Paying for college can be expensive. But about 2-in-3 students who apply get financial aid to help pay for it. Even more would get aid if they only filled out the FAFSA form.
The FAFSA, which stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is required to receive almost any form of aid. Unfortunately, about half of college students fail to complete it. That means that as many as 850,000 qualified students throw away several thousand dollars’ worth of free money a year, just because they never got around to submitting a form.
Why don’t more families make sure to fill out the FAFSA?
Some are put-off by the kind of questions the FAFSA asks. Other people assume they make too much money to qualify for need-based financial aid. But they don’t realize that they still need the FAFSA to qualify for almost any student loans, jobs or scholarships. The good news? Colleges and universities help you complete the form for free. All you have to do is ask.
Finally, plenty of students and their families delay applying for financial aid because they aren’t sure they’ll even go to college. But this has a price: while they’re trying to decide, they miss their best shot at qualifying for state scholarships. When students apply late, they can miss out on funds they would have received had they applied on time.
So the main message here is that every student should fill out the FAFSA as soon as possible after January 1 of their senior year, no matter what their plans are. It’s free and it puts you in line to get hundreds, even thousands of dollars. All you need to do is visit the FAFSA website.
Financial aid comes in four flavors
Financial aid comes from the federal government, state government, private donors, and colleges and universities. It takes four basic forms:
- Grants. This is need-based aid that you don’t have to pay back. Two examples include the Federal Pell Grant and the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant; both pay from several hundred to several thousand dollars.
- Scholarships. This is merit-based aid that you don’t have to pay back. It’s based on your achievements, affiliations and sometimes your financial needs, too. A range of businesses, civic organizations, churches and synagogues, professional associations, foundations and colleges offer scholarships. You can search for them free on sites like www.collegeboard.com and www.ThomsonPeterson.com.
- Work-Study. This is an arrangement that allows students to help pay for college while doing minimum wage or better work on campus or in the community.
- Student Loans. This is money for college that you’ll need to pay back with interest after you leave college. The three federal loan programs include Perkins, Stafford and PLUS.
This article is provided by the Michigan Guaranty Agency.