Financial Aid & Scholarship Information
Financial aid is money to help pay for college or career school. Aid can come from
- the U.S. federal government,
- the state where you live,
- the college you attend, or
- a nonprofit or private organization.
Besides financial aid, you also should think about what you can do to lower your costs when you go to college.
“Types of Federal Student Aid” Video
Check out this video to learn about grants, loans, and work-study jobs and how they can help fund your education. (Captioning available in English and Spanish; just start the video and click on the CC symbol at the bottom.)
Aid and Other Resources From the Federal Government
The federal government offers a number of financial aid programs.
Besides aid from the U.S. Department of Education (discussed below), you also might get
- aid for serving in the military or for being the spouse or child of a veteran;
- tax benefits for education;
- an Education Award for community service with AmeriCorps;
- Educational and Training Vouchers for current and former foster care youth; and/or
- scholarships and loan repayment through the Department of Health and Human Services’ Indian Health Service, National Institutes of Health, and National Health Service Corps.
The U.S. Department of Education awards more than $120 billion a year in grants, work-study funds, and loans to more than 13 million students. Federal student aid covers such expenses as tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and transportation. Aid also can help pay for other related expenses, such as a computer and dependent care. Thousands of schools across the country participate in the federal student aid programs; ask the schools you’re interested in whether they do!
Federal student aid includes:
- Grants—financial aid that doesn’t have to be repaid (unless, for example, you withdraw from school and owe a refund)
- Loans— borrowed money for college or career school; you must repay your loans, with interest
- Work-Study—a work program through which you earn money to help you pay for school
Try This Resource
FAFSA4caster—A financial aid calculator that gives an early estimate of eligibility for federal student aid.
Apply for federal student aid using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form. And remember, the first F in “FAFSA” stands for “free”—you shouldn’t pay to fill out the FAFSA form!
Aid From Your State Government
Even if you're not eligible for federal aid, you might be eligible for financial aid from your state. Contact your state grant agency for more information.
Aid From Your College or Career School
Many colleges offer financial aid from their own funds. Find out what might be available to you:
- Visit your school’s financial aid page on its website, or ask someone in the financial aid office.
- Ask at the department that offers your course of study; they might have a scholarship for students in your major.
- Fill out any applications the school requires for its own aid, and meet the deadlines.
Aid From a Nonprofit or Private Organization
Many organizations offer scholarships or grants to help students pay for college. This free money can make a real difference in how affordable your education is.
Source: Federal Student Aid
COMPLETE RESOURCE GUIDE FOR FAFSA/Dream Act 2021-22
Senior and Senior Parents: FAFSA 2021-22 is open for filing. Following are all the resources you will want to read before you begin the process.
YOUR RESOURCES
- Before you file the FAFSA online, familiarize yourself with the questions on the form. View the print version of the 2020-21 FAFSA. The questions haven't changed, so it is a good resource to have before you begin filing the 2021-2022 FAFSA.
- Read the Parent's Guide to Filing the FAFSA. This an absolute must read. Lists all the steps you and your student will need to take for filing the FAFSA.
- All you need to know and the documents needed required for filing the FAFSA.
- Need to send FAFSA to more than 10 colleges? Here is how to do so.
- You and your student will need to create an FSA ID before filing FAFSA. Here is all the info on creating a FSA ID.
- What happens after filing the FAFSA?
- More info about the Student Aid Report.
- List of Income and Assets that you will need to report on FAFSA. Must read. You can also use the IRS data retrieval tool to fill in income and tax information. You will be reporting 2019 income and current assets and cash.
- Your general deadlines for FAFSA. However check the financial aid deadline for each college. They may be different and earlier than the general deadlines.
IMPORTANT NOTES
- Parents and students need separate FSA ID.
2.If the student has filed tax information, has separate bank/brokerage accounts, W-2, have those available along with the parent's information.
- While filing the FAFSA, please avoid simultaneous logins by the student and parent.
- Please avoid these common FAFSA mistakes.
- File FAFSA by the financial deadline of the college and the state deadline for state aid.
We liked this tutorial for students about FAFSA.
Resource: Team Osz
RaiseMe
Colleges on RaiseMe offer micro-scholarships to empower every student to define their own path to a four-year degree and celebrate the wide-ranging set of achievements that prepare students to succeed in college, career, and beyond.
You can start applying for scholarships as early as 9th grade!!
How does RaiseMe work?
Visit raiseme.com to get started!
Additional RaiseMe Resources:
Scholarships:
https://growth-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/BTS+2019/RaiseMe+Flyer+One+Pager.pdf
5 Easy Steps to sign up for RaiseMe:
https://growth-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/BTS+2019/5+Steps+To+Get+Started+With+RaiseMe.pdf
How Students feel about RaiseMe:
https://growth-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/BTS+2019/StudentTestimonial_Digital.pdf
What are Micro-Scholarships?
https://growth-resources.s3.amazonaws.com/BTS+2019/Educator_Overview_1Pager.pdf
Access Scholarships, a free scholarship search engine and college resource platform for students, hopes to connect students of all years with information and opportunities on paying for college, college success, and more.
In order to achieve this, following are some great scholarships and reading resources to help students get started:
Scholarships:
- $1,000 Around the Corner from College Scholarship by Access Scholarships
- $1,000 Too Cool to Pay for School Scholarship by Access Scholarships
Blog posts: