Financial Aid

I have always heard educational counselors say people do not take advantage of all the financial aid opportunities given to them. It is simply a shame. Year after year there are reports of over 100 million in financial aid money forgone by people who were simply too lazy to apply or just could not find the scholarships. So, I outlined the Types of Financial Aid and Resources to help you understand how financial aid works. It is followed by Five Steps and You Are Guaranteed to Receive Financial Aid to help you find scholarships and financial aid! I wanted to share with you various student-specific scholarship opportunities that one should not pass up!

Financial Aid Types and Resources

There are four types of scholarships: merit-based, need-based, career-specific, and student-specific.

Merit-based scholarship and financial aid is awarded based on student ability and often favor extracurricular activities and community involvement. Applying to these scholarships mostly entail a submission of some kind like an essay, a video, or an interview.

Need-based scholarship and financial aid is awarded based on a student’s or family’s financial standing. Nearly all need-based scholarship requires the submission of a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) no matter the source, public and private.

Career-specific scholarships are awarded to those who are planning to pursue a career specific to the study. Colleges often provide generous scholarships to those who are planning to study in fields of high demand such as Engineering and Nursing.

Student-specific Student-specific aid is provided based on the demographic of the student (race, gender, family history, medical history, or many other specific qualifications). Financial aid in this area includes scholarships that are specific to adults, moms, dads, etc.

Financial Aid: Follow these Five Steps and You Are Guaranteed to Receive Financial Aid

Everyone is capable of receiving financial aid; however, most of these people do not know the scholarships out there.

1. Fill Out the FAFSA
This is the most important source of aid and it should be completed at the earliest possible time. The Free Application For Federal Student Aid needs to be filled out as accurately as possible because it allows organizations which provide need-based aid to accurately do so. These organizations include the college or university to which you are applying, both public and private, and any other public and private organizations that might provide financial aid.

2. Sign Up for Scholarship Connection Services
Scholarship connection services are by far the most helpful tool one can utilize in finding scholarships. These services provide the user with scholarships based on the information filled out by the user. Many colleges and universities recommend AND use these services because they specialized to find financial aid opportunities for you. This allows you spend time doing something more important! Not only does it save a lot of time, but some of these services also provide you with opportunities that you could have never found on your own.

3. Prepare Samples of You Work and Application Requirements
The more applications you fill out, the more you will realize that most applications require similar types of submissions. They range from 250-500 word personal statements to one page essays on your experiences that qualify you as a candidate for the financial aid opportunity. So, preparing yourself by having a few paragraphs written of a generic personal statement (and maybe ‘Why I want to be a nurse’ if you were applying to nursing school) will help you in the future when you can just copy-paste and edit a few lines.

4. Complete and Submit Your Applications
This should be the most time consuming step, and if it is not, you are not applying to enough financial aid opportunities. Be sure to fill out all the specifics of the application and not to leave anything out. It is always beneficial to provide more information or evidence when the application does not explicitly limit the information you can submit. Remember, you want to take time to fill everything out properly at this point, but do still submit before the deadline. Otherwise, all your hard work will be wasted.

5. Do NOT be afraid to APPLY!
This is the most important step. I hear many stories like this one: “I looked at a couple scholarships, but they looked too selective and I didn’t think I would get any so I didn’t apply.” You could find no worse reason that this for not applying. In fact, it is not a reason at all — it is an excuse. Understand that most opportunities are missed because you do not apply rather than you being denied. If you or your scholarship service find a financial aid opportunity for which you qualify, APPLY!