACT scores.

Finally, bank check out this mail service about how to pay for college without loans.

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score past 4 points?Nosotros've written a guide for each exam about the top 5 strategies you lot must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Get eBook: 5 Tips for 160+ Points

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Take friends who as well need help with test prep? Share this commodity!

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Well-nigh the Author

Justin has extensive experience teaching SAT prep and guiding high schoolhouse students through the higher admissions and pick process. He is firmly committed to improving equity in education and helping students to achieve their educational goals. Justin received an athletic scholarship for gymnastics at Stanford Academy and graduated with a BA in American Studies.

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Source: https://blog.prepscholar.com/what-is-financial-aid-for-college

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