Finding Funding for College

Use your high school counselors, your intended college’s financial-aid office and the Web to find financial aid for college.

Don’t know yet what colleges you’ll consider? You don’t need to be planning to attend a specific school just to ask questions or even to set up a meeting with a college’s financial-aid officers. After all, it’s best to find out your financial options before applying.

Even if you don’t go in search of the information, it will probably find its way to you. Look in your high school, at college fairs or in The Next Step Magazine for information on student-loan lenders.

Fill out the FAFSA.
Filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is as important a step as filling out your college application. If you don’t fill out the FAFSA, you won’t be eligible for federal aid and many college scholarships. Check in your counselor’s office for a form or apply online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

Apply for scholarships.
The best kind of money is the kind you don’t have to pay back! Private scholarships are one way to cover the cost of education without going into debt. Give yourself plenty of time to search for scholarships, and fill out the scholarship applications as completely as possible. There are scholarships based on your ethnicity, academic achievements, extracurricular activities and special skills, just to name a few. Many Web sites, such as www.fastweb.com, provide free scholarship databases. Require-ments often include essays, interviews and sending your transcript.

Apply for private loans.
You can take out education loans from private lenders. Pay attention to the loan’s interest rate and repayment terms. Make sure you know when the loan will begin collecting interest, how much you can expect to pay in total, when you’ll be expected to start making payments and how to defer loan payments if you end up jobless after graduation.

Apply for federal loans.
Due to the high cost of a college education, don’t be surprised if scholarships and grants don’t cover the entire cost of college. Student loans can help you cover the rest of your tuition, room, board and other fees.

In this case, you may find yourself relying on loans. You can accept federal loans for which you qualify when you receive your financial aid package from your college.

Loans may be subsidized, meaning you won’t have to pay interest on the money while you’re enrolled in school, or unsubsidized, meaning that interest starts accruing right away. Most school loans are taken out in the name of the student, so you, not your parents, will be responsible for the payments. Borrow only what you need!

Apply for grants.
Like scholarships, grants don’t have to be repaid. The federal Pell Grant is the most common among college students.

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