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College may be expensive, but for talented and deserving
students, there is a great deal of money available to
help with everything from tuition fees to living expenses.
The U.S. Department of education runs a variety of student
financial assistance programs which provide over $60 billion
of financial aid annually in the form of grants, loans
and work-study assistance. In addition to this, there
are hundreds of privately funded grants and loans available.
But the $60 billion question is: how does a student go
about applying for financial assistance? Despite what
you may have heard, the entire process of applying for
and receiving financial aid is not all that complex -
all you need is a little disclipine and planning. The
first thing to do in order to let the government know
that you are looking for financial assistance for college
is to complete the Free Application for Federal Student
Aid (FAFSA). The FAFSA asks for your family's financial
information and is used to determine which financial aid
program will suit you best.
Eligibility
Before you go into detail about the types of support available,
make sure that you are eligible for federal student aid.
In short, to receive financial assistance from one of
several federal aid programs, you must:
- Qualify for financial need (except for certain loans)
- Have a high school diploma or a General Education Development
- (GED) certificate, or pass a test approved by the U.S.Department of Education
- Be working toward a degree or certificate
- Be enrolled in an eligible program
- Be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen
- Have a valid Social Security Number
- Register with the Selective Service if required (you can use the paper or electronic FAFSA to register)
- Maintain satisfactory academic progress once in school.
- In addition to the conditions mentioned above, a new law suspends aid eligibility for students who have been convicted under federal or state law of the sale or possession of drugs. If you have a drug-related conviction, call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4-FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) to find out if, or how, this law applies to you.
Not Eligible?
Even if you are not eligible, you should still complete
and submit the FAFSA. This is because, in addition to
federal aid, there are many state and privately funded
aid programs for which you may qualify. Many students
you don't qualify for federal aid succeed in getting substantial
assistance from these state and privately administered
programs.
I'm Eligible - What Now?
As mentioned before, there are a number of federal aid programs which provide varying levels of grants and loans. Once your FAFSA is processed by the education department, a formula will be used to decide what types of assistance (and how much) you qualify for. In subsequent articles we'll go into detail about how the education department determines your financial need and what aid programs can be used to fulfill that need.
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