Paying for College
Paying for college can be a very daunting task. It's usually the number one thing on high school student's minds world wide. Unfortunately, the costs for college don't go down, rather they just keep on climbing. Sadly enough, the price of college deters a large group of students from furthering there education and getting a degree. If a student has a degree, he/she will earn over a million more in there lifetime then they would have without it. The question everyone's asking, is how can anyone in a low income situation afford college?
EFC - Expected Family Contribution
There are lots of different financial aid options, but the question is, are you eligible for all of them? When you first start your process of getting financial aid you will have to fill out a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid.) While you are filling this out with all of your financial information they're gathering stats for your EFC. The EFC is your Expected Family Contribution, it determines how much you will have to pay, if any at all. The EFC to wish for is a zero, which means you will not have to pay a sent! However, if your is EFC is more than what it will cost you for a semester at the college of your choice, you won't get very much, if any, financial aid.
Pell Grant
The Pell Grant is a savior for many college students. The max you can get from a Pell Grant is 5,550 dollars, but the amazing thing is you don't have to pay it back! You can only renew the Pell Grant once a year, but you can get this until you are done with your four year college program.
Subsidized and Un-subsidized Loans
The first thing running through your mind is probably, "What's the difference between subsidized and un-subsidized?" Well, subsidized loans are based off of your financial needs which un-subsidized loans are not. You can also get these loans until you've finished your degree program. Now, most students and their families see loans as a very scary thing to get in to, often leading them into debt before they've even gotten out of the house. Well, that's not true in this case! These loans do not have to start being paid on until you are finished with your degree program! Another great thing is they don't gain interest. The government pays the interest on your loan until the end of your degree program. However, if you do not have your loan paid by the time you finish college, you will have to start paying interest on it.
Work Study
Most colleges should offer work study positions for students working towards their degree. A work study job is perfect for students because it is flexible around their class schedule. While in most cases, it only pays minimum wage, it is still there to help pay for tuition costs or even just to give the student some extra living money.
Scholarships
Scholarships are financial aid that you don't have to pay back. In most cases a majority of scholarships do not come from the college you are attending. You can use FastWeb to find scholarships that you are eligible for at no cost to you. There is usually always some big time corporation having a competition for students to when a scholarship. You can also find scholarships if you have a disability, are African American, Native American, in the military, single mom, are a women going into engineering, and many other things. Getting scholarships is very competitive so put on your war paint and get out there!
When in Wonder, Google it
If you need help finding more financial aid, the best way to find more resources is to Google it! Google has a vast database of people from all over the world posting their thoughts and ideas. Use all of your resources to find financial aid! In most cases it's free money, so it's going to be hard to find! If all else fails, talk to other people you know who have gone to college, and see what all they did to pay for college.
It is important to have a degree is our troubled economy. In the future, it could be the only link you have to getting a job and supporting yourself, because we all know that as prices get higher, minimum wage just isn't going to cover very much at all. So try your hardest to get your college paid for!
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