Grants And Scholarships

You’re busy. You’re getting ready to go to college. You’re frugal, staying debt free or paying off those last pesky bills. You still have a life to think about, hanging with your friends and after-school activities. Or, maybe you’re older. Maybe you’re trying to figure out how to go to college and maintain a family. Maybe you’re not making this effort for yourself. Maybe you’re trying to figure out a way to manage while you send a son or daughter to school. It may seem overwhelming. You feel like you don’t need one more thing to do. But. Grants and scholarships can help you stay debt free through college. If that is a goal, applying for scholarships and grants and should be a priority—even though the application process can prove tortuous.

“Tortuous” pretty much just means “hard”—complicated, difficult, or time-consuming—but when you see the word, it’s almost impossible not to think of “torture” and what that means. So, what do you think about graduating from college so indebted that it will take you 20 years to pay it off ? (I’m willing to bet you know someone who’s graduated and has a tremendous amount of debt …) Anyway, I remember filling out the forms—all very detailed—one at a time on a typewriter. Every application seemed to require a different bit of (obscure) information that required sorting through another stack of forms. Eventually, they all got mailed off. Now we have computers and personal printers that make the job easier. We can copy and paste stored information. Also, it’s becoming common to apply online.

Grants And Scholarships Consider This

If you go to college with the intention of getting a degree that will allow you to earn a decent income but graduate enormously in debt, how long is it going to be before the money is of real benefit to you? In most cases the cost of the loans offsets the extra money you earn, or when you begin looking for a job, you can’t find one that pays the way you think it should because employers offer the larger salaries to applicants with experience.

Now, to be very clear, I am not saying don’t go to college. Neither am I saying that even if you go into debt you wont (eventually) see a profit, but does it really make sense go to college with the intent of earning more only to have to pay out the difference between having an education and not having one in college loan repayments?

Getting the education is a great idea. Going into debt to get it doesn’t sound great to me. In order to capitalize on your degree, you need to do all you can to graduate debt free (or at least keep debt to a minimum). In my last post I talked about how you can test out of classes. That can reduce the cost of college, but the time and effort that goes into applying for grants and scholarships has the potential to yield a considerable amount of money.

 

Can you graduate college debt free

Test out of college classes graduate college debt free

The difference between scholarships and grants

Scholarships might also have a need factor but are more merit based. They are awarded to students based on qualities like grades or athletic ability as defined by the entity offering the scholarship.

Scholarships and grants give you free money. You don’t have to pay it back. (Oh, I suppose if you did something egregious it’s possible you might have to, but why would that even be a consideration?) The concept of free money is huge since you are trying to be debt free when you graduate from college.

Grants are usually based on need.

Applying for grants

The first step in applying for grants is to submit the Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) .   (This has to be done yearly.) The FAFSA is used to determine how much you (or your family) are expected to contribute towards your education that year. That’s called your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). It’s based mostly on family income taken from information in tax returns and other financial records. There are some other factors also considered also. Among them can be the cost to attend your school of choice and your status as a full or part-time student. And of course, there is a deadline for filing; that will also be true for many of the grants and scholarships you may apply for.
You can find out more about the FAFSA online.

Once you have your EFC (which should only take a couple of weeks to get after you file the FAFSA) you can work through the Financial Aid Department of your school. In general, the greater the discrepancy between the cost of attending a particular school and the student’s ability to pay will increase the likelihood of receiving grants.

The most familiar federal grant for education is the Pell Grant. Taking into account your EFC, Pell Grants are awarded on a scale based on need. They go to students working towards their first bachelor’s degree. (There is an exception for some master’s degree programs. Information on that can be obtained from your school’s Financial Aid Department or online.) The maximum Pell Grant award for the school year 2018 – 2019 is $6095.

If you receive a Pell Grant you can still be eligible for these other federal grants:

1) Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG) can be awarded in cases of exceptional financial need.

2) Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) grants are given to some students who plan to teach in public or private schools located in financially depressed locales. (Note: This grant can turn into a loan if specified work requirements go unfulfilled.)

3) Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants can be available to students whose parents or guardians were members of the Armed Forces and died as a result of performing military service in Iraq or Afghanistan after 9/11/2001. (There are also some age and student status qualifiers that apply to being eligible for this grant.

Your school’s Financial Aid Department should have all the information you need as to eligibility for these grants.

Federal grants are not the only ones available. There are also state and private ones. Many of these will use your EFC from your FAFSA to determine your eligibility for any grants you apply for. Others may require additional information.

State Grants

Almost every state has at least one educational grant. Like federal grants these are based on financial need. In addition to your school’s Financial Aid Department, the internet has a wealth of information.

Private Grants

There are a lot of private grants available. In addition to or in place of need these grants may have specific qualifiers. There are grants for certain courses of study, cancer survivors, athletes, and many more.

Scholarships

Even if you receive one or more grants you can apply for and accept scholarships.

As I said above, scholarships are usually based on merit. An excellent grade point average or superior athletic ability are common qualifiers, but they are not the only ones. Scholarships are awarded by schools, businesses, civic organizations, etc. to qualified applicants who best fit their prerequisite matrixes. It isn’t hard to find scholarships to apply for that almost seem “made for you”. You do need to recognize, however, that there will be a large number of other applicants that feel the same way. Go to Google and type in “scholarships for you fill in the blank.” An example would be “scholarships for veterans”. You could try “scholarships for women” or “scholarships for the deaf” or “scholarships for descendants of the mayflower.” The number of distinct qualifiers is virtually unlimited; using the internet, you can access quite a list of scholarship opportunities.

Conclusion

There are very good reasons to seek an education. Preparing yourself for a prosperous career is one. If that is the case, graduating debt-free could be a compatible goal. Free money in the form of grants can increase your chance of success. The Financial Aid Department at your school and online inquiries can inform you about what is available and how to make an application. Take advantage of the opportunities. There are many institutions with funds for students in the form of grants and scholarships.