What Is Student Aid?

Student Aid is also referred to as student financial aid. Student aid are government and private programs that provide financial assistance to college students.

One of the biggest decisions that you can make is going on to college after graduating from high school. Many times your advanced education depends on your ability to pay the increasing costs of college tuition.

You and your family have the main responsibility of paying for your college education. If you don't have enough money to cover the cost of tuition, books, housing, and supplies, you will probably need to look for other financial resources.

There are several things you need to consider when looking for help to finance your college education. At first, all the different scholarships, grants, and student loans may seem overwhelming. We provide you information to help you understand the student financial aid options and how to proceed.

One of the first things you need to do is make a list of colleges that you would like to attend and determine how much it will cost for tuition, books, supplies, and room and board. This will give you an idea of how much college is going to cost you.

Once you know how much money you will need each month and year for college, you will need to determine how much money you and your family have available to pay for your college expenses.

If you and your family have more than enough money that was set aside to cover your college education to the school of your choice, then great! You are one of the lucky students!

However, if you are like most students, you and your family do not have enough money to pay for your entire college education. On average, parents income and savings pays for 37%, another 10% is borrowed from parents, student income and savings account for about 9%, and friends and relatives provide 7%. Therefore, you will need to look for other options to help pay for your college.

Options For Financing Your College Education:

1. Apply for college scholarships and financial awards.

2. Apply for Federal student grants.

3. Consider Federal work-study programs.

4. Apply for Federal student loans.

5. Consider Private student loans as a last option.

6. Do not consider credit cards as an option for paying for college.

You should be aware that more than $80 billion is available for federal student aid in the form of grants, loans, and work-study. There are more than 2,300 other sources of college funding including scholarships and grants totaling almost $3.5 billion.

With all the college scholarships and student grants that are available through the government, universities, and private sources, there isn't any reason that you should pay full tuition for your college education.

Everyone can recieve a federal student loan because not all of the federal student loans are based on financial need.

Selecting the student financial aid program that meets your needs can be confusing and frustrating. We have provided links to websites and sources of information that can help you in making those important financial decisions. In other words.... how to pay for your college.

With any financial decision, you need to understand the process to make informed decisions. To better understand the federal student aid process, it is helpful to organize the steps into four categories.

The four parts of the federal student aid process are:

1. Prepare - Learn what you need to know about federal student aid.

2. Apply - Learn how to apply and what happens when you apply for financial aid.

3. Receive - Learn when and how you will receive your financial aid.

4. Repay - Learn how you will repay the student aid loan and what to do if you are having trouble repaying your college loan.

One of the first decisions you will need to make is whether you want to apply for a federal student loan, federal student grant or college scholarship.

In case you don't qualify for federal assistance there are many loans, grants and scholarships in the private sector also (Private College Loans).

In general, the federal loan programs are easy to apply for using the Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Once you are successful in securing a student loan, you need to remember that you have to pay it back. Going to college can be expensive and most families can not afford to send their children to college without financial aid.  It is also very likely that you might acquire more student debt than you can afford. If that does happen, you may need to look at a student loan consolidation program that will assist you in paying back your student loans and getting yourself out of debt quicker.

Remember that obtaining information and applying for federal student loans and federal school grants is free. You don't need to pay any company to apply for you. If you have additional questions, please be sure to talk with your parents and your school financial aid office to get assistance.

The information and links that we have provided will help you get started in planning your education and future. Remember to take the time to do the proper research before you sign on the dotted line...

To Summarize - having multiple options (student grants and student loans) to help you pay for college is smart. Remember, the first step you will need to take is to fill out a FAFSA form so that you can then apply for Federal Student Grants and Federal Student Loans.

Explore the large number of Scholarships and Private Loans that are also available for college.

Realize that there is a very good chance that you will probably go into debt paying for college and you need to manage that debt. If you have several school loans, then you might want to look into school loan consolidation programs to see if that can help you reduce your debt faster.

Going to college is your first step to independence and being a responsible adult. Make sure that you make smart financial decisions that will help prepare you for a bright and successful future!