Money for College Students

Graduate Debt Free? Check out these full ride scholarships!

2009-12-17T01:33:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned on Money for College Students, there are some full ride scholarships out there that will cover your ENTIRE cost of college! That’s right. These superb financial aid packages pay every dime of your tuition and housing costs (books, etc. included as well I believe) and ensure that you will graduate debt free.

One of these full ride scholarships is the SMART Scholarship provided for students pursuing education in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics areas. If you are selected to receive this scholarship, your education costs will be covered by this scholarship up until you receive your degree. After you graduate, one of the requirements of this scholarship is that you then work at a DoD laboratory for an amount of time equal to the number of years that the scholarship covered your college costs. Given that the pay for such jobs is decent, this is definitely an excellent financial aid package. Best of all, it is not determined based on financial need, but merely your academic aptitude and accomplishments. The deadline has passed for this year (December 15), but you should definitely look into this scholarship for the upcoming year.

Another great full ride scholarship opportunity available is a NASA full ride scholarship for college students. The NASA Aeronautics Scholarship awards $15,000 per year for two years for undergraduate students, and also offers winners a $10,000 Summer Internship at a NASA research center. NASA also offers full ride financial assistance to graduate students. Obviously, this scholarship will apply more towards the more technical majors out there.

Another full ride scholarship possibility for students of any major is financial aid available through ROTC. This type of financial aid will require that you serve in the military for a few years after college. ROTC scholarships can range from a few thousand dollars to a full ride, depending on the applicant, making this yet another great financial aid option to consider for college.

Scholarships for College Students

2009-12-17T01:03:00.001-08:00

Scholarships are the best form of financial aid out there for college students and soon-to-be college students. Period. There are several reason why college scholarships are better than almost every other form of financial aid out there.

Scholarships for college beat student loans any day. If you get a student loan, you are going to be in debt after college. And when you first start earning money from a job, it is going to have to go towards repaying your student loan. Depending on how much you take out in student loans, you could end up paying two to three times the cost of the student loan back after college. Student loan consolidation doesn’t make it too much of a better deal either. By pursuing scholarships, you will (hopefully) not have to worry about paying back anything after college.
Scholarships for high school and college students are also a much better deal than work study. In college, the money you will earn from work study will probably amount to somewhere around ten dollars per hour. On the other hand, even if you spend 100 hours applying for scholarships but only win $10,000 in scholarships, that still amounts to $100 per hour, which is clearly a much better deal!

In my opinion, scholarships are on the same level as financial aid grants for college students. In fact, federal and university grants for college students are usually a better deal than scholarships. Why is this so? When it comes to grants, applications usually don’t involve writing essays, which take time; eligibility for grants is usually based on merely financial need and sometimes your grades in school. Thus, if you meet the qualifications, you could receive a federal grant for college by spending only 10 minutes filling out a form.

Many scholarships for college out there can be found simply by using scholarship search engines online. However, to be eligible for almost any financial aid grant for college, as well as many scholarships (often including ones offered by universities), you must complete the FAFSA (free application for federal student aid) form. Many grants for college students out there and several scholarships are awarded based on the information you provide in the FAFSA, so it is essential that you fill it out and submit it by the deadline.

Scholarships for High School Sophomores

2009-12-17T00:23:00.000-08:00

In this post on Money for College Students, I will continue my discussion of available scholarships for high school sophomores. There is a good chance that by applying for scholarships at such an early time, students will have a greater chance of winning the financial aid. This is due to the fact that not too many sophomores in high school apply for college scholarships, which means that if you apply, your chances of winning these scholarships will be much greater!

Another scholarship available for high school sophomores is that offered by the National Peace Essay Contest. In this scholarship, students obviously must write an essay as part of the contest, so the key to winning the scholarship will be creative writing skills. This scholarship contest has awards available that range from $1,000 to $10,000 apiece. While this scholarship will not entirely cover the costs of college, it is certainly a considerable chunk of financial assistance. It would be better than taking out a student loan or something like that.

The Eco-Hero Award is another scholarship available to high school students, and this one is for students that show environmental awareness. To be eligible to win this scholarship, students must work on some sort of project that shows environmental concerns. I think that this would be a scholarship where it wouldn’t be too hard to stand out as an applicant. Once again, this scholarship does not cover the entire costs of college, but the amount of financial aid it awards is still decent.

Another scholarship contest available to high school sophomores is the Siemens Westinghouse Competition. This scholarship program has awards available anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 dollars, so this is definitely one worth checking out.

More of the Easiest Scholarships to Get

2009-12-16T23:52:00.001-08:00

It’s been awhile since I’ve made any posts on the easiest scholarships to get for college and high school students out there, so I thought I would do another one of those. There is virtually no point in spending tons of time applying for a scholarship if it is competitive enough to where your chances of winning the scholarship are small. You should instead focus on winning scholarship awards that you have a fair chance of winning, or that are at least less competitive. That is one of the things I want you to learn in the Money for College Students guide.

Some of the easiest scholarships to get don’t even require that you have a 4.0 GPA, or are the top student at your high school. Surprisingly, there are a lot of these types of scholarships available out there! As I said, the easiest scholarships to win are the one’s that not many apply for, and hence are less competitive.

Some of these types of scholarships include local scholarships, as those are always less competitive. Plus, if you are a “brilliant” student, your chances of winning a local scholarship are extremely high. There is one book out there called “Scholarships for B Students” (or something along those lines) that you’d definitely want to consider reading if you are more of the average student.

Scholarships for High School Sophomores

2009-12-16T18:47:00.000-08:00

For those of you in high school that are planning ahead for college, I have assembled a list of college scholarships that you are already eligible for. Today, I will be covering college scholarships for high school sophomores, and surprisingly, there are quite a few of these scholarships out there.

The first scholarship for high school sophomores that I will be covering is the Fountainhead Essay Contest. In this contest, you have to write an essay on the novel Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand. Obviously, this scholarship will be more competitive (since it’s at a national level, and anyone from any major, etc. can apply). However, 236 of these scholarships are available, and they are for $10,000 each, so you should definitely consider applying to this program.

The next scholarship I will be covering is the NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund. This is another writing contest, but only 1 award of $4,000 is available. Obviously, this one will be much more competitive as a result, so I would advise that you only apply if you are a very skilled, creative writer.

Another great scholarship opportunity available for high school sophomores is the McKelvey Entrepreneurial E-Scholarship. 100 awards are available and they are for $10,000 each! If you see yourself as being a future entrepreneur, this scholarship will definitely fit you. Creativity and creative writing (as well as unique ideas) will help you in winning this scholarship.

The Courageous Persuaders Scholarship contest involves creating a 30-second TV commercial that is targeted towards middle school students. In the commercial, you should warn them of the dangers of underage alcohol. This high school scholarship has 7 awards of $500 to $3000 available. If you are good at making videos and have a creative side, you should definitely consider applying for this one!

Scholarships for high school sophomores will usually require you having a decent GPA as well; this isn’t the sole factor, but it can definitely increase your chances of winning the financial aid available, as can having a strong record of extracurricular activities.

FAFSA Financial Aid Tips

2009-12-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

It’s almost that time of the year again. Whether you are a high school senior planning to attend college next year, or are currently a continuing college student, it’s almost time to start looking into FAFSA financial aid again and completing the fafsa

As I have repeated throughout Money for College Students, you’re financial aid status (in other words, your financial need) is largely determined from what you put on the FAFSA, therefore the FAFSA results can largely determine what you will be eligible for in terms of scholarships, grants, loans, work-study, etc. Therefore, it is essential that you make completing the FAFSA a priority right now, as it won’t be too long before it is due.

Even if you don’t think you will qualify for any FAFSA financial aid, you should still definitely fill out this form as you may end up being surprised. I knew several people that thought they wouldn’t qualify for any financial aid or scholarships, but after completing the FAFSA they were actually offered some. So, it is imperative that you do this.

Over the next few articles, I will be covering FAFSA tips on how to complete the form and what will help your chances of receiving extra financial assistance. This form is very tedious and takes awhile to complete, so I would advise getting started on it as soon as possible. The Holiday Break would probably be an ideal time to do it.

Gates Millenium Scholarship Amount

2009-12-16T18:11:00.000-08:00

If you have not yet done so and meet the criteria, you should definitely apply for the Bill and Melinda Gates Millenium Scholarship. This scholarship represents a large amount of financial aid for students in need, and could very well end up covering your college tuition and housing costs that are not met by other forms of financial assistance

Currently, the deadline to apply for this scholarship is January 11, 2010. The scholarship application process is lengthy, and includes a personal application and two nomination forms (one is a sort of letter of recommendation). So if you plan to apply for this financial aid, I would advise doing so as soon as possible.

One question that I have seen repeatedly asked is what’s the gates millenium scholarship amount? How much financial assistance does it provide to the students who are selected as winners? Well, the Gates Scholarship amount depends on how much financial need you have. In other words, it depends on how much financial need you have that isn’t covered by other scholarships, grants, university assistance, etc. For example, one person’s college costs might amount to $20,000 per year. If he receives $15,000 from other scholarships and grants, then the Gates millenium scholarship amount would be about $5,000 if he were selected as a winner.

On the other hand, if another student selected as a winner for the scholarship was attending a university that costs $30,000 per year, but received no financial assistance, theoretically, the gates millennium scholarship amount would cover the entire costs of his or her education.

In the end, the point is that the Gates Scholarship covers any unmet financial need that the selected winners may have.

Scholarships for Current College Students

2009-12-16T15:47:00.000-08:00

I spend a lot of time on Money for College Students discussing financial aid possibilities and scholarships for high school students that have not yet begun college. I’d like to take this post to elaborate on available scholarships for current college students, as your financial aid need doesn’t just suddenly disappear when you begin college.

Scholarships for current college students can be both easier to win, and harder to win, depending on the program. One of the advantages of applying for scholarships once you are in college is that there are often more scholarships available that are specific to your major. For example, if your major is economics/finance related, there are scholarships out there that only students from that major are eligible for. These sort of scholarships are much less competitive than scholarships that anyone can apply for, which means you will have a greater chance of winning them.

On the other hand, now that you are in college, I feel that scholarship committees expect more out of you as an applicant. Not only should your scholarship application essay be even more vivid than the ones you wrote in high school (e.g. they need to do an even better job of showing the scholarship selection committee who you are as a person), but you also need to continue your record of extracurricular activities and community service (well, that might not be as important, depending on what scholarship we are talking about). Luckily, having a perfect 4.0 GPA isn’t necessary to win these types of scholarships, but you should still try to maintain at least a 3.5.

In some future posts, I will elaborate on a few scholarships for current college students that you should definitely consider applying for. In the end, remember that one’s specific to your major/background will be the easiest to win, and that scholarships covering a “broader” spectrum will be much more competitive.

Scholarships for Average Students

2009-12-16T02:27:00.001-08:00

In this post, I will be discussing scholarships for average students that are available out there. As we all know, not every student that desires to attend college is a brilliant, straight-A student that is immensely involved in extracurricular activities. Some of you are students that manage to get by in school with decent grades, but lack that “shine” that gets the valedictorians accepted into elite universities and endless scholarship awards.

For the more “average” student that is looking for financial aid scholarships to help pay for college. Believe it or not, scholarships for average students actually do exist, and there are quite a few of them out there. These scholarships usually don’t include high GPA’s as one of the requirements, given that you are an “average” student. However, that doesn’t mean that brilliant students with high GPA’s and the rest can’t apply. These scholarships usually use criteria, such as community service and essays to determine who the award will go to.

Thus, if you plan to apply to scholarships for average students, you must be sure to be involved in community and extracurricular activities and spend plenty of time on your application essays. In fact, your scholarship application essay will be the key to winning this sort of scholarship. That is the chance where you will really have to chance to stand out and show the scholarship committee who you are. Even if you are an average student, if you put enough time and effort into the essay, you will still be able to stand out from the applicant crowd and shine, which means you will have a great chance of winning the scholarship.

Gates Millenium Scholarship Essays

2009-12-16T00:33:00.000-08:00

In this post, I will continue to elaborate on the Gates Millenium Scholarship Essays, and how to best answer the nominee questions in order to improve your chances of winning the scholarship. As I said before, scholarship essay questions are your best place to stand out as an applicant, and the Millenium Gates Scholarship is no exception!

The next essay question on the application asks you to describe a situation in which you thought yourself or others were treated unfairly, or not given an opportunity that they deserved. You are asked to explain why you think it happened, how you responded, and the result of your response. You should also elaborate on why you thought your way of responding might make a difference and whether or not it ended up doing so.
Obviously here, you will want to describe a situation decisions weren’t made fairly (a situation where you or someone deserved something, but someone more undeserving received it instead). Don’t describe a situation where you reacted to harshly, but one where you reacted in a fair, reasonable manner, and hopefully also achieved good results. I feel that this essay question is also looking to learn more about your ability to solve problems, in this case where solving the problem involves people/decision skills more than it does thinking abilities. Solving a problem like this requires leadership abilities, so be sure to address in your essay how you used your leadership abilities to address the problem and get it solved in a rational manner.

The next question for the Gates Millenium Scholarship Essays asks you to discuss your short and long term goals, and also allows you to elaborate on any that you have already accomplished. This is definitely one of my favorite essay questions. I feel that for this question, no matter who you are, you can really show who you are and shine if you put the effort into this question. This one obviously doesn’t need much explaining; talk about what you want to do with your life. For scholarship essay questions like this, I feel that it is always important to tie your life goals in with how your future accomplishments will benefit society. Basically, your essay answer will be describing how you plan to succeed in life, how your success will benefit society, and how the Millenium Gates Scholarship can help you get there.

The next question of the Millenium Gates Scholarship Essays asks you to discuss a leadership experience you have had, and to include how you became a leader and how the experience has influenced your goals. One important part of answering this scholarship essay question will be to not simply repeat the activities you have provided in the leadership section of your application. This would definitely kill your chances of winning the Millenium Gates Scholarship. In answering this essay question, you should focus on just one leadership experience you have had. Explain how you rose up and attained respect from your peers, and how they gradually begin to perceive you as the leader. Describe what you did as a leader and how it had a positive impact on the organization you were a part of. Also be sure to discuss the affects that this experience had on you as a person.

Your next question on the Gates Scholarship Essays will be to discuss your involvement and accomplishments in community service. Again, in answering this question you will not want to simply repeat information that you have already provided on other parts of the scholarship application. Basically, discuss your involvement in your community and how you were able to make a positive impact. Try to use specific examples and not be vague. By using specific examples of how you made a positive impact on your community and how it also affected you as a person, the reader of your application will get a better idea of who YOU are as an applicant. This will definitely increase your chances of winning the scholarship.

Gates Millenium Scholarship Essays

2009-12-15T23:06:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in a previous post on the Millennium Gates Scholarship, the application for this scholarship involves a fair amount of writing and answering several essay questions. Although you probably have an excellent GPA and lengthy records of activities such as community service, so are a bunch of other applicants. The Gates Millenium Scholarship Essays are where you will really have the chance to show who you are and stand out from other applicants. From my past experiences, I have repeatedly found that even if you have a great GPA and record of extracurricular activities, it is often the essay that will ultimately determine whether or not you are the winner for a scholarship. Thus, you will want to put a fair amount of work into the Gates Scholarship Essays.

As I mentioned, after filling out the nominator and recommender forms, you will also have to complete the personal application part of it, in which you must answer several nominee questions. I am not sure whether or not the questions for the Gates Millenium Scholarship Essays change, but currently they are as follows.

The first question asks you to discuss the subjects in which you have excelled, and what factors you attribute to your success (also must use specific examples). Here, you will obviously want to discuss what you have a passion for when it comes to academics, and what has driven you to excel in the classroom. For specific examples, you could use topics such as all of the all-nighters you have pulled, a career/life goal that motivates you to do well in the classroom, or perhaps a classroom experience where you became the student that everyone else looked to for help/guidance.

The next question in the Gates Millenium Scholarship Essays asks you to discuss the subjects in which you have had difficulties, what factors contributed to those difficulties, and basically how you have dealt with them. Obviously, this essay question wants you to elaborate on a situation where you have overcome a challenge (in the classroom here, to be specific). You will not want to write an essay on how you failed at something, but rather, a situation where you failed at first, but learned from your mistakes, figured out how to improve, and are now excelling in that area. Clearly, not all of us have failed at something; if that is the case for you, then write about a subject that has been a challenge for you and how you have successfully navigated your way through it.

In the next article, I will continue to elaborate on the Gates Scholarship essay questions, and how to best answer them. Clearly, this scholarship involves a long application process, but it will definitely be worth it in the end if you are a winner. There is a potentially large amount of financial aid to be received from this scholarship opportunity.

Millenium Gates Scholarship

2009-12-15T23:05:00.000-08:00

I mentioned this scholarship in one of my previous posts, and trust me, this is one that you will not want to miss out on if you are qualified for it. The Millenium Gates Scholarship is a scholarship offered by Bill and Melinda Gates that offers a fair amount of financial aid money for college students.

This scholarship is for minority students with financial need who meet other criteria such as having at least a 3.3 GPA. Winners of the scholarship receive an amount of financial assistance that is determined by the amount of unmet need they have from the university that they will attend.

The Millenium Gates Scholarship is definitely one that you should apply for if you meet the criteria (for full details, see their website), as you can receive a VERY LARGE amount of financial aid from this scholarship. To have a chance of receiving the Gates Millenium Scholarship, applicants begin their application by submitting a nominee form (this is the student application), a nominator form for the applicant, and a recommender form (I believe this would be a letter of recommendation).

I would advise starting your application for the Gates Scholarship in advance, as it is pretty lengthy. In the nominee form alone, you have to fill out several essay questions; the essays include answers to questions regarding your community service, areas in which you have excelled/had difficulties, your leadership experiences, what your future goals are, and more. Strong writing skills and writing solid essays will be essential in winning this scholarship, so make sure that you put a fair amount of time into it. If you plan to apply later on down the road (i.e. you are currently a freshman in high school researching future scholarship opportunities), make sure that you become involved in community service, leadership experiences, etc. Such experiences will make your application stand out from the rest.

Is Attending an Elite University Worth It?

2009-11-27T01:57:00.000-08:00

A debate that I increasingly hear more about since the downturn in the economy is whether or not its worth the money to attend an elite university (versus an average state school, or community college for two years first).

Prospective college students need to realize that these two options have their benefits in drawbacks. Obviously, community college and/or a state school will be cheaper than an Ivy League, but it has its drawbacks at the same time.

To begin, the quality of the education you will receive will be the same in some ways, and different in others. If you are a science or engineering major, the material you will learn as an undergraduate will essentially be the same, whether you attend an elite or average school. However, your chances of participating in cutting-edge research will be more likely at an elite school, as will the chance be of having a “brilliant” professor (perhaps a Nobel Peace Prize winner) who may be willing to write you a dazzling letter of recommendation.

One other benefit of an elite school is the connections you can potentially make there. At such schools, you will often rub shoulders with children from wealthy/powerful families (more than you will at a more “average” school). Such connections could potentially land you a great job someday, for example. Additionally, schools like this will more often have distinguished professors and speakers (i.e. CEO’s of major companies, etc.), and well-known companies often clamor to recruit students from such colleges.

On the other hand, by attending a state school (or community college for two years first), you will save tens of thousands of dollars (maybe even over a hundred thousand) on your college education. The question you must figure out is what you want to get out of college. If having those connections and extra opportunities is important to you, definitely consider an elite school. If in the end all you are looking for is a quality education and a finding a good job after college, you will be just fine attending any four-year college/university.

Wall Street Jobs for College Students

2009-11-27T01:39:00.000-08:00

If you are a new or soon-to-be college student that expects to have a lot of debt come graduation, one important thing to consider is what sort of jobs will allow you to pay off that debt fast. Obviously, you should pursue what you have a passion for to an extent, but college students should look for jobs that will compensate them reasonably well at the same time.
If you have a knack for math, science, or business, a couple of fields that you should consider after college are engineering, and the world of wall-street.

As an engineer, you probably won’t become a billionaire, but if you are a hard worker and contribute to your company’s bottom line, you can easily earn $100,000 to $200,000 per year; this will vary based on what field of engineering you go into and the location of your job. Obviously engineers will be paid more in an area such as San Francisco or Los Angeles, where the cost of living is higher than in other parts of the U.S.

Jobs on wall-street, investment banking, and hedge funds, are a few other areas where you can make ridiculously large amounts of money. I know students that will be graduating from college this year…one has accepted a job offer for an analyst position at an investment bank on Wall Street. He is only 22, but guess how much his starting salary is?

$80,000 base, plus a bonus that could be as high as $80,000, depending on his success. And he’s only 22! Most investment bankers can easily earn $500,000 to $1,000,000+ per year by the time they are thirty.

If you are a good when it comes to crunching numbers, enjoy dealing with people, and are prepared to put in long hours (beginning investment bankers average 80 to 100+ hours of work per week), consider the fields mentioned above as career possibilities after college. Not only will the work likely be exciting, but you will earn loads of money and will be able to pay off your student loans within no time!

Other Job Possibilities for College Students

2009-11-27T01:38:00.000-08:00

For college students not interested in tutoring for extra money, there are a number of other great part time job opportunities for you as well. If you are looking for part-time college jobs that pay higher than minimum wage, the best place to look will be in the classified/help-wanted sections of your college or local city newspaper.

The possibilities cover a wide range of jobs, including childcare (the pay for this can reach $20+ an hour, depending on the area you live in), personal assistants, and even serving as an extra in a movie scene (if you live in Los Angeles, this is definitely a possibility for you—plus, the pay for such positions is usually $100-$150+ per day!).

Keep in mind that the actual pay for such jobs will depend on the area you live in. If your college is in more of a rural area, don’t expect the pay to be as high. However, if you are a college student in a high income area (i.e. Los Angeles, San Francisco, etc.), there should be jobs available that will pay a handsome salary…even for college students!

Also remember that it is important to look for more than a good salary in a job, even while you are a college student. College is the time where you will want to hone your skills for the real world (i.e. people skills, organization, etc.), and a job can be the perfect place to do so. For example, if I wanted to improve my ability to persuade others, I would consider a taking on a part time job as a salesman….you get the picture.

Part Time Job Opportunities for College Students

2009-11-27T01:31:00.000-08:00

For students searching for more money for college, a part time job is an excellent option; while it won’t necessarily cover a student’s entire tuition, it can easily cover expenses such as books, supplies, and entertainment.

One of the problems I see for college students in searching for part time jobs, however, is that they often want flexibility in their hours that not all college jobs necessarily offer. Sure, working 20 hours a week may be simple for a college student with an easy major. However, college students such as engineering majors don’t have it so easy, and are often busy with a heavy course load and extracurricular activities to the point where it seems impossible to fit a job into their schedule.

For those of you that feel this way, there are part-time job alternatives where you can still earn a nice paycheck.

One possibility for a part time college job that earns a considerable amount of money is tutoring. Many parents are willing to pay a pretty penny to someone that will help their child in a subject in which they are struggling. If you have a knack for math, science, foreign language, or English, you should consider helping others who struggle in these areas…for a price. Look in the classifieds/help-wanted section in your local city or college newspaper, and you should find parents who are offering to pay a nice amount of money to college students to tutor their child in a particular subject. The pay rates I have seen for such positions are as high as $20 to $30 per hour!

Scholarships for College Students

2009-06-13T15:33:00.001-07:00

If you are a college student searching for scholarships for affording college, you have probably realized that they are much harder and competitive to win than scholarships for high school students are. As a college student looking for more advice on affording college, you should follow these tips in order to ensure that you can win more scholarships in college.

First of all, make sure that your GPA is high. If it is not, then work hard every quarter/semester to obtain a 4.0 (or as close to a 4.0 as you can get) in order to boost your GPA. If you are looking to win scholarships during college, having above a 3.5 GPA would be your best bet, as scholarship programs still highly consider a student’s GPA in determining who will win the scholarships.

Secondly make sure that you are involved in clubs relevant to the types of scholarships that you will be applying for. For example, if you will be applying for engineering scholarships, make sure you are actively involved in at least one engineering club on campus. If the scholarship is more community service based, make sure that you are an active participant in helping out your local community while in college. You get my point. Also remember not just to join a club in hopes of getting a scholarship, but only join clubs that you have a strong interest in and desire to be a part of.

College students looking for scholarships should also work on their writing skills, as the essay in a scholarship application will often make or break you in winning the scholarship.

Lastly, figure out who your letters of recommendation will be from, as many college scholarship applications out their request letters of recommendation from faculty, or people whom you have worked with in the past.

By following these tips, college students will greatly increase their chances of winning scholarships to help them in affording college.

Affording College in the summer

2009-06-13T15:32:00.000-07:00

With summer starting up, I thought I would share some advice on affording college during the summer. Summer is a time where college students can make or break their savings for college, and can either make affording college much easier or much harder. Follow these tips to ensure that you save as much money as possible for college during the summer.

First of all, students should take advantage of living at home with their parents while they still can. I have known many students that during their college summers, have decided to live in an apartment instead of at home. Unless you are doing an internship somewhere far from home (where you essentially need to pay for a place to live), you should take advantage of living for free at home while you still can. By doing so, over the summer you will likely save thousands of dollars towards affording college.

During the summer, college students should also avoid taking expensive vacations (if you will be the one paying for it). This can make affording college much harder, as a nice vacation can cost upwards of a thousand dollars. Instead, choose a cheaper alternative, like going on a road trip with some friends. It will probably be just as, if not more fun for you and you will save a ton of money for affording college.

If you are looking to finish college faster, the summer is a great way to do so and reduce the costs of college. By taking GE classes at a local community college, students will pay much less for classes, will get GE requirements waived at their normal school, and will no longer have to pay an arm and a leg to take them at the school they will return to in the fall.

In order to make affording college easier, getting a part time job during the summer is also a good idea for college students. Don’t feel any pressure to work full time (unless you feel so inclined to do so), but even a part time job could save up an extra thousand dollars or so to put towards college costs.

Lastly, summer is also a great time for college students to research scholarships and perhaps apply to some. As I have mentioned in many previous articles, scholarships are a great way for affording college. However, many college students are so busy during the academic year that they do not have time to seriously research and apply for good scholarships. With a three month long vacation, college students will now have plenty of time to look into scholarships that can help them in affording college.

This will vary by major, but summer is also a great time for college students to develop new skills that will look good on their resume in the future. For example, an engineering student could take the time to learn a drafting program (such as CAD), either on their own, or through a course offered at a local college. Having a skill like this on your resume will help you to land future internships and jobs, which will help you in paying for and affording college.

Winning Scholarships as a Freshman in High School

2009-05-24T23:14:00.001-07:00

If you are looking for scholarships for high school freshmen, your best bet is going to be more along the lines of the creativity contests. Scholarships available to high school freshmen often probably won’t be based on academics or extracurricular involvement, as you have not yet had time to really build up your resume or prove yourself in those areas.

Therefore many scholarships for high school freshmen will most likely be based on some sort of creativity or writing contest. For example, a scholarship for high school freshmen could involve you having to create some sort of video (perhaps about not smoking…something positive), make a creative work of art, or write an essay about a passion that you have.

The key to winning these scholarships is to think creatively and outside of the box. How will your scholarship entry stand out from all other applicants? How can you make it stand out the most? If you figure this out, and enter into the scholarship with an application/entry that stands out and blows the reviewers away, you will have a much better chance of winning that scholarship.

If you are lucky enough to find a scholarship for high school freshmen that is based on academics and/or extracurricular involvement, then the key to winning will be having a perfect academic record so far in high school (and probably in middle school as well), and being able to show that you have been as involved as much as possible during your freshman year, while being able to also balance your grades with those commitments.

In addition you will probably have to write an essay to include with your scholarship application. The key to winning here is to put a LOT of time into writing the scholarship application essay so that it stands out from all others, both in creativity and impact on the reader. It needs to show that you are the most qualified to win the scholarship. By doing the above, you will greatly increase your chances of winning scholarships for college while only a freshman in high school!

Advice for High School Freshmen Looking for Scholarships

2009-05-24T01:14:00.000-07:00

In my last couple of articles, I have covered the fact that there are not many available scholarships for high school freshmen. After applying for the scholarships you find available as a high school freshmen, don’t be let down if the winnings you have amount to little or nothing at all.

During this time, you should not be so focused on finding available scholarships for high school freshmen, but more on researching which college you want to attend and what scholarships you should apply for in the future (as well as what qualifications you will need).

During your freshman year, it is probably too early to really start researching colleges yet, but it is a good time to begin figuring out which scholarships to apply to later on, and, if you want, see if there are any scholarships for high school freshmen that you should apply to.

In figuring out what scholarships you should apply to later on during high school, you should first research scholarships available based on your current interests and what you think your future interests may be. Once you have assembled a list of scholarships that you could potentially apply for in the future, you then need to figure out what the requirements are for these scholarships. During your next three years of high school, you goal will be to fulfill these qualifications, whether it means maintaining a certain GPA, being involved in certain extracurricular activities, or just keeping an interest in a certain subject. By doing so, once you are a junior or senior in high school you will have plenty of scholarships to apply for that you will have a good chance of winning!

Scholarships for High School Freshmen: where to find

2009-05-24T01:02:00.000-07:00

Scholarships for High School Freshmen are definitely not easy to find. Therefore, as a freshman you will need to be willing to put a lot of time and research into finding scholarships that are available for you. Here is some advice on how to find the best available scholarships for high school freshmen.

Most local scholarships are generally available to high school seniors only, but it won’t hurt as a freshman to see if any are available to you. See what local businesses and organizations offer scholarships, and if any offer scholarships for high school freshmen. Even if you have bad luck, once you are a senior in high school, you will not need to do the research then, but will already know where to apply for local scholarships.

Most scholarships for high school freshmen can generally be found online, as they are often offered on a national or state level. So go to one of the big scholarship directories online, and narrow the criteria to scholarships for high school freshmen only. You will be eligible for all of the scholarships that result from this search, so then you can begin figuring out which ones you would like to apply for. These scholarships will generally not be based on major (since most high school freshmen generally do not know what they for sure want to do yet), but can be based on anything from gender, to race, to extracurricular interests (anything from clubs that are involved in to hobbies that you may have). Some scholarships are based on creativity, where applicants may have to make some sort of video or create a work of art. You should also expect to have to write essays for most of these scholarships.

Scholarships for High School Freshmen Continued

2009-05-24T00:56:00.000-07:00

Hey, I want to follow up my last post with some more advice on scholarships for high school freshmen. Next, if you are a high school freshman looking for scholarships, you also need to remember that it will be a lot more competitive for you in winning a scholarship.

You have not proven yourself academically much, nor have you the writing experience that high school seniors will have in applying for these scholarships. So to win scholarships as a high school freshman, you must make sure that your academic record so far is spotless, and that you write very strong, convincing essays, that will convince the reader that you are the most deserving of winning the scholarship.

In application essays for scholarships for high school freshmen, you need to have a strong creative writing style that will make your application and essay stand out from all others. When writing your essay for the scholarship, you should include what your accomplishments are so far as a freshman in high school, and what your future goals are for the rest of high school and in college. Make sure your essay matches what the application for this scholarship is looking for in high school freshmen, otherwise you will have a small chance of winning.

If the scholarship is available only to high school freshmen, then you will have a greater chance of winning; you will only be competing against other freshmen for the scholarship, so just make sure that you still write a strong essay, stay involved, and keep up the good grades. I will follow up this article with more scholarships for high school freshman that are currently available.

Advice on Scholarships for High School Freshmen

2009-05-24T00:13:00.000-07:00

Alright, before I continue with my list of scholarships for high school freshmen, I want to stop and take a minute to say a few things to freshmen looking for scholarships already.

First of all, congratulations. If you are a freshmen in a high school and ALREADY looking for scholarships for college, you are far ahead of the game. I have no doubt that you will attend an excellent school and be very successful in your education. But let me first cover a few things on searching for scholarships as a high school freshman.

Don’t be surprised that there are less scholarships for high school freshmen available. Most scholarships out there are aimed towards high school seniors (and sometimes juniors), and there just aren’t as many that high school freshman can win. And those available are usually more competitive. So if you are a high school freshman, don’t be let down if you don’t find that many scholarships, or if you don’t end up winning many that you applied to.

Scholarships for high school freshmen are sometimes also available to students in all other grades of high school, making those ones extremely competitive. So if you apply to one of these, remember that you are dealing with students a few years older than you, and understand that there will be fierce competition for that scholarship. If at all possible, high school freshmen looking for scholarships should try to focus on scholarships that are ONLY available to high school freshmen!

Lastly, relax and have fun. You have three more years to find and apply to scholarships before college comes, so if you don’t find that many scholarships for high school freshmen, don’t sweat it! You will find plenty more (and many more that you have a much better chance of winning) in the years to come.

Scholarships for High School Freshmen

2009-05-23T23:47:00.000-07:00

In this next series of articles on scholarships, I will be covering scholarships for high school freshmen that are currently available. If you are currently a high school freshman looking for scholarships, I would definitely advise to check out any and all of these problems. Without further delay, let’s begin this new list of scholarships for high school freshmen.

- McKelvey Entrepreneurial Scholarship: This is a scholarship for high school freshman that have the spirit of an entrepreneur and most likely hope to start their own business or something new someday (perhaps the next Myspace…). The foundation offers 100 scholarships that are worth $10,000 each!

- National Vocabulary Competition: This is one of the scholarships for high school freshmen that have a strong vocabulary; high school students aged 13 to 19 are eligible and must first take the national qualifying exam, after which the top 50 go to the championships. The winner will receive a total of $40,000!

- National High School Poetry Contest: This scholarship for high school freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors goes to students who submit the best works of poetry. They offer several $1,500 awards to the winners.

- National Peace Essay Contest: This scholarship is available to high school students who submit the best essay.

- NetAid Global Action Scholarship. This is one of many scholarships for high school freshman (through seniors) that care about the world and have a passion to help the less fortunate people in the world. They offer 4 $5,000 awards to the winners.

More easy to win scholarships

2009-05-23T23:32:00.000-07:00

Alright, here’s another set of 5 scholarships that most students should have a good chance of winning.

31. American Association of Candy Technologists: This group awards $10,000 to high school students who have an interest in candy-making technology. If you have a passion for sweets, you can probably win this scholarship!

32. Executive Women International Scholarship Program: This scholarship program offers up to $10,000 in scholarships to high school juniors and up to $2,500 to adults that wish to continue their education.

33.Elks National Foundation Most Valuable Student Award: This scholarship program awards 500 four year scholarships to high school students that can be anywhere from $1,000 to $15,000 per year. This might not be one of the easiest scholarships to get, but it is definitely a lot of money if you can win it!

34. Educational Communications Scholarship: This scholarship foundation has given out over 4 MILLION DOLLARS in scholarship money to students since it was founded in 1968!

35. The Klingon Language Institute: This group offers a $500 scholarship award to a student to encourage studies in different fields of language.

Thanks for staying tuned in on the easiest scholarships to get so far. I will be continuing this list soon with more scholarships that high school students and college students should keep a sharp eye out for.

Easiest Scholarships to Get

2009-05-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

Here are some more of the easiest scholarships to get. The scholarships on this list are related to major, gender, creativity, and accomplishments.

26. Girls Going Places Scholarship: This is a scholarship for students younger than 18; the Guardian Life Insurance Company awards girls from the age of 12 to 18 with this scholarship.

27. AXA Achievement Scholarship Program: I HIGHLY RECOMMEND CHECKING OUT THIS SCHOLARSHIP, as it is one that any student in good standing has a chance of winning (I know of a few people in my area that have all won it, and they are smart, but are not “brilliant” Harvard material by any means). This program offers over $1.3 million dollars in scholarships to students every year! And it is one of the less competitive ones in my opinion, which put in on the list of the easiest scholarships to get!

28. Parapsychology Foundation Scholarship: This program awards scholarships to students that have a strong interest in the subject of parapsychology (the scientific study of paranormal activity). As this scholarship is very major focused, it will not be too competitive. Therefore, if you have an interest in parapsychology, definitely apply to this scholarship!

29. National Make It Yourself with Wool Competition: This competition offers scholarships to those who make the best garments out of wool. So if you are into fashion, this should definitely be an easy to win scholarship for you!

30. SPAACSE (Society of Performers, Artists, Athletes, and Celebrities for Space Exploration, Inc.): This group offers 3 $1,000 scholarships to students younger than 18 (graduating high school seniors) who can write the best essay about space travel. So if you are an aspiring rocket scientist, this scholarship may just be for you!

More good scholarships to apply to

2009-05-23T23:14:00.000-07:00

And the list now continues with the easiest scholarships to get for college students! Up today we have a few scholarships that just about any student can apply for if they know how to write a creative application essay. If you have a creative side as a student, these should be pretty easy to win scholarships!

21. The Vegetarian Resource Group: This scholarship is available for students that promote and encourage vegetarianism in their school and community; $10,000 is awarded every year, so if you are a vegetarian, definitely check out this scholarship.

22. Stuck at the Prom Scholarship: The couple that makes the best duck tape outfit for their prom will win a $6,000 scholarship for college! (so yes, this is a scholarship for students younger than 18…if you are a senior in high school I think you will qualify) If you have a creative side, definitely check out this one!

23. Tall.org: Tall Clubs International awards scholarships of up to $1,000 for tall men and women that are younger than 21. This definitely seems like one of the easiest scholarships to get out there; all you have to do is be tall to be eligible! And probably write some sort of essay on how being tall has impacted your lifestyle or something…

24. Prudential Spirit of Community Awards: This scholarship is available for high school students that are involved in community and volunteer service.

25. The Patrick Kerr Skateboard Scholarship: This scholarship program offers $5,000 for the top winner and 3 runner up $1,000 scholarships for high school seniors that maintain a 2.5 GPA and have an interest in skateboarding.

More easy to get scholarships

2009-05-23T23:13:00.000-07:00

Here are five more of the easiest scholarships to get for college students, or high school students that plan on entering college sometime soon. Also note that for some of these easy to get scholarships that I am mentioning, some of them are scholarships for students younger than 18. Alright, well here are the next 5 scholarships that students have a good chance of winning.

16. Patricia M. McNamara Memorial Scholarship: Patricia was a student that worked very hard as a teenager in order to pay for her Catholic high school education. Now her memorial gives out a $2,500 scholarship to students every year.

17. Maryknoll Student Essay Contest: Maryknoll is a catholic foreign mission society in America, and awards almost $3,000 yearly in scholarships to students that see themselves as missionaries in the future. In order to win the scholarship, applicants must write an essay dealing with spreading the word of their religion. This should be one of the easiest scholarships to get for students that are very involved in their church.

18. MoneyMatters101.com Scholarships: College Students with at least a 2.7 GPA are eligible to receive this scholarship, making it an easy one to get. The scholarship winner is the student that writes the best essay that answers the question of whether credit cards are too easy to obtain and if they contribute to the rising debt of young college students. $300 will be awarded to the winning student.

19. School Band and Orchestra Magazine Scholarship: They give out over $20,000 in scholarship money to students who have an interest in music. Examples of scholarship application form essay topics include how music has made one a better student.

20. OP Loftbed Scholarship: The OP Loftbed Scholarship gives out $500 per year in scholarship money to the student that writes the best essay on their application. After looking over the details on their websites, this definitely looks like one of the easiest scholarships to get.

More scholarships to apply to

2009-05-22T17:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a continued list of the easiest scholarships to get out there. As I have advised before, when applying for these scholarships, make sure that you fill out the application completely and correctly. And even though these are some of the easiest scholarships to get, they are nevertheless competitive, which means you need to put as much effort as possible into the application essays, in order to ensure that you have a good shot at winning this money for college. Show them that you are the student that deserves more money for college the most. Without further delay, here are the next have easiest scholarships to get, in no specific order.

11. Calgon Take Me Away to College Contest- Calgon, a producer of bath and body products, gives away nearly $8,000 in scholarships to females who can win by answering two short essay style questions. If you are a creative writer, this scholarship should be quite easy for female college students to win!

12. Americanism Essay Contest – The Fleet Reserve Assocation (organization made up of current and former members of the Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and Navy) sponsors this scholarship program. It is an essay contest and open to all students younger than 18 (must be in grades 7 to 12); the grand prize for this scholarship contest is $15,000!

13. College Prowler Essay Competition – College Prowler gives out $1,000 in scholarships and free guidebooks to students EVERY month! The scholarship contest involves writing an essay, and the only requirement is that you are currently a high school or college student. The applicant gets to choose the essay topic, which means this is definitely one of the easiest scholarships to get (if you are a creative writer, that is).

14. Holocaust Remembrance Project Essay Contest: This scholarship program is meant for students interested in encouraging and promoting the continued study of the Holocaust. The Holland and Knight Charitable Foundation sponsors this scholarship program. Winners earn $10,000 in scholarship money for college, and get to visit the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. Definitely check this scholarship out if you have an interest in studying the Holocaust.

15. Environmental Essay Contest – aBetterEarth.org sponsors this scholarship program, in which the grand prize winner receives $2,000. Essay topics often deal with green/energy issues; for example, a recent essay topic for this scholarship posed the question of whether or not the government should be responsible for the adoption of bio-fuels.
Stay tuned for the next post on more of the easiest scholarships to get!

More easy to get scholarships

2009-05-22T17:14:00.001-07:00

In my last post, I began listing some of the easiest scholarships to get, which I will continue here. This article contains another set of 5 easy to get scholarships out there that you most likely have a chance at winning.

6. National Peace Essay Contest; The United States Institute of Peace offers scholarships and a week’s stay in Washington to students who write the best essays on the United States’ role in preserving peace in the international community. High school students that are good writers have a great shot at winning this scholarship and finding more money for college!

7. AFSA National Scholarship Essay Contest; this is one of the funniest and easiest scholarships to get that I have seen yet. AFSA (Automatic Fire Sprinklers Association) offers $3,000 and $5,000 scholarships to those who can showcase the positive effects of having automatic fire sprinklers.

8. David Letterman Telecommunications Scholarship: Dave Letterman started this scholarship at Ball State University for telecommunication students who have the creativity potential to succeed. To win the scholarship, you have to submit a type of media for your project, and the most creative ones win!

9. Akademos/TextbookX.com Scholarship Contest. This online textbook store offers a $2,500 scholarship to students every spring and fall. Currently, the prize will be given to whichever college student writes the best essay on the topic “What is the future of the printed book”, making this another one of the easiest scholarships to get.

10. Oakseed Ministries International Essay Contest – This essay contest offers $1,000 for the best essay in three different age categories. The 2007 scholarship essay topic dealt with child labor issues that currently exist around the world.

Scholarships you have a great chance at winning!

2009-05-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

Easiest Scholarships to Get

In my last few posts I have covered how to FIND the easiest scholarships to get, but I know what you’re thinking. Why do all the research on the best scholarships available to college students when I could just TELL you what they are? Well, today I’m feeling nice, so I’ll throw you a couple bones. In the next few articles I will give you a list of some of the easiest scholarships to get out there. As I have said before, they will not just GIVE you the scholarship or anything, but you will have a greater chance at winning these scholarships than you will for many others. Now let’s take a look at some of these scholarship programs that most students in at least decent standing have a shot at winning.

Horatio Alger Assocation Scholarship; this is one of the easiest scholarships to get for a reason. The only application requirements for this scholarship are a strong desire to attend college and a minimum 2.0 GPA. I’m guessing that you will have that GPA if you have grown up with the desire to attend college. This scholarship is awarded by state level, and can change depending on your location.

Do Something Brick Awards; Applicants to this scholarship program have a chance to win $25,000. Yes, you heard me correctly. The only requirement is that you are involved in activities that have a positive impact on your community.

Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year: This scholarship is available to students in high school that have done excellent in athletics, academics, leadership, and community service. Many people win this scholarship, so definitely check out this scholarship if you meet the qualifications above!

Tylenol Scholarship; another one of the easiest scholarships to get; in 2006, they gave over $250,000 to college students in the United States

Van Valkenburg Memorial Scholarship: If you have this last name or something similar to it, then you are eligible for this $1,000 scholarship!

Discover Card Tribute Award; Discover gives out 10 $25,000 scholarships and up to 300 $2,500 scholarships every year. To be eligible, you need a minimum 2.75 GPA, demonstration of leadership within your community, and to have “faced a significant roadblock or challenge”.

Frederick and Mary F. Beckley Scholarship: Left handed? Then it’s your lucky day! This scholarship is available for students that are left-handed and go to Juniata College in Huntington, PA. They offer up to $1,000 to two left-handed students every year!

AngelSoft Angels in Action; This program gives scholarships to teenagers younger than 18 who have demonstrated community service. Not only do winners receive a cash prize, but also a year’s supply of AngelSoft Toilet paper! Bet you didn’t see that one coming.

I will follow this article up with more of the easiest scholarships to get out there, so stay tuned!

Finding the Easiest Scholarships to Get

2009-05-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

In my last article I covered what are the easiest scholarships to get, but the problem might still remain on how to find these precious scholarships. The easiest scholarships to get will be found by taking the following steps.

You first step in finding and winning easy local scholarships will be to do a search online. Avoid massive scholarship directories, as these often don’t include obscure local scholarships, nor the easiest scholarships to get. In order to find less-competitive local scholarships, first do research on local non-profit and community service organizations and see which one’s offer scholarships for local high school and college students. You should definitely apply to these scholarships, as they will not be very competitive.

Your next step will be to contact local businesses directly (by phone or in person) and ask if they offer scholarships to college students. Many local scholarships through businesses or non-profit groups are often so obscure that they are not even publicized online, so you will want to call these people directly to see if they have any scholarships available.

Another great resource for finding these scholarships is your local library and/or civic center. They should have some sort of scholarship directory available that lists all available local scholarships for college. From experience, I have found that 99% of the easiest scholarships to get are available in your local community, so that is the place to start looking for scholarships that you will have a good shot at winning.

Step 6. Easy scholarships to get

2009-05-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

Easiest scholarships to get.

In finding money for college, students ultimately have one goal; to get money for college. You do not care where your money comes from, or what you have to do to get it, as long as there is someone out there covering the tab for your college costs. Therefore, why waste your time applying for scholarships that are cutthroat in competition when you could get easy scholarships. This post will cover the easiest scholarships to get, as why waste your time applying for scholarships that you might not win in the end.

The easiest scholarships to get are those that are local or specialized. So when applying for scholarship try to avoid applying for national scholarships, or one’s offered to a broad spectrum of students. The easiest scholarships to get will be one’s that are available only to your major, one’s available only to your race, or scholarships based on activities, beliefs, etc. that you are a part of.

Often, the easiest scholarships to get can be those that are through a company that you work for, a local community service organization that you have been a part of, and in general less-prestigious scholarships that not as many people know of. These scholarships will be easier to get because less people will be applying, giving you a greater chance of winning.

If you are a high school or college student looking to get easy scholarships, check out the following programs. While they are by no means a hand-out (you will have to put hard work into the application and have strong qualifications as listed on their websites), I have known more “typical” students (in other words, not a student with a 4.89 GPA, planning to go to Harvard, and already working on a cure for a disease) to win the following scholarships:

-Ronald McDonald Scholarships

-Burger King Scholarships

-Gates Millenium Scholarship

-Most scholarships offered through local organizations (see which are in your area!)

Step 5. How to find scholarships

2009-05-22T15:57:00.000-07:00

To get scholarships, knowing where to find the best one’s is extremely important for students looking to find money for college. While finding and getting scholarships might sound simple at first, it can quickly become difficult. Many scholarships out there are not well-advertised (and the ones that are tend to be extremely competitive to win), so students should research beforehand which scholarships they should apply for and what are the easiest scholarships to get.

If you can get scholarships for college, you will probably be able to graduate without having much student debt. You first step to get scholarships for college is to see what your company offers if you are employed; many companies offer financial aid for college students, and it can often be easier to get if you work for them. If you are in high school, some of the easiest scholarships to get can be through “high school level” companies, such as fast food restaurants and clothing stores. For example, if you work/worked for McDonalds or Burger King, you can get easy scholarships through either of them.

Another type of scholarship available to college students that is less competitive is the ROTC scholarship. If you get this scholarship, you will have a small military commitment after college, but these scholarships can be extremely valuable in that they sometimes cover up to the entire cost of attending college.

After this, your next step to get scholarships will be to research the scholarships offered in your local community. There are several community and non-profit organizations that offer scholarships to college students, and they are often less competitive and easier to win. However, these are often the hardest scholarships to find, so you will need to do a bit of research first.
Students can also often get scholarships that are offered specifically for their major in college.

In finding scholarships, there are several resources that high school and college students can utilize. Some useful sources of information include the Internet, the library, and other organizations/government agencies.

Just remember that the key to finding ideal scholarships for college is to be specific in the type of scholarships that you are looking for.

Step 4. Who is eligible to get Scholarships?

2009-05-22T15:51:00.000-07:00

Step 4. Who is eligible to get Scholarships?

Although the eligibility for each scholarship available will often vary, there is often a general set of requirements that students are expected to meet in order to have a chance to get a scholarship. Many scholarship programs require students to have a certain GPA, which can be anywhere between a 2.5 and 3.5…or higher.

In order to get scholarships, applicants also often have to be U.S. citizens, and be in high school when awarded the scholarship (many college students can still get scholarships also, though).

To be eligible for local scholarships, students often have to have graduated from a high school in the area. There are also scholarships that have many other requirements, which can include gender, race, major, extracurricular activities, and more.

During college, to get scholarships you are often required to be a full time student, in order that you will focus on your studies and maintain a high GPA. You should also keep a clean record and avoid being convicted of felonies or any other forms of criminal behavior.

As a high school student, your SAT and/or ACT scores are also often taken into account when deciding whether or not you will receive a scholarship.

Step. 2. Filling out Scholarship Application Forms

2009-05-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

Filling out Scholarship Application Forms

Your second step in getting scholarships is filling out scholarship application forms. The application forms are a critical part of the scholarship application process that can sometimes determine whether or not you will end up having a chance of getting a scholarship. This step will cover how to go about completing scholarship application forms in order to give yourself the best chance of winning.

First of all, it is important that you NEVER EVER put false information on your scholarship application form. First of all, this is lying. Second of all, it is illegal. If you get the scholarship and it is later discovered that you provided false information on your scholarship application, you could get in a lot of trouble.

During the time you are applying to scholarships to get money for college, you should also consider whether each scholarship is worth your time or not. Some scholarship application forms require you to complete a lot of requirements during the application process, which might not be worth it if the scholarship is not worth a lot of money and/or is very competitive.

Prestigious scholarships will require you to go through several steps in order to get the scholarship (well, to have a chance of getting it), while less-known scholarships are often easier to apply for; if they are both for the same amount of money, focus on getting the scholarship that is less prestigious and time-consuming.

Once you have figured out what scholarships you want to apply for and have began filling out the scholarship application forms, you next step to get scholarships is to write the application essays. We will cover that in step 3.

Step 1 to Winning Scholarships

2009-05-22T15:38:00.000-07:00

How to get scholarships step 1:

When completing scholarship application forms, there are several essential tips that you must follow if you hope to get scholarships. People often claim that scholarships are hard to win; while there is some truth to this, if you follow the right tips and procedures you will be much more likely to get scholarships for college. The tips in this article are meant for scholarships that provide money for college students that are undergraduates.

The first step that you must follow in order to ensure that you get scholarships is knowing where to look for the best ones.

There are thousands of scholarships available on the web, but you will probably not have time to apply for even one hundred of them; therefore, you must perform a scholarship search that is well defined in order to guarantee yourself to get scholarships for college. Go to an online scholarship database and run a search that has well-defined criteria (fill in as much of the information as possible), and you will find the scholarships that you have the best chance at winning.

During the process of choosing scholarships, there are two things that you should consider as a college student. First, consider who the scholarship is looking to select. If you aren’t the type of person that the scholarship is probably looking for (i.e. they are looking for a political science major, but you are majoring in engineering), then you shouldn’t apply as you most likely will not get the scholarship. In order to get more money for college, you need to make sure that you are only applying for scholarships where you are the most ideal person to receive it. This is the first step that you must follow if you want to get scholarships for college.

Scholarship Essay Examples

2009-05-14T11:46:00.000-07:00

Scholarship Essay Examples:

As I have emphasized in many posts on Money for College Students, applying for scholarships is one of the key factors in finding sufficient money to finance your college education. However, getting these scholarships obviously isn’t a walk in the park for most and involves a substantial amount of time and effort in completing the applications on your part. Aside from your outstanding academic and extracurricular record, your application essay is the key to winning most scholarships. So I am going to dedicate a few articles to scholarship essay examples and how to write a scholarship essay in order that you will guarantee yourself to win that important scholarship. In this article I will give a basic outline of what you should include in a scholarship essay that will blow the reader away, and I will shortly be following it up with scholarship essay examples that have won people nice scholarships in the past.

So here is an example of an outline for an effective scholarship essay. The following are topics that should highly consider including in your scholarship essay.

1- You should start out any scholarship essay with a catchy first paragraph. In this paragraph you should begin to explain who you are, and what your future plans and goals are.

2- Somewhere in the scholarship essay you should explain why this scholarship is important to you and how will help you to achieve your future academic, career, community service, etc. goals.

3- In addition to that, you need to describe why you are the most qualified for this scholarship (without specifically saying “I am qualified the most” or anything to that effect…sounds to cocky)

4- When writing in your scholarship essay why you are the most qualified for the scholarship, this is the time where you get to tie in extracurricular/academic activities/accomplishments that have proven your leadership and extraordinary abilities as a student that will ascertain to the reader that you will use this scholarship to accomplish great things.

5- Wrap up your scholarship with a summary of the information above and some sort of a creative ending.

As you will see in the scholarship essay examples that I post on this website, another key to writing an effective, winning scholarship essay is creativity and originality. Figure out how to write your scholarship essay so that it stands out from most others, even if your competition consists of bright 4.0+ students like yourself. This is one of the factors that really helps determine whether you will win a scholarship or not.

Sometime by this weekend I will post some sample scholarship essays that would be highly competitive in winning a scholarship. See you again then!

Gates Millenium Scholarship

2009-05-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

If you have not heard of it, the Gates Millenium Scholarship is a program funded by one billion dollars from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation that provides low-income, Hispanic American, African-American, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and Asian Pacific Islander American students with a considerable amount of money to help pay for college.

If you win this scholarship, any un-met financial need will be covered by the program.

To be eligible for the Gates Scholarship, you must:
-Be African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic American, or Asian Pacific Islander American.
-Be a citizen, national, or legal permanent resident of U.S.
-Have at least 3.3 GPA on 4.0 scale in high school or earned a GED
-Enrolling for the first time in a U.S. college or university as a full time student.
-Demonstrate leadership through extracurricular activities.
-Meet criteria to be eligible for Federal Pell Grant
-Complete and submit Nominee personal information form, nominator form, and recommender form by the posted deadline

College Costs to Consider

2009-05-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

When looking at the costs of your potential college, do not just factor in what they say room and board and tuition will be, as in the end, the costs of college will amount to more than this. Students that expect to be financiall needy (and are looking for forms of assistance such as scholarships, student loans, student loan consolidation, etc.) need to realize that the costs go beyond this. Costs such as personal expenses are not covered by financial aid packages.

If you plan to go to college near home, the projected costs of college may be accurate; however, it is much less likely to be if you are going to college upwards of a couple hundred miles away. Then there will be other costs (such as travel) that your financial aid package will not cover and you will be responsible for.

If you plan on going to college that for away, not only do you now have to consider the costs of tuition, room/board, and books, but also the costs of travel. Costs such as that for books can often be quite steep, and scholarships usually go to pay for college tuition, not books.

If you plan to drive by car, over each year you will spend hundreds of dollars on gas, a couple thousand on insurance, and at least a few hundred for a parking permit on campus.

If you plan to get to your college by plane, you will easily spend $500 to $1000 per year on plane tickets back and forth from your school to home. Plus you will have to ship some of your stuff (such as bedding and supplies) from home, which will also nickel and dime up over the years.

So when estimating the costs of attending your college, be sure to factor in an extra few thousand dollars for travel expenses and miscallaneous expenses that will undoubtedly occur every so often. When it comes to finding money for college students, realize that you will need more money to cover your expenses beyond what the scholarships and student loans cover.

Picking a major in consideration of college Costs

2009-05-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

In addition to planning out beforehand how you are going to find sufficient money to pay for college, you should also consider what you are going to do after college in order to pay back loans, etc. if you have any.

In doing this one thing you should consider is your major in college. While you should pursue what you love, you should also remember that it isn't necessarily wise to pursue a major that pays poorly after graduation (art or history, for example) if you are paying tens of thousands of dollars every year in order to attend your school.

If you expect to have student debt after college, you should look into what the average salary is of a person for various majors. For this reason, pursuing a major such as engineering is wise, as your salary after graduation will easily be between $50,000 and $100,000 per year...or even more if you are very lucky!

Business majors will typically start out at around $50,000 per year with a Bachelor's degree. However, if you attended a reputable school and have a bit of luck (as well as some connections), landing a job at a hedge fund could see you starting out at $100,000 to $200,000 per year...plus bonuses!

So...when considering your major in college, keep in mind how valuable it will be in helping you pay off student debt after graduation.

More creative ways to find money to pay for college

2009-05-13T17:29:00.000-07:00

Here is another way that you might be able to save up some extra money to help pay for college:

Try investing. After you have saved up some money from a job (or if your parents are nice enough to give some to you) try investing some of your money in stocks to make a profit. THIS IS A RISKIER OPTION, so make sure that you educate yourself on the stock market and how to invest wisely before you actually attempt to do so! Buy a book or two, and perhaps talk with a stock broker if you have the chance. If you decide that you would like to try to invest in the stock market to save extra money for college, first set up an online broker account (through a company such as Scottrade) and decide what to invest in. While sometimes you might lose money, you can also make great profits as well. For example, I have watched Intel as a stock over the years, and lately it has been rather low with the current economic situation and all. Having worked at Intel in the past and doing some analysis on the company's stock, I had good enough faith to invest in 1000 shares. I invested at about $13 per share. Recently the price spiked up to abou $1650 per share, at which point I sold my shares making a $3500 profit in only a matter of weeks. With this kind of mentality and a certain love for risk taking, if you invest in stocks you might be able to save up even extra money for college! However, as I said, in consideration of the current economic situation and all, make sure you think wisely in deciding whether you want to do this or not.

It's been awhile

2009-05-13T17:19:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone! It's been awhile since I have had the time to make a new post on money for college students.

For many of you, financial aid and finding a way for college is surely becoming more of a grave situation, considering what the economy has done to many people's bank accounts and investments...not to mention what it has done to the financial aid programs that schools offer.

The rising costs of college tuition in California are ridiculous, for example. This year, all UC's have decided to raise their tuition fees by about 10% ( and who knows how much after that), which means that all college students are going to have to front even more money.

So at this time I thought I would give some more advice on how you can find extra money to help cover college tuition.

First of all, as I always say, FILL OUT THE FAFSA! See my past posts for why filling out the FAFSA is essential to receiving financial aid.

I would also like to share some advice on how you can better your chances of getting scholarships if you are already in college.

Keeping your grades up is a given. While most scholarships don't just consider your grades in college in deciding whether you will receive it, it still says a considerable amount about your abilities and work ethic as a student. In my opinion, having anywhere between a 3.5 and 4.0 GPA during college should be enough on the academic side to qualify you for a scholarship.

But additionally, you are going to need to be involved in extracurricular activities in order to have a good chance of winning the scholarship. Whether it is by being involved in student government, clubs (anything from major related clubs to ones that are more just for fun), community service, or a fraternity/sorority, you need to become involved in activities that demonstrate your leadership and potential/interest to make contributions to your school and society. Being involved will show this to the scholarship committee and will also give you many great things to write about in your application essays!

Still, winning scholarships in college is quite challenging, but by doing this, you will greatly increase you chances of winning one!

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2009-05-13T17:08:00.000-07:00

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New Tip

2009-03-22T01:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some more tips on how college students can find more money to pay for college.

In order to find extra money to pay tuition, one thing that a college student should do is take advantage of e-bay to sell anything at home that they do not use anymore! Whether it is a video game system, a computer, old toys/collectibles, college students should sell these in order to gain a few hundred (or perhaps a few thousand) extra dollars that they can use towards buying books and paying for college tuition.

Students can also get extra money for college by selling their textbooks after they have used them for their classes. Of course, students should keep ones that are important for their majors, but if they aren't relevant, then students should sell them in order to gain extra money for college. Better yet, buy your books used at the beginning and save money for college from the start.

Lastly college students can gain some extra money by trying to make money online, if they do not already have a part time job. This guide on how tomake money at home online explains in detail how one can go about making money online. While it is usually not a stable source of income at the beginning, a college student could use this to make some extra money to help them afford their education.

Lastly, sorry I haven't been making many posts lately, I have been quite busy. But soon I will try to get back on this and continue my posts on how students can save money for college.

Another tip for raising money for college: Become an RA

2009-03-02T21:04:00.001-08:00

The following article covers another effective way of raising money for college. By participating in the following opportunity, students can raise enough money to pay for half of their college education or even more.

All college students should consider becoming an RA in their dorm, as doing so is a great way of saving money for college; if a student becomes an RA, the university will usually pay for all of their room in board expenses (housing, food, etc.), which at many schools amounts to over ten thousand dollars!

By becoming an RA, a college student may have a bit less free time; for example, you will have to run weekly floor meetings, and there will be some nights where you will be “on duty” in case anything goes wrong on your floor. So if you are the kind that likes to be out partying every night, this position might not be for you. As an RA, a student will also have to enforce all campus housing policies from enforcing noise rules, alcohol policies, etc., even if you are the kind that likes to break them. But in the end, these drawback are probably worth becoming an RA, because as I said, students that become RA’s have all of their housing costs covered by their college. By doing this students will raise a ton of money to help cover their college expenses, so this is definitely an option that you should consider.

More ways for college students to save money on campus

2009-03-02T20:44:00.000-08:00

Money tips for college students:

Here are some creative money tips that college students can use to save some extra money here and there to help pay for college tuition.

One way in which college students can save money is by starting a “laundry service”. Charge other students, say, five dollars to do their laundry. Doing another students laundry only takes 10 or 20 minutes (putting the clothes in the washer, dryer, and taking them back up to the student’s room), and doing this a few times a week will give students a bit of extra money. Use it for spending, or save it up over the year and students will have a few hundred extra dollars to help finance their college costs.

Also, ever notice that the student stores on college campuses charge an arm and a leg that you could get for much cheaper at a grocery store? A box of cereal at a student store may cost $6, compared to the $2 or $3 it may cost at a nearby grocery store. College students can make some extra money by going to the grocery store to buy items in demand by college students on campus (whether it is cereal, milk, personal products, or whatever), and sell them to other college students to make a decent profit for each item. While doing this once might not make a lot of money for a college student, over time the profits will amount up. For example, buy a 24 pack of sodas or Gatorades for $10. Vending machines usually sell these for $1.25 to $1.50. By reselling them to students for a discount at $.75 or $1 each, college students can make $10 per pack of these sold.

Obviously these money tips won’t make thousands of dollars for college students, but they can help to save up some extra money to pay for college. Before doing this, I would advise a college student to at least try and get a part time student job on campus, but if you just want something to do in your free time that will generate a bit of extra money for college, then give the methods above a try.

Don't spend money on unnecessary items

2009-03-02T20:37:00.001-08:00

More money tips for college students:

Another money tip for college students would be to avoid spending money unless you have to. By choosing to avoid spending excess money of clothes, outings, food, etc. college students can save a LOT of money that will help to finance college expenses.

First of all, as a college student you should not worry about buying new clothes during the school year. Your wardrobe is fine as it is, and you can save a couple hundred dollars every year in college by choosing to avoid going to the mall, only perhaps buying some new clothes during the summer when you have a well-paying full time job.

Additionally, college students can also save money to pay for tuition if they avoid going on costly outings like movies very often. An average student will spend at least a couple hundred dollars on outings, and students can cut back on these costs and save money for college by going to events on campus that are usually free.

These money tips will not save college students THAT much money, but they will save students several hundred dollars each year, which WILL help in covering college costs.

Save money on books in college

2009-03-02T16:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some more money tips for college students, and another way in which you can save a few hundred, or even a few thousand, extra dollars to help pay for college.

Another money tip for college students would be to buy ALL of your books USED! Think about how much students in college spend on money for books every quarter. Typical books for classes cost an upwards of one hundred dollars per book, and most students pay over five hundred dollars per quarter/semester on new books in college. If students buy their books used, they can usually get them for half the price or less.

By following this money tip, college students could save $250 or more per quarter/semester, which will mean another $500 to $1,000 per year in money savings for college. Add this up over four years and a college student will save $2,000 to $4,000 dollars by buying their books used.

This money tip won’t save college students a great amount of money, but by following it and all of the other one’s I have mentioned, the savings will start to build up and students will be able to save a considerable amount of money for college.

More money tips for college students

2009-03-01T15:25:00.000-08:00

Money tips for college students

In this article, I will be covering various money tips for college students that you can use to find extra money to pay for college, and cut back on your spending. Once a student has all of their financial aid bases covered, they can go further and use these money tips to adjust their financial habits and save more money for college. Without further ado, let’s begin.

One important money tip for college students would be to watch spending on food. This kind of spending can rack up very quickly, and if a student learns to save their money here, they can save a LOT of money for college by spending less on food. Think about it. Say a student spends an average of $2 a day on snacks, and perhaps $15 per week on going out to eat, instead of just using their housing meal plan to eat in the dining hall. Over the course of one year of college, even this small of an amount of spending on food would amount to about $1,000. Four years and a student will have spend $4,000 on food, and even more if your food spending amounts to a greater amount than the figures above. Students should use their housing meal plan to eat AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, and limit their spending on other food to no more than $10 per week. By doing this, college students can save as much money as $1,000 or more per year.

Another tip for college students to save money would be to NOT bring a car to college! There is a ton of activities available on or near campus, and if there is something a student wants to do further away from campus, there are other modes of transportation available such as the bus, or carpooling with another student. Car expenses are high, and by not bringing a car to college, a college student can save a ton of money to help pay for college tuition. Car insurance alone will cost $1,000 to $2,000 per year, and with gas and maintenance costs, a student can expect to pay several more hundred dollars per year on their car. By not taking a car to college, a student can save a lot of extra money to help pay tuition.

By following these money tips, college students can save up to $3,000 per year by not taking a car to college and watching their spending on food! While this money won’t cover a student’s entire college tuition, it will certainly help students to pay for college.

Writing Scholarship Application Essays

2009-02-18T23:28:00.003-08:00

Writing scholarship essays:

When a student applies for a scholarship, one of the most important factors that will determine whether they win is their scholarship application essay. Of course, you also need an attractive record of extracurricular activities and academic excellence as well, but after this, a student’s number one priority in winning scholarships for college will be writing scholarship essays that knock the reader off their feet.

When writing a scholarship essay to get money for college, student’s should focus on accomplishing the following things:

First and foremost, in writing scholarship application essays, a student needs to convey qualities about themselves that will make the reader think, “WOW, this student is a stud!” (or something along those lines). What you are required to write will vary from topic to topic, but while staying on topic, you should also try to convey qualities about yourself that will make you stand out from other student applicants. Whether it is your stellar academic performance, your dedication to community service and extracurricular activities, or that super internship you participated in last summer, or your passion for one thing or another, write your scholarship application essay that it stays on topic but also conveys some of this information about you that shows what a deserving applicant you are.

Write your scholarship essay to suit the person/company offering the scholarship. For example, a student applying for scholarship money from NASA should focus their essay aeronautics, space, etc. A student writing a scholarship essay for Microsoft should try to incorporate into their interest in computers, software, etc. the scholarship application essay. Overall, write your scholarship essay to suit what the person giving out the scholarship has a passion for.

Lastly, students writing scholarship essays need to write a STRONG, CREATIVE ESSAY in order to make it stand out from others. Write your essay so that it will hook the reader, and make you stand out as a scholarship applicant. Have many other people (teachers, family, friends, etc.) review your essay in the process in order to get feedback on how you can improve it.

Overall, the following three things are the most important things students need to take into account when writing an essay for a scholarship application:

1. Standing out in activities, characteristics, achievements, personality, etc.

2. Writing an essay that interests the reader and caters to whatever their passion is.

3. Superior, creative writing style that stands out from other scholarship application essays.

Guide to Winning Scholarships

2009-02-18T23:04:00.000-08:00

If you are a student planning on attending college, and are looking for scholarship money to cover tuition, here is what you need to do to make sure that you will be eligible more lots of scholarship money and will be one of the most competitive scholarship applicants out there.

First of all, students must PLAN ahead to get college scholarship money. Not only should you start your college grant and scholarship early (there is a lot of financial aid money out there that is handed out to students on a first-come, first-serve basis, meaning you need to apply as soon as you become eligible), but you should also get involved in activities and excel academically as early as possible, so that you have a good record on your scholarship application and essays.

During a student’s sophomore year in high school, it is important to begin gathering and organizing scholarship applications, beginning to acquire letters of recommendation, writing scholarship application essays, getting transcripts, and taking the SAT’s. Most scholarship applications will require that students provide all of these credentials in order to be eligible for the scholarship money. Along with this, students should also begin saving money for college costs as early as possible, since you do not know how well you will succeed with scholarships.

Even if the money you save up from your part time job only pays for books and a bit of tuition, this will still give a student a nice financial advantage when they get to college.

During a student’s junior year, they should attend any financial aid information seminars held at their school or nearby; these will provide more insight and ideas for how students can obtain more scholarship money for college. Just remember that the more information you have increases your chances of getting more financial aid for college.

During your senior year, you need to get started RIGHT AWAY in getting ready to apply for college and scholarships, otherwise you will find yourself very stressed before long. Apply for your FAFSA pin number as soon as you can (as early as November); most schools require you to complete the FAFSA in order to be eligible for much scholarship money that is available. Get started on writing scholarship essays and completing college applications (even though you can’t submit them until around December) as early as the summer before your senior year. This will give you more time to perfect them later on, and also to apply to extra scholarships later on in the year.

In January of your senior year, start completing the FAFSA form and submit it as soon as possible. The FAFSA can be submitted as early as January 1st, and the sooner you can submit the FAFSA, the better. Also check if the scholars you are applying to require any other forms in order to be eligible for college scholarship money. Review your Student Aid Report (SAR) during March to make sure that the info you submitted on your FAFSA student application is accurate, and also update any current tax information.

Students will receive their college acceptance and financial aid reward letters in April, at which time a student can decide which school/option suits them best. During May, sign and return your financial aid reward letter to the school you choose to attend, and decline any from schools you are not attending.

Students following this timeline will probably have a more relaxed senior year, and will have a better chance of getting more college scholarship money.

One of the most important things students need to remember in order to get money for college is the importance of STAYING involved throughout high school! Get involved in clubs…sports…excel academically…get recommendations…and do everything you can as a student so that you will stand out on writing scholarship essays/applications and when you apply to college. Most important of all, don’t stress and have fun while doing it!

Scholarships for College Students in computer related majors

2009-02-17T15:20:00.000-08:00

Still trying to find more money for college? Well if you are a student and a computer buff, here are some scholarships that will be right up your alley, and that will provide eligible students with a nice amount of scholarship money to pay for college.

1. Apple Scholarship: For those of you computer geeks out there, Apple awards scholarships to high school seniors (incoming college students, of course) who have used technology in academics in an innovative way. The winners of the Apple Scholarship will get a new MacBook Pro, an iPod Nano, and $2,000 to pay for college costs! Not going to lie when I say that is a pretty sweet deal for a new college student.

2. Google Scholarship: Google offers the Anita Borg Scholarship to female college students majoring in a technical field; if you are a female entering your senior year of undergraduate study in computer engineering, computer science, or another related technical field, you are eligible for this scholarship, which pays $10,000 to cover your college costs!

3. Red Hat Scholarship: Each year, computer science students at colleges in India, Nepal, Srilanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Bhutan are eligible to receive a Red Hat Scholarship, if they have developed open source software.

4. IEEE Computer Society Scholarship: This scholarship awards $4,000 in scholarship money for college students (only juniors, seniors, and graduate students) who are majoring in a computer related field.

5. Microsoft Scholarship: Every year, Microsoft awards more than $500,000 in scholarship money to undergraduate college students.

So, if you are a technologically gifted college student, you are definitely good hands. Any of these scholarships offer a significant amount of money to help students pay their tuition, so I would definitely advise applying for them if you are eligible.

Some useful scholarships/grants for college students

2009-02-17T15:12:00.000-08:00

More places to find money for college students:

In addition to all of the scholarships, grants, etc. I have already discussed on
Money for College Students, I have found some more great resources where college students can find more money to pay for their tuition. I will discuss several of these financial aid resources in this post:

Academic Competitiveness Grant: The Academic Competitiveness Grant is a source of money available to all first year college students who have graduated high school after January 1st, 2006. This grant will provide up to $750 in money to first year college students, and another $1,300 in their second year. Students that are eligible for the Pell Grant, have maintained a 3.0 GPA, and that have completed a rigorous high school program.

Another source of money for college students is the National SMART (Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent) Grant, which is available to third and fourth year college students that have maintained a 3.0 GPA, are eligible for the Pell Grant, and are majoring in physical/life sciences, computer science, mathematics, technology, engineering, or foreign language. This grant awards up to $4,000 in money to eligible college students per year.

If you are eligible for these scholarships/grants as a college student, definitely apply for them as they will save you a significant amount of money in college costs.

Money Management for College Students

2009-02-17T15:10:00.000-08:00

So, school is back in session, and you as a college student are struggling to find more money to pay your tuition and cover what your financial aid doesn’t. Here are some more ways that college students can find money for college that will help to cover the costs of tuition and housing.

One important thing that college students need to understand in order to find extra money for college, is how to manage their money!

Now that you are on your own as a college student, you probably feel tempted to go and spend all of your hard earned money on things that your parents wouldn’t let you have before. Bad idea. By doing this as a college student, you will find yourself facing the money problems that many young adults face after college. By learning to manage your money wisely as a college student, you can learn to save much of your hard earned money for college costs.

Here are some tips on how college students can save extra money to cover the costs, and manage their money wisely:

1. Join a credit union. Don’t just sign up for some random bank or credit card company, but sign up with a credit union as they are the best to deal with.

2. DON’T get a credit card unless you absolutely need one! Students with credit cards only see their money disappear even faster, as they are more likely to spend when they have this piece of plastic. By not getting a credit card, students will be more likely to save their money and have it left over to pay for college.

3. Save and THEN splurge: Never use a credit card to buy something unless you have the money to pay it off right away. It is best to wait until you can pay cash to buy something so you don’t end up in debt and have not enough money for college costs as a student.

4. Pay your bills on time. This way college students won’t have to worry about forgetting them, or about late fees racking up.

5. Avoid non-academic debt. Avoid using a credit card as much as possible, and focus on developing good money skills with cash as a college student.

These tips probably won’t save thousands of dollars in money for college students, but they are a good start to having a bit of extra money to pay for tuition and room and board.

Other ways college students can find extra money

2009-02-17T15:00:00.000-08:00

More tips on money for college students:

I have been doing some research on the web on how students can find extra financial aid and money to attend college, and have found many more results on how you can find some extra money.

In the upcoming articles, I am going to be posting some smaller ways that students can scrounge up some extra money to pay for college. Note that these ways aren’t going to save you thousands of dollars in money in college costs, but they will save students some extra money to pay for college…and every little bit helps, right?

So, in the next five articles on money for college students, you will see several ways that you might not have thought of to save extra money for college every here and there.

I would definitely advise students to give these money-saving techniques a good try.

More ways to find money for college students

2009-02-16T01:23:00.000-08:00

2 more ways to find money for college students:
Here are for more ways that a student can save tons of money in financial aid in paying their college tuition.
1. Lock in tuition: Are you tired of the college tuition costs shooting up each year, and finding yourself as a student having to pay more and more money for college every year? Then you should see if the option is available to lock in a single tuition rate for all four years of college.

By doing this, the tuition rate and amount of money you pay as a freshman college student will be guaranteed until you graduate, and you will NEVER have to worry about skyrocketing tuition costs and having to pay even more money for college as a student.

2. Also consider working off your debt with community service. Recent college graduates can cancel part or even all of their federal student debt by working in public service jobs (public service jobs are lower-paying professional jobs that serve low income communities; or you can even volunteer). There are many loan forgiveness programs available to students who participate in this that are trying to pay back their money to their college. Programs available in which you can do this include the peace corps, americorps, volunteers in service to America, and many other professions such as teaching, medical, and law. By doing this as a student, you will be able to have a lot of the money that you owe for college forgiven, making this a great way to find money for college students.

4 Ways Students can save money for college

2009-02-16T01:11:00.000-08:00

More ways to find money for college students
If student loans, scholarships, grants, and all of those good things haven’t amounted to enough money for your student to pay for college, here are some more ways to find extra money for college students.
1. Accelerate your degree as a student: by taking accelerated classes, a student essentially crams a semester of material into 6-8 week sessions. Although these classes will be intense for a student that is just trying to find money to pay for college, getting your classes done this fast as a student will allow you to graduate much faster and save a lot of money in paying for college.

Students pay about half the money for an accelerated degree program than what they pay for normal college tuition. Also remember that many colleges offer bachelor’s degree programs to students that last only three years instead of four. Students taking this route will certainly save a lot of money in paying for college!

2. Consider being a transfer student: Don’t forget about the power of credit transfer as a college student, and how much money you can save for college by doing this. Quite often, the credits that you earn at a less-costly college (i.e. a junior college) can be transferred and applied for a degree from a pricey, top-tier school. By paying a minimum amount of money to attend a junior college, and then transferring to a prestigious school, a college student can get that prestigious diploma while paying much less money.

3. Go where you’re wanted! Every student is a star at the right college, and somewhere out there is a college that REALLY wants to have you as a student. Schools that want you, whether it is for your outstanding academic record, community service, or athletic ability, will offer you a lot of financial aid to go there. It is true, and money for college students endorses this, that going to a school like this could save you tens of thousands of dollars in financial aid. The key is just finding schools like this and making sure that you like what they have to offer.

4. Go to a tuition-free school? Really? Is that true? Yes! There are schools out there that offer a ton of money for college students; in fact, they will offer to give a student enough money to pay for their entire college education! The catch will be that the student will probably have to work 10-15 hours a week on campus and in jobs that relate to their majors. Tuition-free universities include: The Cooper Union in New York, Berea College, College of the Ozarks, Alice Lloyd College, and the Webb Institute. Your top school might not be on this list, but by going to one of these schools, they will cover all of the money that you would otherwise have to pay to attend college as a student.

Getting Financial Aid isn't as hard as it looks

2009-02-07T19:18:00.000-08:00

As you are probably finding from this blog, getting money for college students really isn't as hard as it looks.

All you have to do is invest a bit of time and effort, and pretty soon you can find great sources for money for college students.

Here is a general guide to finding enough money to pay entirely for your college education:

First, you should FILL OUT THE FAFSA (see my other posts on this), as filling out the FAFSA will entitle you to thousands of dollars in financial aid from the U.S. government, should you be deemed to have financial need. After filling out the FAFSA and getting money for college students through this source of financial aid, next you should apply for as many scholarships as humanly possible! Even winning just one for a thousand dollars will entirely be worth it. That alone would equate to about 100 hours of working as a student.

After winning the scholarships, NOW is the time to get a student job as a source of money for college. By working part time during the school year and getting an internship every summer, you can make up to $15,000 to $20,000 per year to pay for college, which will cover the costs almost completely of any public university.

After getting these jobs, now you should look into student loan options and student loan consolidation, if all of your financial aid needs haven't been met.

Only after this should you consider taking money out of your savings as a mean of paying for college and getting money for your college student.

Get Free Money for College Students

2009-02-07T19:15:00.000-08:00

I have discovered another way that you can find more FREE money for college students.

There is a new program/website out now, where a student can have family, friends, neighbors, etc. sponsor them for getting good grades in college...and believe or not, this could end up being a great source of financial aid and money for college students. Imagine if you set up a sponsor thing, where for every A you get a person will give you ten dollars. And you get 30 people to sign up.

Well if you get 3 A's in one quarter of college, each of those thirty people will have to give you thirty dollars, which amounts to $900 per quarter!

And this website for money for college students is completely legitimate, i.e. the sponsors put in their credit card numbers and the website actually receives your grades, so there isn't any shady business.

In one of my upcoming posts, I will talk more about this website as a source of money for college students, and how it can benefit you. And I will put up the link so stay tuned

New Scholarship Opportunity: More than Grades

2009-02-01T00:20:00.000-08:00

Since this the aim of this blog is to help you find financial aid resources that will help you in affording college, I will also be posting scholarship opportunities on here that I think are good ones as a form of financial aid.

Of course student loans, student consolidation loans, work-study, and all of that good financial aid stuff will help you to be able to afford the costs of attending college, but wouldn’t you rather get money that you never have to pay back? That is when scholarships and grants come into play.

Well anyways, I was recently cruising the Internet and came across this website called More Than Grades. At this website students can create customized profiles for college admissions officers to review, that will paint a better picture of them than their standardized test scores will. By doing this, one might have a better chance of being admitted into their dream school.

In addition to this, More Than Grades is currently offering a $20,000 scholarship for high school seniors! All you have to do is film what you think makes you more than a grade. If yours is judged to be the best and most creative, the scholarship money is yours.

I would definitely advise signing up for this website and making a video to apply for this scholarship, as I do not think this website (or the scholarship is one that is highly well known. While I usually discourage going for national online scholarships that will be highly competitive, I do not think there will be too much competition on this scholarship. If you just take the time to really think about what would make a creative video and apply, you probably have a chance of winning this scholarship.

So visit the website and apply for this scholarship now!

Government Grants: GET THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, FREE!

2009-01-31T00:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry I have not made a post for awhile, I have been quite busy.

But I will be resuming with info (when I have time) on forms of financial aid that are available for helping you in affording college.

Today I will be discussing some of the possibilities that are available with government grants. Did you know that millions of dollars go unclaimed each year by the government? Neither did I until a few days ago.

Believe it or not, the government offers millions of dollars of grants every year that can be used for financing a college education, and no I'm not talking about a Cal Grant. Even if you make a considerable income, you are still probably eligible for grants that will help you in affording college. And these grants, unlike the Cal Grants, could amount to up to $10,000 or more.

All you have to do is fill out a simple form, send it into the right agency, and if you are eligible, you will soon receive a free check for thousands of dollars that you never have to pay back. The best part is that these government grants are not just available for financial aid, but for many other things including bills, home/car costs and more.

But since you are on a website for financial aid, you are probably interested in grants from the government that will help you in financing college.

To find these large grants that are available from the government for financial aid, all you have to do now is find them. You could spend hours searching the web for the right financial aid grant for you, but that is a waste of time. Many websites out there offer cheap programs that can reduce your time to finding a financial aid grant to just ten or twenty minutes, and include include guides, application forms, and many other resources that will just about guarantee you to get one of these financial aid grants from the government. Considering they can be for over $10,000 (even over $100,000, depending on your situation), it is definitely worth getting hte program. After reading about these grants available from the government for, I am trying out one of these programs for myself; using it, I have already found some nice grants that I never would have found otherwise. And they are for a pretty nice amount of money too. I'll let you know once I apply, and if I am accepted or not. Here is the link to the program I am using. I think this one has a lot of potential to be a great form of financial aid for you!

Student Loan Consolidation: Signs that you should consolidate

2009-01-13T22:42:00.001-08:00

Here are some warning signs that mean you should consolidate your student loans:

-You are putting regular living expenses (i.e. food) on credit cards in order to survive and still repay your student loans.

-You are busy putting one credit card balance on to another, in order to take advantage of lower interest rates or avoid payment.

-You are only able to make the minimum monthly payment for the student loans on your credit card.

-All of your credit cards are maxed out and you are looking to open additional accounts.

-You need to take cash advances in order to keep up with your monthly payments on your student loans.

-You are paying out over half of your monthly income towards repaying your student loan.

If any of these behaviors describe you, they are a good sign that your student loans are no longer a good source of financial aid, but are becoming a severe burden to you. If you have any of these problems, you should really consider consolidating your student loans to extend your repayment period and lower your monthly payments to an amount that you can handle.

Private Student Loan Consolidation: FAQ Part 1

2009-01-13T22:34:00.000-08:00

If you have decided that private student loan consolidation will help you in affording college, here are some commonly asked questions about this financial aid program.

1. Is a co-signer required?
A co-signer is required if you are consolidating only undergraduate student loans (i.e. a student and a parent must sign). However, borrowers that have graduate degrees are allowed to consolidate their student loans (both undergraduate and graduate loans) without a co-signer. It is recommended though, that graduate degree holders still apply with a qualified co-signer, as it might qualify you for a lower interest rate on your student consolidation loan.

2. What types of private loans can be consolidated?
Any nationally-marketed private student loan and usually federal student loans can be combined as well (although this is NOT recommended!).

3. How long will it take before my student loans are consolidated?
You should be able to expect the entire private student loan consolidation process to be completed within 45 days. Obviously, the amount of time it takes to complete depends on whether or not you provide the required information (i.e. your income, current private student loans, etc.).

4. How long will I have to repay my private student consolidation loan?
Depending on the amount you borrow, you could have as long as 25 years (for undergraduates) or 30 (if you are a graduate student).

5. Is there a minimum loan amount?
Yes, private student loan consolidators usually require you to have borrowed a certain amount in current loans to be eligible for consolidation. This amount ranges on average from $5,000 to $10,000.

6. Is there a maximum loan amount?
There is a maximum student loan amount of $150,000 for undergraduates and $250,000 for graduates, depending on the program.

7. Do I need to continue making payments on my existing loans while I am in the consolidation process?
Yes, this is highly recommended. Since the private student loan consolidation process can take up to 45 days to complete, you want to make sure that you don’t get behind in your payments on your current student loans.

Federal Student Loan Consolidation: FAQ Part 3

2009-01-11T18:04:00.000-08:00

More answers to common questions on federal student loan consolidation as help for affording college:

1. How long does federal student loan consolidation take?
Federal student loan consolidation can take up to 90 days to complete, and in rare cases even longer. Retrieving payoff statements from your lenders is what takes the longest amount of time.

2. What should I do if I am not eligible to consolidate?
If you are not eligible for a federal student loan consolidation, some other options you could consider are private loan consolidation, or attaining a personal line of credit from your bank or credit union.

You could also consider refinancing a home or investment property to pay off the loan. If you have consolidated your student loans in the past and at high rates, this option will give you tax benefits and will also be cheaper than the interest rates that you are paying right now.

3. Can I forbear or defer?
Yes, you can. One of the good benefits of federal student loan consolidation is that you are able to keep all of your federal borrowing privileges. They include:

-Forbearance of your consolidation; up to 36 months

-Deferment of consolidation payments, should you return to school

-Forgiveness of entire loan, should you pass away.

4. How do I defer?
Once you consolidate your student loans, you will receive paperwork listing your payment schedule. At this time, you are able to request a forbearance or deferment form.

5. Again, why should I consolidate my federal student loans?
Federal student loan consolidation is an excellent option if you want to increase your monthly cash flow. By consolidating, you are able to extend your repayment period and possibly get more discounts on your current interest rates, which will reduce your monthly payments in result.

The best time to consolidate your federal student loans is right after graduation before your grace period ends. Doing so at this time will allow you to get the lowest possible fixed interest rate on your loans.

6. How long will my repayment period be?
Your repayment period will depend on the total amount of your federal student consolidation loan. If your student loan balance is $30,000 to $39,999, you will have a repayment period of 20 years. You will have a repayment of 25 years for a balance of $40,000 to $59,999.99, and a period of 30 years for a balance of $60,000 and above.

Federal Student Loan Consolidation: FAQ Part 2

2009-01-11T17:51:00.001-08:00

Here are some more commonly asked questions on federal student loan consolidation:

1. Can I consolidate with my spouse?
No, this is no longer permitted.

2. If I consolidated my student loans in the past, can I consolidate them again?
You can reconsolidate your student loans if you have new student loans that weren’t included in the original consolidation, if you have multiple student loan consolidations from different lenders.

3. How is a student consolidation loan repaid?
The first payment on a federal student consolidation loan is typically due within a couple months from the date it was dispersed. Typical repayment choices on this student loan include standard payments (fixed monthly payments over a fixed period of time), graduated payments (your payments gradually increase over the years), income-sensitive payments (your payments will vary based upon your annual income at the time), and extended payments (if your student consolidation loan is a large amount of money, it can be repaid over 20 to 30 years, depending on the amount).

4. Will I be charged any fees to consolidate federal student loans?
No.

5. Is there a credit check required to consolidate federal student loans?
There is not, as your federal student loans are guaranteed by the government. In fact, student loan consolidation should actually improve your credit rating!

6. Are there any fees or penalties for making early payments?
No, you will never be penalized for making early payments on federal student consolidation loans. Remember, the government wants their money back! Additionally, your early payments might be interest-free (every dollar beyond your required monthly payment goes towards just paying off the principle)

7. Should I continue making payments on my current student loans while my student loan consolidation application is being process?
Yes; you should continue to do so until you are notified that your current loans have been paid off through the consolidation process. Since student loan consolidation can take up to 30 to 90 days, you do not want to risk falling behind on payments.

Student Loan Consolidation: Why should I consolidate federal and private separately?

2009-01-11T17:22:00.001-08:00

Why should I consolidate my federal and private student loans separately?

As I have mentioned in my past posts on student loan consolidation, combining your private and federal student loans in a private student loan consolidation is a BAD idea. They should be consolidated separately in all cases. Here are some reasons why consolidating your federal student loans with your private student loans will cost you:

-You are not able to defer payments on a private loan consolidation if you want to return to school. However, you can with federal student loan consolidation.

-With private student loan consolidation, you cannot forbear payments if you come under any economic hardship.

-On a private student loan consolidation, you are unable to claim interest as a tax deduction.

-You can’t apply for forgiveness with a private student loan consolidation. However, with federal student loans and federal consolidation, certain types of work (i.e. federal volunteer programs, military service, etc.) can qualify you to have some or all of your federal loans forgiven by the government.

-If you pass away, federal loans are forgiven, but private loans are passed on to your children.

-Private student consolidation loans have variable interest rates, meaning you cannot guarantee yourself any particular rate. Furthermore, those rates may be tied to volatile indexes (such as the Prime Rate) that can jump up very high.

While you cannot combine your private loans into a federal student loan consolidation, for some reason you are able to combine your federal loans into a private student loan consolidation. You should never do this as you will sacrifice many benefits that come with federal student loan consolidation, as you can see above.

You should always consolidate your federal student loans first, because you will reduce the number of open lines of credit (loans) that you have. Doing this will boost your credit score, which will allow you to then receive better offers for private student loan consolidation. Therefore, federal consolidation comes first!

Federal Student Loan Consolidation: FAQ Part 1

2009-01-11T17:02:00.000-08:00

If you are considering federal student loan consolidation as a financial aid option, here are some commonly asked questions about this student loan program. Some of these questions have been covered in my other posts on student loan consolidation, and others have not.

1. What are the benefits of federal consolidation loans?
A few of the main benefits include reducing your monthly payment by up to over 50%, simplifying your finances (only make one payment each month), a variety of budget-friendly repayment options, an opportunity to improve your credit rating, and the ability to save money when you need it the most.

Since the interest rates are also fixed, federal student loan consolidation allows borrowers (whether it is a parent or student) to be guaranteed today’s interest rates, even if they rise in the future.

2. Can non-student loan debt be consolidated with the student loans?
If you have debt other than student loans (i.e. credit card debt, personal loan debt, etc.), you will have to consolidate it separately from your federal student loans.

3. What are some common requirements for FFELP student loan consolidation?
Since FFELP student loan consolidation is done through private lenders (although it is still a federal student loan), you will often be required to have borrowed a certain amount in student loans to be eligible for student loan consolidation. You can also not be in default and not be in school more than half time for the student loans to be consolidated (since you cannot consolidate until you graduate).

4. Do I need to be employed to be eligible for federal student loan consolidation?
No.

5. Do I require any collateral or a cosigner to be eligible for federal student loan consolidation?
No, you do not need a cosigner or any kind of collateral.

6. What is the interest rate?
The interest rate of federal student consolidation loans (both FFELP and Direct) will be the weighted average of the interest rates on your existing student loans rounded up to the nearest one-eighth of a percent.

7. What types of student loans may be consolidated?

-Stafford Loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized)

-Federal Direct Stafford Loans (both subsidized and unsubsidized)

-HEAL/HPSL Student Loans

-Parent PLUS Loans

-Federal Consolidation Loans (to reconsolidate, you must be adding additional federal student loans)

-Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loans

-Federal Direct Consolidation Loans (must add additional federal student loans to be eligible)

-Perkins Loans

-Nursing School Loans

-Any other government student loans that you may have attained.

General Student Loan Consolidation FAQ's

2009-01-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

Many people considering student loan consolidation as a financial aid option often have the following questions. So I am going to make a few posts answering these questions in case you may be wondering about them.

This post contains answers to general questions for student loan consolidation as an option for affording college, and my next posts will be specifically for private and federal student loan consolidation.

General Student Loan Consolidation FAQ’s:

1. Do I need a minimum balance in loans to consolidate?
This depends on the student loan provider. For private student consolidation loans and federal student consolidation loans through FFELP, you will usually need $5,000 to $7,500 in loans to be able to consolidate. However, through the Federal Direct Student Consolidation Loan Program, you are not required to have a minimum balance.

2. Will student loan consolidation affect my credit rating?
Unless you go out of your way to not keep up with your payments or default on your student loans, student loan consolidation should only help improve your credit rating (if you are making your payments on time). Education debt is often referred to as a “good debt”, as it represents an investment that usually allows you to earn more money to repay your debt. Student loan consolidation may increase the loan term, but it usually doesn’t change one’s repayment behavior. In fact, it should help them to improve their payment behavior, as making monthly payments is now easier.

3. How should I go about consolidating my loans?
Although you are allowed to consolidate with any lender (unless you are doing a direct student loan), you should first talk with the current holder of your student loans before making a decision to switch. Since they already have all of your paperwork, the process of consolidating with them will be easier, if you decide that you like their student loan consolidation program the most. Doing this will also establish standards that you can compare other student lenders against (i.e. seeing who has better customer service, loan discounts, etc.). Also note that completing a student consolidation loan application takes about thirty minutes, so the paperwork isn’t too much even if you decide to choose another lender.

You should also continue making payments on your current student loans until you are notified that the consolidator has paid off your original loans. This will ensure that you don’t default on the original student loans; that would be bad, since it would prevent your consolidation loan application from moving forward.

4. Can I save money through consolidation?
Although you probably won’t be able to save any money on the actual amount you owe for the student loan, by shopping around you might be able to find a lower interest rate that what your current student loan interest rates our. The government only sets a maximum interest rate on student loans, and many lenders charge lower rates and also offer student loan discounts (for things such as having your monthly loan payments automatically taken out of your bank account). You also can get more interest rate reductions for making on-time payments for a period of time like 36 months (be aware though, that if you are late with just one payment, you will permanently lose this discount opportunity).

I would advise focusing on the discounts that you can’t lose, such as discounts for direct debit of your monthly payment. For discounts requiring on-time payments, search for the ones that require a shorter time period of on-time payments before you are eligible for the discount.

While you won’t actually save money on the student loan itself, the amount you could save in interest by shopping around could amount of to thousands!

5. Can parents consolidate PLUS loans? Is this a good idea?
Yes, you can consolidate PLUS loans. Doing this also allows some extra savings, as it reduces the interest rate from 8.5% to 8.25% on the PLUS student loan (due to the cap on student consolidation loan interest rates). However, you should also consider the impact of student loan consolidation on student loan discounts that are available.

6. If I only have one loan can I still consolidate?
You may consolidate just one student loan, as long as it is not a consolidation loan. If that is the case, you must include additional student loans.

7. Can I reconsolidate my student consolidation loans?
Yes, you are allowed to if you are adding more student loans to the consolidation. For a federal student consolidation loan, you cannot re-consolidate if you do not have more federal student loans to include. Also note that reconsolidating a student consolidation loan will NOT relock the interest rates on the loan.

8. Can I consolidate my loans before I graduate?
No. You can only consolidate during the grace period of your student loans, after they enter repayment, or if you drop below half time enrollment status. Summer enrollment and accelerated programs usually won’t qualify you for student loan consolidation either.

9. I have qualified for a 2.25% discount on a Stafford Loan (.25% interest rate reduction for direct debit and another 2% for making consistent on time payments) that I have not consolidated yet. Will I lose these benefits for consolidating? Should I do it?

If you consolidate your current student loans, you will lose any existing loan discounts (such as the ones you mentioned).

To decide if this is a good idea, compare the value of the student loan discounts you will get by consolidating to the student loan discounts that you currently have.

10. Can I consolidate my Federal and private student loans together?
Private student loans cannot be consolidated into the Federal Student Loan Consolidation program. However, many private lenders allow you to consolidate federal student loans into their private student loan consolidation program. However, this is not recommended, as it will usually increase the interest rate, and mean that you lose many of the benefits that come with federal student loans. You can keep these benefits by consolidating your federal student loans separately from your private ones.

Information for this post obtained from http://www.finaid.org/loans/consolidationfaq.phtml

Federal Student Loan Consolidation: Direct vs. FFELP

2009-01-08T17:20:00.001-08:00

I have mentioned that there are two different types of Federal Student Consolidation Loan programs available for affording college, but I haven’t really gone into details on the differences between each of them.

The names of these programs are the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program (referred to as FDSLP, “Direct Loan”, and “Direct Loan Consolidation”) and the Federal Family Education Loan Program (known as FFELP). Although they both issue regular student loans and offer student loan consolidation, the ways in which the programs work are different, and you do not get to choose which to use while you are in college (although you get to once you have graduated and are consolidating your loans).

The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program issues both regular student loans and consolidates student loans. Through this program, the Department of Education acts as the lender, and provides the same amount of money for loans (such as the Stafford and PLUS loans) as does the Federal Family Education Loan Program.

The Federal Family Education Loan Program is different from FDSLP (or direct loan) in that through this program, the loan is actually funded through approved financial institutions (i.e. banks, credit unions, etc.) and backed by the government. Since the government guarantees to repay these loans to the lender, they are able to offer it to you at a decent fixed rate (you will know what rate you will be paying when you sign up).

During college, you do not need to worry about which program to choose for student loans, as your school decides for you. However, once you graduate and choose to consolidate your student loans, you have the option of choosing to use FDSLP or FFELP and should figure out which one is best for you.

Here are some things to consider in making your decision on which program to use for consolidation:

-Each program will offer incentives that the other one doesn’t. For example, each program has certain repayment plans that the other one doesn’t.

-Defaulted loans can be consolidated in a direct loan consolidation, but cannot be through FFELP

-You should have at least one direct student loan if you are applying for direct student loan consolidation. However, if you don’t, but have at least one FFELP loan and have been unable to obtain a student consolidation loan with an FFELP lender, you may still be eligible.

-Remember that with FFELP, you are consolidating through a private lender. Because of this, there is a chance they that will require you to have a minimum balance in outstanding federal student loans, which would probably not happen through the direct loan program.

These are the only big differences that I have come across so far. Overall, the two programs are pretty similar, and one probably won’t put you TOO much further ahead than the other will. If I find any more significant information on differences between the programs, I will post it right away.

Federal Student Loan Consolidation: Repayment Plans

2009-01-08T16:46:00.000-08:00

If you decide to use federal student loan consolidation as a way to help you in affording college, there are numerous payment plans available; in fact, probably more than you will find with any other student consolidation loan, or perhaps any other student loan altogether. Some of the payment plans are available for only one type of federal student loan consolidation, but there are six in total. Here they are:

Standard Repayment: With this plan, you will pay a fixed monthly payment on your student consolidation loan for up to 10 years, with a $50 minimum monthly payment. Depending on the amount that you borrow with the student loan, the repayment term may be less than 10 years. Available for both FFELP and Direct Loan borrowers.

Extended Repayment: This repayment plan is similar to standard repayment, except for that it allows for a loan term of 12 to 30 years, depending on how much you have borrowed. By stretching out your payments over a longer time period, you can reduce the amount of the monthly payment, however, this will increase the total amount of money you repay over the lifetime of the student loan (due to more accumulation of interest). Available for both FFELP and Direct Loan borrowers.

Graduated Repayment: This plan is different from the first two, in that it starts off with lower payments, which gradually increase every two years. Depending on the total amount you borrow in student loans, the loan term can be between 12 and 30 years. The monthly payment can be no less than 50% and no more than 150% of the monthly payment that you would have under the standard repayment plan. When you start out repaying the student loan, the monthly payment must be at least the interest that is accruing and also at least $25 (half the amount of the standard repayment). And of course, this amount will increase after the first two years. Available for both FFELP and Direct Loan borrowers.

Income-Contingent Repayment: Payments under this plan are based on the income of the borrower and the total amount that they owe. Monthly payments on the student consolidation loan will be adjusted each year in accordance with changes in the borrower’s income. The monthly payment must be greater than $5. The loan term can be up to 25 years, and at the end of the 25 years, any remaining balance on the loan will be discharged. Note that the write-off of the remaining balance after those 25 years is taxable based on current laws. This repayment program is only available for Direct Loan Borrowers.

Income-Sensitive Repayment: If you consolidated your federal student loans through FFELP, this is your alternative to income-contingent repayment. With this repayment plan your monthly payments will be a percentage of your gross monthly income, and the loan term will be 10 years. As I said, this is only available to FFELP borrowers.

Income-Based Repayment: This plan was introduced in 2007 as a better alternative to income-sensitive and income-contingent repayment, and will start on July 1, 2009. This repayment plan is available in both the Direct Loan and FFELP programs. It is similar to income-contingent repayment, but caps your monthly payments at a lower percentage of a smaller part of your income.

You are probably wondering what the difference is between the FFELP and Direct Student Loan Consolidation Programs, and what determines which you will use. I will describe that in my next post.

Federal Student Loan Consolidation: Pros/Cons

2009-01-08T15:54:00.000-08:00

Federal Student Loan Consolidation exists for student loans that you have borrowed from the government for paying for college. You may combine all of your government student loans into one big student loan with a longer payment term (and hence, lower monthly payments). Make sure to first read my blog on the general benefits of student loan consolidation and how to do it, before reading the specifics here.

The following student loans are some that are eligible for federal consolidation:

-Federal Nursing Student Loans
-Federal PLUS and Federal Direct PLUS parental loans
-Stafford Loans
-Perkins Loans
-Federal Consolidation and Federal Direct Consolidation Loans (if reconsolidating)
-Any other loans from the government you may have

As with most student consolidation loan programs, you will have the following general financial aid benefits (see other post for more details on them):

-Single, lower monthly payments
-Alternate repayment plans
-extended repayment period
- Ability to choose any lender (if receiving loan through FFELP and not Federal Direct)
-No pre-payment penalties
-Chance to improve credit score

In addition to these, here are other details and financial incentives on federal student loan consolidation:

-Fixed interest rate – You will not have to worry about paying more in monthly payments than what you originally signed up for. Interest rate will be the weighted average of the current interest rates of your federal loans. This is not the case for private student consolidation loans, where the interest rate can vary.

No minimum balance required – If you only have $1,000 in federal student loans, you are still eligible to consolidate. Note this will only work for Federal Direct Consolidation Loans; through FFELP, where a lender provides the money which your government insures, you may be required to have a certain balance accrued in federal loans

-Extend repayment up to 30 years

-Credit is not a factor – you are still eligible for this financial aid even if you have bad credit!

As far as drawbacks, federal student loan consolidation has the following general drawbacks:

-More interest (unless are using improved credit thing) accumulated in the end

-Have a longer time before loan is fully paid off

-Might lose repayment incentives from original lending companies

-Loss of deferment or grace period w/original loans

In addition to this, here are drawbacks specific to federal student loan consolidation:

-Cannot include consumer debt loans, personal loans, or bank or credit union loans. I don’t see why you would anyways, but this is one of the rules that I’m at least a few people out there don’t like this.

-If you do choose to do a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan, you will not have the option to choose your lender.

Other than this, Federal Student Consolidation Loans share most of the characteristics that I described in my posts on general student consolidation loan information. If you haven’t read those yet, definitely read them for more information.

Overall, if you plan to consolidate, Federal Student Loan Consolidation is your best option and you should do this before private loan consolidation.In my next posts, I’ll describe the repayment options available, some other things to consider for student loan consolidation, the difference between the two types of federal student loan consolidation, and answer some frequently asked questions =)

Private Student Loan Consolidation: Lenders

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If you have decided that Private Student Loan Consolidation can help you in affording college, here are some popular private student lenders to consider doing business with.

Chase Private Consolidation Loan: You must currently have a minimum of $7,500 in student loans and also have a $150,000 cumulative borrowing limit. You can have up to a 30 year repayment term for the student loan and there will be no fees. Chase also offers a 0.5% interest rate reduction, provided that you have a creditworthy cosigner. The co-signer can be released after you make 36 on-time monthly payments on the student loan (if the credit criteria is satisfied).

NextStudent: You must currently have a minimum of $7,500 in student loans and no more than $300,000. They offer up to a 30-year term for private student consolidation loans. Their interest rates vary quarterly, and there are origination ranging fees from 0% to 5%.

Student Loan Network: You must currently have a $10,000 minimum in student loans, and can have borrowed no more than $300,000. They offer a 20-year term consolidation loan for student loans that amount to less than $40,000 and up to a 30-year student loan term for any higher amounts. Their student consolidation loan has a variable interest rate, and there are origination fees ranging from 1% to 5%. There are no prepayment penalties. The co-signer is released after you make 48 on-time payments on the student loan, as long as you have good credit.

Wells Fargo: You must currently have a $5,000 minimum in student loans, and somewhere between a $40,000 and $100,000 maximum, depending on your credit. Your repayment period on the student loan can be up to 15 years long, and there is a variable interest rate. There will also be no origination fees, and you can get up to a 0.5% interest rate reduction for auto-debit (they automatically take the monthly payments on your student loan out of your bank account. Wells Fargo also offers a 0.5% interest rate reduction after you make 48 initial on-time monthly payments on the student loan.

Notice that all the above private lending companies all have variable interest rates on their student consolidation loans, and all have minimum balances. This is one thing that federal student consolidation loans don’t have, giving them a great advantage over private consolidation loans.

If you would like to do more in-depth research on these companies and what else they offer in their private student consolidation loans, go check out their websites.

Private Student Consolidation Loans: Repayment Plans

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If you are considering a private student consolidation loan as a way to help you in affording college, the following are the basic repayment plans available:

Equal Payments: You will make equal payments each month over the entire term of your student loan.

Graduated Payments Type 1: With this repayment plan, you will make interest-only payments on your student consolidation loan for the first two years of repayment. In the third year, the payments will increase to include the principle, and you will pay the same amount each month for the remaining repayment period of the student consolidation loan.

Graduated Payments Type 2: With this repayment plan, you will make interest-only payments on the student loan for the first two years of repayment. From the third to the fifth year, payments will increase and include a portion of the principal. In the sixth year, this portion increases to where you are making equal monthly payments (on principle and interest) for the remaining life of the student consolidation loan.

Just pick the plan that you think best suits your budget and monthly income!

Private Student Loan Consolidation: Pros & Cons

2009-01-06T21:39:00.000-08:00

Private Student Loan Consolidation is meant for private student loans you have borrowed to help in affording college. Through this program, you can combine all of your private loans into one big loan with a longer payment term (and hence, lower monthly payments). It is possible to consolidate federal student loans through this also, but I would STRONGLY discourage this, as doing so will mean that you lose the benefits that come with the federal student consolidation loans (such as better interest rates). The best thing to do is consolidate your federal and private student loans separately; by doing this you will probably have some extra money in your pocket in the end for affording college.

But anyways, about Private Student Loan Consolidation:

-As with most student consolidation loan programs, you will have the following general benefits (see other post for more details on them):

-Single, lower monthly payments

-Alternate repayment plans

-extended repayment period

-Ability to choose any lender

-no pre-payment penalties

-Chance to improve credit score

In addition to these, here are other details and financial incentives on private student loan consolidation:

-Better credit = lower interest. If you have better credit than when you did at the time of receiving your current private student loans, by consolidating you can be offered a lower interest rate from a new lender (your current lender of the loans will not change the interest rates). You won’t see this with government consolidation, as your credit is not even checked. This is a good reason to opt for private consolidation, as it will save you more money to go towards affording college.

-Up to 25 year repayment term for undergraduates and 30 year repayment term for graduates. This will offer you the lowest monthly payment possible.

-Medical/dental residents can have their consolidation loan deferred by up to 48 months and active duty military personnel can have it deferred by up to 36 months.

-Can be approved online for private student loan consolidation within minutes

-Undergraduates attempting to consolidate their private student loans will have to apply with a qualified co-signer to be approved. Borrowers with a graduate degree can go without a co-signer if they wish. However, having a co-signer with good credit can help you to get an even lower interest rate.

-Most lenders will release the co-signer after a certain length of time, if you are consistently making your payments on time.

-Interest-only payments available for up to your first two years of repayment, depending on the payment plan you choose. This can ensure that you have extra money to spare if you are just moving out on your own.

- 0.25% interest rate reduction if you allow automatic checking account withdrawal for monthly payments

- Interest payments may be tax deductible

Overall, people choose to consolidate their student loans for the same reason they consolidate federal loans; it lowers their monthly costs and financial stress.

As far as drawbacks, private student loan consolidation has the following general drawbacks:

-More interest (unless are using improved credit thing) accumulated in the end

-Have a longer time before loan is fully paid off

-Might lose repayment incentives from original lending companies

-Loss of deferment or grace period w/original loans

In addition to this, here are drawbacks to private student loan consolidation that do not exist with federal student loan consolidation:

-Variable interest rate – Most private student loans, as well as all private student consolidation loans, will never have a fixed interest rate; this could mean that you end up paying more in monthly payments than what you originally expected.

-Credit check – if your credit has worsened since you received your original loans, you may not be eligible for a private student loan consolidation

-Minimum amount required; you will not be eligible for this loan unless you have borrowed $5,000 to $10,000 or more in loans.

-No grace period (although you can start off just paying interest)

Student Loan Consolidation: What Program?

2009-01-06T16:39:00.000-08:00

There are several different Student Loan Consolidation programs available for financial aid; the one that you pick will depend both on the types of loans you have received and what school you attend.

The Private Student Consolidation Loan is for students who have gotten private loans from non-government sources; just as your loans were from loan companies, you will consolidate your loans with a private company, not the government. The advantage of this is that you get to choose what company to consolidate your student loans with, which will allow you to shop around for the company with the best deal.

The Federal Student Consolidation Loan is for loans that you have taken from the government, such as the Stafford and Perkins student loans. Two different Federal Student Consolidation Loan programs exist, and what school you attend determines what one you will be able to use.

Also, note that you shouldn’t combine both federal and private student loans into one consolidation loan. By doing so, you will lose the low interest rates and other benefits you will have with federal student consolidation loans. Therefore keep them separate.

Stay tuned for my next posts that will discuss these different student consolidation loan options in detail, and show how they can be a helpful/harmful form of financial aid.

Student Loan Consolidation: Savings Calculator

2009-01-04T23:33:00.001-08:00

Here are links to two student loan consolidation calculators that can compare the monthly interest rates, interest rates, and total cost of your current student loans to what they would be of a student consolidation loan.

Use these (along with considering the benefits/drawbacks of a student consolidation loan) to calculate your monthly savings help determine if a student consolidation loan is a good financial aid option for you in affording college.

Basic Student Loan Consolidation Calculator

More Advanced Student Loan Consolidation Calculator

Student Loan Consolidation: Financial Aid Benefits

2009-01-04T23:29:00.000-08:00

Since a student consolidation loan will most likely actually cost you MORE money in the end (due to extra interest accumulation), you are probably asking yourself, “Why on Earth is student loan consolidation considered to be a form of financial aid and why is it on this website for affording college??”

Well, if you think about it, while a student consolidation loan might not specifically be giving you extra grant money or loans to pay for college (since you have already gotten those; this consolidation loan just makes a new loan out of your old ones), it will help you/your parents in affording college in that it will free up more of your money and simply make affording college less of a burden.

In general, you could probably see financial aid a way to make paying for college easier for most; many of us could afford our college education without help (depending on the school), but financial aid eases the burdens of the costs and allows us to stress less in paying our tuition. Furthermore, it frees up our money for other possible expenses, as well as for our next years in college if we don’t get as much financial aid.

Whether it is during or after college that we are making our payments, consolidating student loans will ease the stress of affording the costs, spreading them out over a much longer period of time. This financial aid option will mean that we will have more money at the present to spare for other costs, whether it is something like living expenses, or funding further education in graduate school.

By consolidating student loans, a parent could have more money at the present to help pay for
any other children they may have that are soon going to college.

In addition to covering living expenses, a student consolidating their loans could use the extra money for possibilities such as graduate school, funding their own research, or some other academic/personal endeavor that interests them.

In the end they will pay the same amount, but student loan consolidation allows one to have more money at the present, and just pay more in the long run. Overall, in the end it will make affording college less of a burden, spreading it out over time.

Student Consolidation Loan: General Drawbacks

2009-01-04T22:48:00.000-08:00

Student consolidation loans also have their drawbacks as far as financial aid is concerned. Here are a few of them:

-You will pay up to thousands more in interest on your student loan, if you extend the loan to 30 years. Yes, your monthly payments will be lower, but in the end this will mean that interest accumulates much more and that this form of financial aid helps you less. Because of this, the sooner you pay off the loan the better (if you are pursuing financial aid, you should be wanting to SAVE money!)

-You will simply have the “burden” of paying off a loan for a longer period of time. Personally, I would like to get any debt off of my back as soon as possible. But then again, a student consolidation loan is good for financial aid in that it will free up your money for any other expenses you may need it for.

-Might lose original repayment incentives for the student loans (e.g. rebates for early repayment)

-Potential loss of deferment options or grace periods that had with original loans

For the most part though, most people usually choose to consolidate their student loans in order to lower their monthly payments. So unless someone has a huge problem with paying extra in the longer run or something like losing a grace period, most of these drawbacks are outweighed by the financial aid benefits of student loan consolidation.

Student Consolidation Loan: General Benefits

2009-01-03T23:26:00.001-08:00

While consolidating your student loans will not actually cut your college costs, student loan consolidation will serve as a way of making financial aid a less stressful process (if you borrow money for affording college that you have to pay back). However, depending on your consolidation repayment plan, you can end up paying more in the end using this financial aid process as well. Here are details on the general benefits of a consolidation loan:

Benefits:

-Single monthly payment: with only a single monthly payment instead of several on different loans, consolidating your student loans will mean that making payments is less of a hassle.

-Alternate repayment plans available: While most student loans only have one or two repayment plans available, consolidating means that you have several different options and time periods in which you can pay back your loan. I will discuss these repayments plans in another post, and you will see how these financial aid options are a nice thing to have.

-Choose any lender: with the option to choose any lender, you will be able to shop around for the lowest student consolidation interest rate available.

-Extended repayment period: The ability to extend your repayment period up to 30 years will mean that paying back your student loans can be much less stressful. As a result of this extended period, consolidating your student loan will mean that you do not have to stretch your paycheck every month, because the payments will be lower. However, in the end extending your repayment period will mean that you pay more in interest.

-Lower monthly payments: as a result of the extended repayment period, you can lower your monthly payments by up to over 50%

-Fixed interest rates: with some student consolidation loans, such as the federal consolidation loan, the interest rate on the loan will be fixed for life. You will know what to expect as far as costs, and won’t have to worry about paying more than what you signed up for because of changing interest rates. This is a nice change from most private loans (and some government ones, such as the PLUS Loan), where the interest rate can vary by year.

-No pre-payment penalties: As long as you pay your entire student loan back during the repayment, you are free as to when and how you wish to cover the entire student loan, as long as you meet the minimum payment requirement each month.

-Improve credit score: an extended repayment plan means that it will be easier to successfully pay the student loan off on time, which will improve your credit in result.

-Certain loan consolidation programs can have other benefits, including no credit check, no need for co-signers, no feed, no minimum balance requirement, reduced monthly payments, and varied deferment options. I will discuss these in detail for each specific student loan consolidation program.

Student Loan Consolidation: Should I do it?

2009-01-03T23:19:00.000-08:00

Before I discuss the benefits and disadvantages of consolidating your student loans, let me discuss a few factors that should help determine whether or not you need to consolidate.

Consider the following questions in deciding if student loan consolidation is the right financial aid decision for you:

-Are your monthly payments currently manageable? A student consolidation loan may help you in paying for college if you have a hard time meeting your monthly payments, have exhausted your forbearance/deferment options, or want to avoid default.

-Too many monthly payments? If you have taken out several different loans, chances are that you have several payments to make for different lenders each month, which can become a hassle. If you want the convenience of a single monthly payment, you have another good reason to consolidate

-How many payments are left on your student loans? If you are close to paying your loans off, it is probably not worth the effort to consolidate and extend you payments.

-How much money are you willing to pay in the long run? Remember that extending the years of repayment increases the total amount that you will have to pay back, due to more interest accumulation.

-What are the interest rates of your loans? You may want to consider student loan consolidation if you have Federal education loans with variable interest rates. Direct Consolidation Loans will have a fixed interest rate for the entire repayment period. As I mentioned in a previous post on student consolidation loans, this interest rate will be based on the weighted average of the interest rates of the different loans being consolidated.

Student Loan Consolidation: How much will it save me?

2009-01-03T22:47:00.000-08:00

Student Loan Consolidation will NOT save you money! Unfortunately, most lending companies do not yet offer us programs where we can end up paying back less on our loans.

However, student loan consolidation is still a great financial aid option to consider, as it will make paying back the loan much easier, depending on the repayment plan that you choose.

The way this loan works is that after you combine all of your student loans into one, you can choose repayment plans that extend your repayment term by up to 30 years. Many people choose to consolidate as a result, because it eases the burden of paying for college by a great amount. For example, consider a parent or student that took out $100,000 in loans to pay for a college education. Normally these would have a 10 year repayment term, which would mean you are paying $10,000 per year (not including interest). By consolidating, this parent could increase that term up to 30 years and their yearly payments would only be $3,333 (again, not including interest).

This is why many consider consolidation loans; while it will not save you money and actually costs you more in the end because of interest (the interest will accumulate more over 30 years than it will over 10), parents and students can extend their repayment term to make their yearly/monthly payments extremely manageable. For the example above, instead of paying about $1000 per month, you would only be paying $300 or so per month. That’s much more manageable and forgiving when you consider other living expenses, like insurance, food, rent, gas, etc.

So once again, student loan consolidation will NOT save you money. In fact, you will pay much more in interest. However, your yearly/monthly payments can be a lot lower and spread out over a much longer period of time (depending on the repayment plan you choose), which proves to be a great comfort for money.

Also, no other loan program offers such flexibility in the number of repayment plans available.

Student Loan Consolidation: General Information

2009-01-03T22:20:00.000-08:00

Student loan consolidation can be a great help to you in affording college.

How does Student Loan Consolidation Work?

Student Loan Consolidation combines several student or parent loans into one single loan from a single lender, which is used to pay off the balances on the other loans. You then owe the money that was used to pay off those balances to the single lender.

Who can Consolidate?

Both students and parents that borrow money for affording college can consolidate their loans. Parents and students cannot combine their loans by consolidating, but they can consolidate separately; this is because you can only consolidate loans from the same borrower.

Students are only able to consolidate their student loans after their loans enter repayment or during their grace period. Students may also consolidate loans that are in default as long as they have made acceptable repayment arrangements.

Students may not consolidate their student loans while they are in school, but parents can consolidate PLUS loans at any time they wish.

Which Student Loans can be Consolidated?

A student may consolidate any federal education loan, and it is possible to even consolidate a consolidation loan (note that there are some restrictions on consolidating a consolidation loan, though). Private loans and parent loans can also be consolidated.

Who can you consolidate with?

-Students and parents with students loans to consolidate can consolidate with any lender, even if all of their student loans are from a single lender. Direct Loans from the government can also be consolidated from any lender. This will be an advantage to you in consolidating your student loans, as you can look around for a lender that offers better discounts or a lower interest rate.

Also note that most lenders require a minimum balance before they will consolidate your student loans. For example, a lender might only offer student consolidation loans for a borrower with loan balances of at least $10,000. Many lenders require you to have a loan balance of at least $7,500. A few require you to have at least $5,000, and the Federal Direct Consolidation Loan Program requires no minimum balance for student consolidation loans.

Lenders cannot discrimate against borrowers (in considering them for a student consolidation loan) based on the type/number of student loans, interest rate of the loans, type/category of educational institution, or the repayment schedule that the borrower wants.

Lenders CAN discriminate against a borrower based on the amount of the loans being consolidated, which is why they are allowed to set a minimum balance.

Interest Rates:

The interest rate of a consolidation loan will be the weighted average of the interest rates for the loans being consolidated. This amount is rounded up to the nearest .125% and is capped at 8.25%.

Example: A student decides to consolidate two loans, one for $5,000 at 4% interest and another for $10,000 at 6% interest. The weighted average will be [ ($5,000 * 4.0%) + ($10,000 * 6.0%) ] / [$5,000 + $10,000] = 5.333%

The weighted average, 5.333%, will be rounded up to the nearest 1/8 of a percent, which is 5.375%.

Remember: this weighted average will not fundamentally alter the original cost of any of the loans, or save you money in the end. While the interest rate may be lower than the highest of your interest rates, it’s also higher than your lowest interest rates.

During the lifetime of the loan, the amount of interest that you pay will not change towards your advantage, regardless of whether you consolidate or not. In fact, consolidating will mean that you end up paying more interest in the end. It just makes the payments over a longer period of time, so that you don’t have to pay as much each month.

Repayment Plans:

There are several repayment plans available for student consolidation loans, and some are beyond the standard 10-year repayment period; plans that offer this include extended repayment, graduated payment, income sensitive payment (FFELP only), and income contingent repayment (only for Direct Loans) plans. You will receive the standard 10-year repayment plan if you don’t specify the repayment terms.

One of the benefits of consolidating student loans is here, in that doing so will usually decrease the size of your monthly payment by extending the loan term beyond the 10 year standard. Depending on the amount of your student loan, the student loan term can be extended anywhere from 12 to 30 years. This will often make it easier to repay the loan, however, remember that extending the loan increases the total amount of interest paid over the lifetime of the loan.

Also understand that you don’t need to pick an alternate repayment plan. It is actually better to stick with the 10-year repayment period, as this will save you a lot of money in interest.

-Federal education loans (this includes consolidation loans) have no prepayment penalty, so you can pay off part or all of your federal education loans early without being charged for it.

Repayment of a student consolidation loan will begin within 60 days of the loan being disbursed, unless you qualify for a forbearance or deferment.

Also note that there is no cost to consolidate. You should not be charged any fees to do so.

Websites for more info:

Common q’s on consolidation

List of lenders who offer federal and private student laons, including student consolidation loans

**If your school participates in direct lending, also check out federal direct consolidation loans

Consolidation loan discounts

Student Loan Consolidation: Another Financial Aid Option

2009-01-03T21:48:00.000-08:00

Student Consolidation Loans are another way in which you can ease the burden of any money you decide to borrow to pay for college. Student Loan Consolidation combines several student or parent loans into one single loan from a single lender, which is used to pay off the balances on the other loans. You then owe the money that was used to pay off those balances to the single lender. This process is similar to refinancing a mortgage.

By consolidating student loans, one can significantly lower their monthly payments (the repayment period is usually extended), and simplify their finances. Overall, student loan consolidation will probably make paying back a loan easier for you, although it is not always the best option for everyone. I will discuss in more detail the benefits and drawbacks of student loan consolidation in some of my upcoming posts.

Consolidation loans are available for most federal loans, including FFELP Loans (Stafford, PLUS, and SLS Loans), FISL, NSL, HEAL, Perkins, Health Professional Student Loans, Guaranteed Student Loans, and Direct Loans. Private student loan consolidation is also available for private student loans as well. Start with Federal Student loan Consolidation, and then consolidate your private student loans, if necessary.

Even if making your monthly student loan payments are not currently a problem, you should still at least consider consolidating your student loans; doing so will lower your monthly payments a considerable amount (they are spread out over a longer period of time), which can free up money for things such as student credit cards and personal loans (which will likely have a higher interest).

The interest on a student consolidation loan may also be tax-deductible. But I’ll stop on the benefits here and discuss them more in future posts.

In the next posts I’ll discuss basic details and benefits/drawbacks on consolidating a student loan, different types of student consolidation loans that are available, and the specific benefits/drawbacks of each one.

The PLUS Loan: Analysis

2009-01-01T21:15:00.000-08:00

The PLUS Loan has both advantages and disadvantages that you should consider; in some ways the loan will help make paying for college easier, but it will also have drawbacks that other loans and financial aid programs don’t have.

Benefits:

-Everyone can get this loan! As long as you meet the basic requirements and have good credit.

-PLUS Loan can cover up to entire cost of education. If money is a severe issue for your family at the time, this loan will ensure that you have the money you need to pay for college. Taking out a full loan that you can pay back later will ensure that you can afford college, and will serve as a great alternative to borrowing against your home or dipping into family savings.

-Funds are usually dispersed fast (within the first weeks of the semester) – you will get the money you need to pay for college on time. Another benefit is that this loan is available throughout the year; so even if you have paid you college expenses already, you can still take out this loan to reimburse yourself and pay it back later on.

-Fixed interest rate; although the interest rate is high, you will never have to worry about increasing a rates, or paying a monthly payment higher than what you initially signed up for.

-Even if your family has a lot of money, you are still eligible to take out this loan if you would rather pay for your college expenses over 10+ years instead of 4.

Disadvantages:

-Much higher interest rate; if you will have to resort to a private loan in order to pay for college, you can’t do much better than this, but this interest rate is much higher than the Perkins and Stafford Loans. So if you will only need a few more thousand dollars per year to afford paying for college, look into those before applying for the PLUS Loan.

-Credit check; for some of you this won’t be a problem, but this might make others of you ineligible for this loan. And if you need a source of money to pay for all of your college expenses right now, one like this is essential to paying for college.

-No grace period and responsible for all interest. That will definitely make this loan an even costlier one. Being responsible for all of the interest means that you will end up paying thousands of extra dollars on this loan. And no grace period means that it doesn’t matter where you or your parents are at graduation; it HAS to be repaid.

My advice:

While the PLUS loan has some advantages, it doesn’t have many of the benefits that loans such as the Perkins and Stafford programs offer. Look into the Perkins and Stafford programs first, as they have many more benefits that will make paying for college easier. Benefits like a grace period, no credit check, and possibly the government picking up the tab on interest will save you thousands of dollars in the end and will make paying off the loan much easier. Unfortunately the PLUS loan doesn’t offer incentives like this, so only apply for it ONLY if you have received Stafford/Perkins loans but still really need money to pay for college. The PLUS Loan will cover the costs, but at a price. As you saw also, the interest rate for this loan is much higher than that of the Perkins and Stafford Loans. Overall, look at all of the terms that I mentioned above, and you will see that the PLUS Loan is a pricier one and more of a hassle in many different ways.

The PLUS Loan: Details

2009-01-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

In this entry I will discuss another loan option for affording college, and will follow this post up with the advantages and disadvantages of this loan.

The Parent PLUS Loan is a federally sponsored student loan available to the parents of undergraduate, dependent students. If you are a parent planning to help pay for your child’s education, the PLUS Loan can fund the entire cost not covered by other financial aid you receive. Payments can be deferred until graduation.

Here are more details on the PLUS Loan:

-This loan is available through two financial aid programs: the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), and the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (Direct PLUS Loan). With the Direct Loan, you receive your loan from the U.S. Department of Education. Through the FFELP PLUS Loan, you receive your loan from a private lender (who will send the loan funds to your school).

-The interest rate for the Direct PLUS Loan is 7.9%. The interest rate through FFELP (Federal Parent PLUS Loan) is 8.5%. (yes, this is a fixed interest rate)

-Applying for this loan involves a credit check, so you should have at least modest credit in order to be eligible for this financial aid. Having “adverse” credit can delay your approval (although many private loan companies can still help you to get past this problem; “adverse” credit means being 90 days late on any debt, or having any Title IV debt during the last 5 years that was subjected to bankruptcy discharge, repossession, foreclosure, default determination, wage garnishment, tax lien, or write-off.

-The PLUS Loan is NOT based on financial need. Anyone with good credit is eligible to receive this loan, regardless of how much money they already have to pay for college.

-As this loan is not based on financial need, you will be responsible for paying the interest from the moment you receive the loan until you pay it off fully. The interest can be paid as it accrues, or you can begin paying it off when you start your repayments (i.e. after graduation).

-Two payment options available: Can either begin payments within 60 days of loan being dispersed, or 6 months after student graduates, leaves school, or enrolls less than half-time.

-No grace period after graduation. Must begin repayments right away.

-$50 minimum monthly payment

-As with the Perkins and Stafford Loans, this loan can be consolidated.

-Loan has a general repayment period of 10 years. If you consolidate, however, this could be extended by up to 20 more years (this will also substantially lower your monthly payment, although you will end up paying much more interest on the loan by the end).

-Applying for and receiving this loan requires no collateral, and the interest may be tax deductible.

-Federally guaranteed; this means fixed interest rates, guaranteed availability, etc.

-No prepayment penalties; you will not be charged a fee for making more than your minimum monthly payment, or for paying off the loan before it is due.

-This loan is available throughout the school year, even after you have paid your educational expenses.

-There is also a program available to Graduate Students, called the Grad. PLUS Loan. Most of the details here also apply to graduate students interested in this loan

-School may or may not require you to fill out the FAFSA to be eligible for this loan. But as I have emphasized, you must fill it out regardless to be eligible for many financial aid programs that will help you in paying for college!

Differences from Stafford and Perkins Loan Programs:

-When a parent takes this loan, it becomes their commitment and not the student’s (in the case of the Stafford/Perkins Loans, it is the student that borrows, so it is their commitment from the beginning)

-The PLUS Loan has higher interest rates; however, these rates are fixed and will not fluctuate

-The PLUS Loan can cover up to entire cost of education

-The PLUS Loan has different repayment plans; however, neither plan offers you an advantage as far as saving on interest or anything. In the end, you will end up paying the same for both, how and when you make the payments are just different.

In the next post, I’ll analyze this loan, and discuss how it will and won’t help you to afford college.

The Stafford Loan: Benefits, Tips, etc.

2009-01-01T04:19:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years everyone! Hope all of you had a fun, exciting, and also safe night!

Anyways, in this post I’ll discuss the benefits of the Stafford Loan, and how it will help you more in affording college than other loans might.

Both the Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans have many financial benefits you may not find with private loans. Here are some reasons they’re good ones:

-Just like with the Perkins Loan, interest doesn’t accrue on the Subsidized Stafford Loan while you are in college, which will definitely help in making affording college easier! As I mentioned for the Perkins Loan, not having to pay interest on the amount borrowed while in college can save you up to thousands of dollars

-These loans are federally guaranteed; although the loans are given through the lender, the government is the one that offers it to students, and also guarantees repayment to the lender if a student defaults on a loan. As a result, interest rates on these loans will be lower than you will find with many private loans (as you see with the Stafford Loan) .

-Unsubsidized not based on financial need; even if you are rich, you are still eligible for this loan that beats many others! And if you are financially needy, you’ll get an even better deal with the subsidized loan, and can take advantage of the unsubsidized one as well. This will definitely help you in paying for college if you decide to take the loans route.

-Since the government guarantees repayment to lenders, the lenders will likely guarantee these loans to the government…meaning the Stafford Loan is guaranteed by the government to be available to you!

-The Stafford doesn’t require a credit check, a co-signer, or collateral. As with the Perkins Loan, this is to your advantage in finding money to pay for college; even if you are a student with bad credit, you can still receive this loan without a problem and can then use it as an opportunity to improve your credit.

-You will have to verify this one…but I have heard that students who are turned down for a plus loan can borrow another $4,000 the first two years and $5,000 for the years after that. But I am not completely sure on this one, so verify it.

-Available to non citizen permanent residents; from what I hear it is harder for permanent residents to receive loans, so this loan is one that you WILL be able to utilize as a form of financial aid.

-Minimum monthly payment of $50; with ten years to pay off the loan and only a requirement of $50 per month, this should be a problem at all when you are pulling a high five-figure or a six-figure income J

Some other advice:

-If you are going for the unsubsidized loan, remember that interest will be charged from the moment you take the loan out until it is paid in full. Putting off payments longer will mean more interest in the end.

-Remember that you MUST fill out the FAFSA to get this financial aid; don’t rush with the FAFSA deadline; actually submit the form as soon as possible so you can ensure that you get a loan offer fast and be guaranteed one (and possible more grants that are offered first-come first-serve).

Overall, the Stafford Loan is definitely one to look into, and will help make affording college easier for you…along with the process of paying your loans back.

The Stafford Loan - 2 Types Available

2008-12-31T21:09:00.000-08:00

The Federal Stafford Loan is another government loan available to students at colleges participating in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). The Stafford Loan represents another one of the best loan options available, as you will see in the benefits I list below. Obviously you should go for other forms of financial aid like scholarships first, but once you get to loans, this is definitely one of the better ones. Two different types of this loan are available; the Unsubsidized Stafford Loan is offered to students both with and without financial need. The Subsidized Stafford Loan is available only to students that are determined to have financial need.

Both loans require that you complete the FAFSA, be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and be enrolled in school at least half-time. Students eligible for the Subsidized Stafford Loan can borrow money from both the subsidized and unsubsidized programs; for details on borrowing limits for each program, see the information on each individual program:

You will have the following benefits for both the Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans:

-Repayment period of up to 10 years

-6 month grace period after graduation before required to start repayments

-Minimum payment of $50 per month, once payments begin

Here are specific details on each of the types on loans:

Unsubsidized Stafford Loan:

-Available to all eligible students; financial need is not a factor

-Interest Rate of 6.8% (this is the same rate that graduates will have on the loan)

-Required to pay all interest that accrues while in school, but can defer these payments until up
to 6 months after graduation

-Loan limits: Dependent undergraduates can borrow up to $2,000 per year through the unsubsidized loan.

-Independent undergraduates can borrow $6,000 their first two years, and $7,000 for their third year and beyond.

-Graduate students can borrow up to $12,000 per year.

Subsidized Stafford Loan:

-Available only to students determined to have financial need

-Both Independent and Dependent undergraduates can borrow $3,500 their first year, $4,500 their second, and $5,500 their third year and beyond. Borrowing limit of $23,000 total in subsidized loans for undergraduate education.

-Graduate students can borrow up to $8,500 per year

-Interest Rate: 2007 – 2008: 6.8%....2008 – 2009: 6.0%....2009 – 2010: 5.6%....2010 – 2011: 4.5%....2011 – 2012: 3.4%....2012 – 2013: 6.8%

-Government covers the interest while in school at least half time, or in any deferment periods

Maximum Borrowing Limits:

-I’ll sum it up here in case the above information was confusing at all:

-Through the Stafford Loan programs Undergraduate Dependents may borrow up to $31,000, of which up to $23,000 may be subsidized. Undergraduate Independents may borrow up to $57,500; again only up to $23,000 may be subsidized.

-Graduate students may borrow up to $138,500 (or $224,000 for health professionals), and up to $65,000 may be subsidized.

In the next post, I’ll discuss the benefits of the Stafford Loan Program and why you should consider it above many others.

Dummies' Guide to Finding Good Scholarships

2008-12-30T23:26:00.000-08:00

When a student thinks of applying for scholarships, they often can be discouraged by the amount of fierce competition involved in winning one. Unless you are Harvard material; in that case, many awards will essentially have your name written on them. But for the rest of us less-than-brilliant students who have simply done well in school and the community, here is a quick guide to finding scholarships that you will have a considerable chance of winning.

Your first step in the search for attainable scholarships is to research ones available at your school.

The advantage of applying for scholarships offered by your school is that you will only be in competition with other students at your school instead of students across in the nation; by doing this, you reduce your competition by a ridiculous amount and will have much better chances of winning an award. Both high school seniors and college students should go to their school’s scholarship center (in person or online) and get a list of all scholarships available. From this list apply for every scholarship that you are eligible for, and especially the ones that specifically match your major or activities (i.e. if you are an electrical engineering major, apply for all of the electrical engineering scholarships). Instead of competing against thousands of students nationally, your application will only be compared to a small number of other students at your school (most likely less than one hundred). Have good grades and write and outstanding essay, and there’s a good chance that many scholarships offered through the school will be yours.

Next, research scholarships offered by specific companies or only in certain regions.

Scholarships available only to a certain major (ex: an engineering company will probably only offer scholarships to engineering students are great to pursue, as once again, your competition will be highly reduced (only competing against other students in your major). Some companies offer, say 1,000 scholarships, and design the program so that a certain number of students from your city (if the company has a branch within the city) are guaranteed to win the scholarship (some that do this include Walmart, McDonalds, and Best Buy). Once again, this is to your advantage, as you are now only competing against the students in your city that bother to apply. So, go online and research scholarships offered by various corporations and stores; chances are, you have a good chance of winning one.

Look into government scholarships.

These are often offered to students at each school, meaning you will only be competing against the other students in your school. One popular government scholarship for high school seniors is the Robert C. Byrd Scholarship. Two students from every school (selection based on class rank, SAT scores, etc.) will receive this scholarship, which is worth $1,500 each year in college. For scholarships like this, go to your high school or college scholarship center and ask!

Here’s what NOT to do in searching for scholarships.

Try to avoid (or apply for last) scholarships where you submit an essay online to a program that you found through a search engine. These ones are available to all students across the nation, and are thus extremely competitive. The same goes for scholarships amounting above $10,000. Yes, it would be great to receive one of those, but remember that every other student like yourself is thinking the same thing. And there are definitely tens of thousands thinking that.

So overall, focus on localized scholarships that will be less competitive, and you will greatly increase your chances of winning one. Also, apply for as many as possible! Applying for 30 different scholarships might seem like a lot, but in the end if you win even one it will be worth it. Spending 30 hours on applications and winning $1,000 still equates to being paid over $30 per hour. Well, good luck and happy scholarship hunting!

Scholarship Search Secrets (e-book)

2008-12-30T16:03:00.000-08:00

Before continuing with details on available student loan programs, I thought I would take a little break. I found a really detailed guide to finding good scholarships, and I'm sure that it will be useful for some of you.

It's a 35 page long e-book that describes how students can use Internet technologies to find scholarships that they have a good shot at winning. Definitely forward this one to your kids :)

Link: http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/scholarship-search-ebook.pdf

The Perkins Loan...your best bet!

2008-12-29T15:26:00.000-08:00

So, you've returned your FAFSA, and received some offers of financial aid. Now is the time to evaluate what to accept and what to reject.

If you are determined to be financially needy enough, you will most likely receive an offer or two for a scholarship/grant, which you should obviously accept!

Most people, regardless of financial status, will also receive some sort of an offer for several loans that would cover the full cost of school. People not determined to be needy will not see any outstanding loans available to them, but those with financial need can get some pretty sweet deals on student loans!

One loan that the government offers to students with significant financial need is the Federal Perkins Loan. This is one of the best student loans available, so if your family plans on taking out loans to help pay for college, the Perkins Loan is the one that you should accept first.

About the Program: The Federal Perkins Loan is a low interest (5%) loan available to both undergraduate and graduate students that have financial need. Your school is the lender, meaning that the government contributes the funds, but you borrow the money from your school and pay it back to them. Undergraduate students can borrow up to $4,000 for each year of study (can borrow up to $20,000 total as an undergraduate) and graduate students can borrow up the $6,000 per year ($40,000 total as a graduate student). Students have a grace period of nine months after they graduate before they must start their payments, and then pay the loan back over a period of ten years.

So, why is the Perkins Loan so great and why should I accpet it?

First of all, the Perkins Loan will cover a reasonable amount of your expenses and will not be too difficult to pay off, considering the interest rate and time you have. Here are the details on the benefits of this loan:

-Low 5% interest rates - You might be able to find some that are lower, but 5% is decent for a loan; it is great once you consider all of the other benefits you have with the Perkins Loan.

-Not responsible for interest before repayment begins - Until you begin to repay your loan after graduation, the government will cover the interest on it (as long as you are enrolled in school at least half-time). With the government picking up the tab on interest while you are in school, you will save thousands of dollars in interest!

-9 month Grace Period - 9 months of no payments after graduation means that you can first find a good job that you will be able to pay off the loan with! Did I mention that the government still covers the interest during this grace period?

-The Perkins Loan is a no credit check loan - This means, regardless of your credit, you are eligible to receive a Perkins Loan if you are financially needy. This is especially useful, since most students applying for this loan will likely have no established credit yet. By repaying your loan on time, you can then build your credit or even repair bad credit.

-You don't need a cosigner - Since you don't need a cosigneer to extend their good credit in order for you to receive the loan, the Perkins Loan is an excellent loan to get on your own.

______________________________________

There are also additional repayment benefits of the Perkins Loan, depending on factors such as your career. You are eligible to have some or all of your debt paid off by someone else if you pursue a career in one of the following fields:

-Military - If you enlist in the Armed Forces, you may be able to set up a loan repayment agreement as part of your contract. By doing this, the Department of Defense will repay some or all of your loan for you. Another benefit with being in the military is that if you are mobilized or deployed, you will not have to make payments on your loans while you are gone. For more details, contact your local recruiting office.

-Nursing - If you choose to pursue a career in nursing after graduation, you may be eligible to have your loan repaid by the Department of Health and Human Services Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program. For more details, visit this website.

-Peace Corps - Up to 70% of your Perkins Loan can be forgiven by volunteering in the Peace Corps. If you serve with Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) or AmeriCorps, you will receive a monetary award that will help to pay off your loan.

-Community Service - Up to 100% of your loan will be repaid if you pursue a career in a community service or protection field. The following are examples of full-time careers that will make you eligible to receive this payment:

-Teacher at a school serving low-income families (elementary or secondary school)
-Special education teacher
-Teacher in a field designated as a teacher shortage area
-Professional provider of early intervention services for the disabled
-Nurse or medical technician
-Law enforcement or correction officer

Once again, if you plan on taking out a loan for college, the Perkins Loan is definitely one to look into. All of the benefits that come along with it make it a lucrative offer for students interested in loans.

In my next few postings, I will continue to elaborate on some other loans available that you might also want to look into. Have a good day!

Completing the FAFSA

2008-12-28T17:27:00.000-08:00

Before I go into what types of grants and loans are available for college students (and their parents), I must first mention a critical step that everyone must remember in seeking financial aid, which would be filling out the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form. Submitting this form is something that you MUST remember to do in order to be eligible for many existing financial aid programs. Let me explain why.

First, what is the FAFSA?

The FAFSA is a form that college students (as well as high school seniors planning to attend college) and their parents must fill out in order to determine their eligibility for federal student financial aid. The financial aid that you will receive as a result (hopefully) can be in the form of loans, grants, scholarships, and also work-study programs. Schools also use the FAFSA to determine if you are financially deserving of any scholarships they may have available. Students must fill out form annually in order to determine if they are eligible for aid that year. The government also requires it to be re-done annually in order to account for changes in income affecting a family's eligibility. For example, if a parent receives a pay raise from $50,000 per year to $500,000 per year (ahh, wouldn't that be nice!) the government expects that they can afford the college costs and won't provide them with any more assistance designed for the financially needy.

How does it work?

In filling out the FAFSA, a family will have to complete a lengthy questionnaire about both the parents' and the student's finances. The government then enters these answers into a formula that determines their Expected Family Contribution (EFC), or how much they expect the family to pay on their own for college after financial aid. Factor's that determine one's EFC include family size, income, number of children in college from immediate family, and assets (i.e. investments, homes, etc. 401k and retirement will not be included). The government requires all of this information, as they expect that parents will contribute to their child's education, whether or not they will actually do so. This can create a problem for children whose parents really aren't going to contribute. In this case a student should contact someone for help on how to receive the forms of aid out there without having to complete the FAFSA information on their parent's income.

In order to be eligible for any federal aid and often awards offered through colleges, YOU MUST FILL OUT THE FAFSA FORM! Colleges and many other financial aid programs (almost always the case for government) only use this to determine if you are financially deserving. If you decide not to fill the FAFSA out, you will probably be rejected from school scholarships that are “need-based”, and will also be ineligible for many loans, grants, etc. that can ease the high cost of college.

Basic requirements for federal aid eligibility:

-Be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or an eligible non-citizen

-Have a valid social security number

-Have a high school diploma or GED (once you are in college)

-MUST REGISTER WITH THE US SELECTIVE SERVICE (if you are a male aged 18-25)

-Don't owe refunds on any federal student grants

-Not in default on any student loans

-Haven’t been found guilty for the possession or sale of illegal drugs during the time that received federal aid

-Complete the FAFSA form, and promise to use the financial aid only for educational purposes

-And also...not be filthy rich =)

It is also critical that you FILL OUT EVERYTHING ON THE FORM CORRECTLY! Failing to do so and making mistakes can slow the application process, and you will likely have to fill the FAFSA out all over again (trust me, you do not want to do that…it took me several hours to fill this thing out!). The FAFSA is a rather long form, so grab a cold drink be prepared to sit at your desk for awhile :)

Later on after submitting the FAFSA, you will hear back from the government on how much you expected contribution will be. The amount that you are determined to be eligible for in aid could be in the form of anything from loans, to grants/scholarships, to work-study. Obviously the best item to receive will be scholarships and/or grants. Then, it's time to start figuring out how you plan to cover the EFC every year.

I will repeat my self in saying this: make sure that you fill out this form! Even if you don't think you are eligible for anything, you may be surprised. I expected to receive federal aid anyways, but the amount that my family was offered was still a pleasant surprise. My daughter received a Cal Grant that covered her full tuition during her first year at UCSD; she also received several scholarships later on from UCSD as a result of our need, which we would not have received if we didn't submit the FAFSA. She has also took advantage of a great low-interest student loan (the subsidized Stafford Loan) that we received only because of the FAFSA. A few of my colleagues did not expect to receive anything at all from the FAFSA, but their kids ended up receiving thousands of dollars each (in forms including low-interest loans, work study, and even a school grant for one of them)! Like with applying for scholarships, taking the time to fill out your FAFSA will definitely pay off well.

Here are a few useful links that should help you fill out the FAFSA:

-General guide to filling out the FAFSA and the questions that you will be asked

-FAFSA FAQ

-Free e-Book on filling out FAFSA

Filling out the FAFSA is definitely a tedious process regardless, but taking enough time to complete it will certainly pay off. Good luck!

Affording UCSD: Part 2

2008-12-28T17:20:00.000-08:00

After scholarships, we still had about $15,000 a year in costs for attending UCSD. We managed to afford this through grants, loans, and a bit of our own savings.

One aid program that I would advise you to check out is the Cal Grant; you probably know of it. Three different programs exist (Cal Grants A, B, and C): Cal Grant A covers a student’s full tuition, B pays about $1,500 for books and living expenses, and C helps pay for tuition and occupational costs at career or occupational colleges. To be eligible for any of these scholarships, you must fall under a certain income ceiling. We were able to win the Cal Grant A the first year, but after that my income went above the ceiling and we were no longer eligible. Oh yeah, and this is only available for residents of California, sorry. I’m guessing other states have similar grant programs though; if you don’t live in Cali, check out what’s available for your state!

So anyways, for our first year, we had about $12,000 in total aid going into UCSD. As a gift to Kelly, we paid the remainder of the costs that year, but after that (without Cal Grant) we returned to $15,000 per year in costs. For the remaining three years, we agreed with Kelly that we would split the $15,000. We would pay $7,500 per year, if she could manage the other $7,500 herself.

To pay that $7,500, she got a part time job on campus and also applied for a student loan.

She was eligible for the subsidized Stafford Loan; it’s a great program that I would advise looking into. This is a long-term loan with 6% interest, designed especially for students in need of financial aid for college. Until repayment begins after you graduate (you have a nice 6-month grace period after graduation), you are not responsible for the costs nor the interest. She took out a full loan of $4,000 per year and earned the rest of the $7,500 through her job. With a repayment time of at least ten years, she definitely will not have trouble paying off the money that she received through loans. Here is a great website for more info on the Stafford loan: http://www.staffordloan.com/stafford-loan-info/undergraduate-stafford-loan.php

So, that is how we were able to afford Kelly’s education at UCSD. Between scholarships of about $5,000 per year average, federal grant and loan programs, having her work part time, and contributing just a bit of our own savings, we were able to send her to a great school without any major financial consequences.

In upcoming postings, I will discuss various loan and grant programs, and then go into how we have managed USC…so far, that is!

Affording UCSD: Part 1

2008-12-28T17:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I’m back for my second posting =)

As I think I mentioned in my last post, in this post I will explain how my wife and I received financial aid for my daughter Kelly when she attended UCSD. Between tuition, room and board, and other expenses, attending this school turned out to cost around $20,000 a year before aid. This was an amount that we could have afforded, but seeing that we would still have future college expenses and wanted to save as much money as possible, we pursued as much financial aid as we could. After receiving federal aid and scholarships, we were able to cut our costs down to about $8,000 per year; we did get some loans, but our daughter has agreed to pay off those after college. So, how did we cut down the costs of attending UCSD?

First of all, we had Kelly apply to as many scholarship programs as possible before starting college. Most of these programs were pretty competitive, so she was only able to win a few; but, these few did amount to about $6,000, which was a nice savings for the first year. After her first year, most of the scholarships that she received were through programs at UCSD. The scholarships that she applied for and won as a high school senior included:

-The Ronald McDonald House Charities Scholarship (http://www.rmhc.org/what-we-do/rmhc-u-s-scholarships/)

-Simon Youth Foundation Community Scholarship (simonyouth.scholarshipamerica.org)

-Best Buy Scholarship (bestbuy.scholarshipamerica.org)

-The AXA Achievement Scholarship (www.axa-achievement.com)

-and one more through her school

I would encourage you to have your teenager to apply for ALL of these scholarships while a senior, as they are attainable for any well-performing student. Kelly simply did well in school (almost all A’s) and was involved in her community, which qualified her for the awards (along with her essays, of course). In some cases, such as a few of these, the family’s financial situation is another factor, but the income ceiling is reasonable (however, don’t expect to be considered if you are making six figures). At the time of these scholarships I fell under the ceiling, although I am not sure if I do now.

Additionally, another scholarship that you MUST look into is the Robert C. Byrd Scholarship. If your child is ranked at or near the top of their class, has good grades, and did well on the SAT, then they are eligible to be nominated by their school for this program. Two students are nominated from each school, both of which should get the scholarship. The scholarship pays $1,500, and is renewable each year of college, so I would advise going for it. Kelly won it, and it has definitely been helpful. Check it out here: http://www.ed.gov/programs/iduesbyrd/index.html, and http://www.csac.ca.gov/doc.asp?id=125

Overall, I cannot stress enough the importance of having your child apply to AS MANY SCHOLARSHIPS AS HUMANELY POSSIBLE! While most are often only $500 to $2000, if you take the time to work hard on each application they definitely add up. Spending five hours on an application and essay may seem like a long time, but think about it. If that five hours wins you $500, that equates to $100 an hour! I would never dream of making that much! And yes, of course there will be applications where you don’t win, but the time is still worth it if you win at least a few scholarships. As a senior, Kelly applied to at least 30 (yes, thirty!) scholarships and only won 6. She spent at least an hour on each application/essay, so overall I would say at least 40 hours in total. But despite her losses, the $6,000 she earned still equates out to $150 per hour. As you can see, the time is definitely worth it!

My advice would be to find scholarships that are less competitive. Scholarships offered through your school, by certain companies (such as the ones mentioned earlier), and ones available only for specific majors are often easier to win. One’s that are offered online (i.e. where you submit an essay to a website) usually are too competitive or possibly even a scam, so I would suggest not spending too much time with these.

In the end, remember that most scholarships in existence are very competitive, so unless your child is Harvard material, don’t expect them to receive more than a few thousand at the most. But if they do set their mind to applying to as many as possible, they should be able to pull off at least a few thousand. I’ll post more information on scholarships in some of my future blogs.

So the summary from this is that Kelly (on average) received $4,000 to $6,000 in scholarships each year in college. Encourage your child to search for scholarships in the areas mentioned above and through their college, and they have a good chance of doing the same.

In part 2 of this posting I'll discuss the other forms of financial aid that we acquired.

Welcome! First post

2008-12-27T19:35:00.000-08:00

Well hello there! Thank you for taking the time to visit my humble blog today.

I have created this blog in dedication to all of the parents out there who will soon be sending their children off to college (or already have). Well, to the parents who cringe when they think of the price that accompanies a college education these days. I won’t hesitate to say that I am one of them.

When my oldest child was a junior in high school, I believed at the time that my kids would go off to a junior college just like I had in my younger days. It was cheap, served me well, and got me a decent career…wouldn’t it be good enough for them? Apparently not for overachievers. My oldest child, my daughter Kelly, ended up doing very well in school, and quickly began talking about prestigious schools such as Stanford, UCLA, MIT, and UC Berkeley. My eyes bulged when I first looked at the costs, but after seeing how important it was to her, I decided that it would be worth the sacrifice for the education she would receive and the experiences that she would have. Kelly decided that UCSD was her dream school, and actually just graduated last year. Although UCSD certainly wasn’t cheap (about $20,000 per year), between my decent income and some loans and grants that my wife and I acquired (I will discuss these in future blog posts), we were able to send her to school there without worry.

The future will present some greater challenges for us though. My oldest son ended up doing pretty well in high school as well and left for USC this fall (he chose USC for its excellent engineering program), which will cost us about $37,000 per year after the financial aid we were offered. Being that he received several scholarships, my wife and I will be able to afford the costs this year, but I am quite worried about after that. Although we make a considerable income, we can definitely not afford $40,000 per year on top of our house and car payments, and other living expenses. Additionally, my other son will start college in another two years and will probably want to go somewhere other than community college as well.

I can definitely say that I am anxious for the challenges ahead. But I know that it is doable, if I take the time to research the forms of financial aid available that can help us through this without too many worries…which is why I have created this blog. Through this blog, I plan to share with you ways in which my family manages to afford a college education for our three children, and how the experience is going for us. Over the next several years, I will post where my wife and I are at on affording our children’s college education, and good programs and ideas that we have come across as far as financial aid. I have already done quite a bit of research on some, and will begin explaining them in my next postings. I hope they can be of assistance to you, as they (hopefully) will be to me.

Anyways, good luck! I hope you find this blog useful, and please don’t hesitate to message me at any time if you have a question!

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Step. 2. Filling out Scholarship Application Forms

Step 1 to Winning Scholarships

Scholarship Essay Examples

Gates Millenium Scholarship

College Costs to Consider

Picking a major in consideration of college Costs

More creative ways to find money to pay for college

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PRIVACY POLICY

New Tip

Another tip for raising money for college: Become an RA

More ways for college students to save money on campus

Don't spend money on unnecessary items

Save money on books in college

More money tips for college students

Writing Scholarship Application Essays

Guide to Winning Scholarships

Scholarships for College Students in computer related majors

Some useful scholarships/grants for college students

Money Management for College Students

Other ways college students can find extra money

More ways to find money for college students

4 Ways Students can save money for college

Getting Financial Aid isn't as hard as it looks

Get Free Money for College Students

New Scholarship Opportunity: More than Grades

Government Grants: GET THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS, FREE!

Student Loan Consolidation: Signs that you should consolidate

Private Student Loan Consolidation: FAQ Part 1

Federal Student Loan Consolidation: FAQ Part 3

Federal Student Loan Consolidation: FAQ Part 2

Student Loan Consolidation: Why should I consolidate federal and private separately?

Federal Student Loan Consolidation: FAQ Part 1

General Student Loan Consolidation FAQ's

Federal Student Loan Consolidation: Direct vs. FFELP

Federal Student Loan Consolidation: Repayment Plans

Federal Student Loan Consolidation: Pros/Cons

Private Student Loan Consolidation: Lenders

Private Student Consolidation Loans: Repayment Plans

Private Student Loan Consolidation: Pros & Cons

Student Loan Consolidation: What Program?

Student Loan Consolidation: Savings Calculator

Student Loan Consolidation: Financial Aid Benefits