Wednesday, February 25, 2009

What You Need To Know To Get A College Grant

By Chris Channing

A grant to be used for college is going to be tough to obtain, considering there are more college students now more than ever competing for them. For grants based on limited supply, this means that some students will have to do without. To improve your odds, you should familiarize yourself with grants and how to accurately obtain them.

Before applying for anything, the first thing to be done is to talk to a college or high school counselor about one's options. Not just with government grants, but also with local scholarships. In most cases, a government grant won't pay the full cost of college, so this step is vital and shouldn't be skipped. The student should know several things such as their own income, savings, income of their parents, GPA, ACT or SAT scores, and may even be prepared to write a persuasive essay.

As far as government grants go, the Pell grant is the easiest to obtain. This grant in particular is a favorite among grants, since it doesn't have to be repaid like some others. There are certain restrictions, and total value is determined by the information sent to the government. Rules of the grant should be learned, such as the statute that says only one Pell grant is available per student per year, no matter how many colleges are attended.

A FAFSA is the first thing that should be filled out, and as soon as possible. This application will automatically register an applicant for different loans, work studies, and grants. It will require a lot of information in order to complete, however, so be prepared to do a lot of information searching and spend an hour or two filling it out online.

Also consider obtaining grants through the university, in which doing a work-study is possible. A work study program allows the student to take a job on at the university, in which will pay for part of the tuition for the given semester or year. Often times the university will get compensation from the government in offering such programs, so they like to do so when possible.

If you do decide to go for a loan, be sure that you will have the means of paying it back by the time college is said and done. Most loans available to college students will have to be paid on as soon as the student leaves college. If one doesn't obtain a job almost immediately, it'll be tough to pay the bills each month.

Closing Comments

From here, students should now go talk to their counselors, fill out a FAFSA, and fill out as many scholarships as possible. Every little bit helps in paying off an expensive education.

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