Financial Aid For College – Scholarships, Student Loans & Grants

If you are searching for a way to send your child to college or you are a college bound high school student yourself, you have probably discovered that the true cost of a college education is prohibitively expensive. For many of today’s families, sending a child to college is not a matter of wanting to, but instead a matter of how they will pay for it.

Fortunately, there are some solutions in the form of financial aid for college. There are a variety of ways that you can go about securing the funds needed for school. On this page and on this site you will find more detailed information on how to track down and secure financial aid for college.

First things first… Financial aid for school comes in many forms. Here are some of the traditional types of financial aid that may be available to you:

Scholarships

When you first think of finding money for college, many people immediately look to scholarships. A scholarship is not a loan, therefore it never needs to be paid back. Scholarships can be a great source of additional college funding, however they rarely cover all of the costs associated with school. Scholarships may be awarded on the basis of performance, talent, or for other reasons. In fact, there are college scholarships available for almost every conceivable type of situation.

Most scholarships that are awarded come from the colleges themselves. Certain features of an incoming student – be it a good GPA, or athletic achievements can be rewarded with a scholarship. You must send a scholarship application for every scholarship opportunity you are seeking. The amount a college scholarship is worth depends on a variety of factors although it can be anywhere from a few hundred dollars all the way up to “full scholarships” that cover the entire cost of your education.

In addition to the scholarships that are offered by individual institutions, there are other opportunities for students to take advantage of scholarships. Private organizations, businesses, clubs, and even religious groups offer funding to college bound students. If you search hard enough there are other more obscure scholarship opportunities out there like scholarships for left handed students and the like.

Grants

Grants can be a nice source of money for college because by definition a grant is a gift that never needs to be paid back. Grants for college can come from both private and government entities, however the most common source for college grants is the government.

If you are seeking a college grant from the government, you must meet income criteria and maintain a minimum GPA that varies depending on a number of factors. To apply for a grant is a somewhat complex process starting with an application for the grant. After you apply, you must wait for notification of whether or not your application was accepted.

Despite the hassle of applying for these grants, they can be an excellent source of partial financial aid for college. Seeing as how grants never need to be repaid, this is less money that you need to finance in the form of a loan or raise from some other source.

Student Loans

Student loans are just like any other type of loan in the fact that they will need to be repaid. The biggest benefit to a student loan is that most provide more flexible repayment options than any other type of loan. With a student loan, you can typically defer payment until after your education is complete and you enter the workforce. There are two types of student loans that you should be aware of – government sponsored student loans and private student loans.

Government Student Loans

The Government offers student loan programs and federal financial aid for college bound students that include enough funding to cover tuition, housing, books, and other expenses. If you plan on going the student loan route, a Government student loan generally provides the best rates and terms. The amount of the loan you may qualify for is determined by the college that you will be attending and is based on the costs at that school as well as the income level of the student and their family.

There are two types of government student loans – subsidized and traditional. In the case of a subsidized student loan, the interest on the loan is covered by the Government. On the more traditional type, the interest does accrue while you are completing your education however the repayment terms are flexible and the interest rates on the loan are very low.

Private Student Loans

In case you don’t qualify for a Federal student loan, you can still persue financial aid for college from a private source. Typically you would turn to a bank to finance a private student loan. The only problem with this is that you must have good credit or co-sign with someone who does in order to qualify. The rates on a private student loan are higher than their government sponsored counterparts and the terms are not typically as flexible.