Education Articles from College Matching Service

Take the next steps.

Before enrolling, make appointments to visit the colleges or career
schools you’re considering. Bring a list of questions to ask school
representatives. Your education is a major investment, so find out
as much information as you can before you enroll.
What kind of information should I get from
a school?

• Ask about the school’s accreditation,* licensing and
campus security.
• Find out the school’s loan default* rate (the percentage
of students who attended the school, took out federal
student loans and failed to repay their loans on time).
You might not be able to get aid from some of our
programs at a school that has a high default* rate.
• Find out the school’s job placement rates (the percentage
of students who are placed in jobs relevant to their
courses of study).
If the school advertises its job placement rates, it must
also publish:
• the most recent employment statistics,
• graduation statistics, and
• any other information necessary to back up
its claims.
(more…)

Think of attending college as a part of investment into financial future. In the present economy, college or university education is more crucial than ever. The future earnings of a student as a result of university degree would make up for interest paid for the student loans. Choosing to earn a university or college degree will probably be the best decision you make.

If you want to fund your education, but you do not have access to a large amount of money, you will probably have to choose the student loan option to solve your problem. Apart from the tuition fee of college, you will also require funds for transportation, books and for meeting other daily expenditures.

How Student Loans Can Help

Luckily, several student loan programs are available nowadays, that may help you a lot to fund your education. Usually, interests are paid for all types of loans because of getting the benefit of borrowing money when you don’t have cash at hand. However, you can postpone the payment for student loan until you finish your schooling and get a full time job in your selected field of study. This helps you to carry on with your education, and you will have to pay back the student loan only when you get full time employment.

Before rushing to sign the student loan application form, you must have detailed knowledge about the student loan procedure. If you follow the procedure used by federal programs, you will possibly get the best value. Federal process usually starts with student filing a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).

After the FAFSA is processed students receive a SAR (Student Aid Report). SAR delineates the grants and scholarships for which a student qualify. It also outlines the amounts and loan programs that are available to the student. It is always advisable to start with those student loan programs which provide maximum advantages to the students; then opt for other student loans in order to meet the remaining expenditures.

A scholarship is financial aid or an award given to a student for the purpose of beginning or continuing their education. Scholarships are, in fact, funds that are awarded to scholars for their academic achievements. These are given by private industries, associations, institutions, businesses and schools and are based on academic merit, need, interests, academic concentration and other criteria.

There are several options available to pay for university or college education rather than applying for student loans. You can always use your abilities and talents to apply for college scholarships. College scholarships, just like grants, are cash that can cover huge portions of student expenses. Let us discuss few basics about scholarships.

Types of Scholarships Found

There are many types of scholarships available to help students pay their college fees. Few types of scholarships are:

• Athletic: These are awarded to capable sportspersons who did well in sports.
• Academic: These scholarships are awarded to students depending on their grades and performance in school.
• Religious Affiliation: These scholarships are given to brilliant scholars who have devotion towards their religion and practice.
• Financial Need: These scholarships are given to students who demonstrate circumstances for financial assistance.
• Minority Status: These scholarships are awarded to students who are chosen to represent their specific race or culture.
• Community Based: These are awarded to students from particular community where they grew up.
• General: These cover wide ranging sponsors not listed above.

Requirements To Get Scholarships

In order to apply for scholarship you should have:

• High School records
• Test scores such as SAT
• Financial information of your parents
• Financial assistance forms
• Recommendation letters from reliable sources
• Evidence of your eligibility

Who Offers Scholarships

Both the state and federal organizations offer these scholarships. A few of them are: volunteer organizations, religious groups, colleges, high schools, individuals, churches, labor unions, community foundations and companies.

Conclusion

It is true that majority of the students are not lucky enough to get college scholarships; however, never loose hope since there are numerous scholarships available and you will be surely eligible to get the right one. Some scholarships are easy to apply for, whereas others ask to submit stories and articles describing yourself. Never feel shy. Just do your research thoroughly and obtain as my scholarship resources as you can before applying.

What is a Federal Pell Grant? A Federal Pell Grant is awarded by the federal government to both part time and full time college and vocational students.

The eligibility criteria of Federal Pell Grant: To be eligible for the Federal Pell Grant you need to be a student whose house income is up to $50,000. However, in many cases Federal Pell Grant goes to those students whose house income is about $20,000. Moreover, there is no application fee for applying for Federal Pell Grant.

You can also receive a Federal Pell Grant for your undergraduate study, your first professional degree or baccalaureate.

Factors determining the award of the Federal Pell Grant: There is a formula that works behind the award of the Federal Pell Grant. Whether you would get the award or not depends on a lot of factors. These are:

a) The financial situation of your family

b) The number of members in your family

c) What type of course you are following- that is whether it is full time or part time

d) The tuition price of your program

Where can you use the Federal Pell Grant? The Federal Pell Grant can be used in almost any school that you attend. As a precaution, ask the financial aid administrator whether the school and the course that you have chosen supports the Federal Pell Grant.

How to apply for a Federal Pell Grant? You need to complete a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) application form if you want to apply for a Federal Pell Grant. Some schools prefer that the application form is filled electronically.

After you have submitted the application form, you need to wait for processing time before you get the grant. If you want to know the status of your application you can call up the Federal Student Aid Information Center.