It’s October, and that means it’s time to file the FAFSA. The financial aid form that has to be filled out every year (keep that in mind), FAFSA tells students how much college money the federal government will provide, and what kind of aid it will be.
FAFSA is a little long, so it’s easy to understand why students heave a sigh of relief when they’re done and say “Thank goodness that’s over.” But conquering the FAFSA should be seen as the first step on a greater goal—developing a strategy to pay for college. It would be great if the federal government met everyone’s full need, but that’s not usually the case. So, we have to think bigger.
There’s no one approach to this, but give this a try:
Find out how much a college is going to cost you. Every college has a Net Price Calculator (NPC) on its website. Students put in basic financial information and get some idea what it’s going to cost them to go there. NPCs aren’t always completely accurate—some don’t include merit scholarships—but it’s still a good place to start.
Fill out (sigh) another form. Many colleges want more information about your finances, and the finances of your parents. They’ll often ask for a form called the CSS Profile, or their own institutional form. More forms may not sound like fun, and the CSS Profile has a fee (it can be waived), but the more they know about your situation, the more they can help you.
What about work study? Once the college has what they need, they’ll send you a financial aid offer with three parts: Grants, or money you don’t have to pay back; work study, or college money you earn while working at college; and loans. This is just an offer, and you can turn down parts of it—so you can take the grants, and say no to the loan. If you do this, don’t count on the college offering you more grants. Typically, you’ll have to fund whatever part of the offer you said no to.
Some students don’t like the idea of working while they’re in school, so one way to say no to work study is to earn more money over the summer. It’s important to keep your grades first as much as possible.
What about loans? Loans are typically seen as evil things, and it’s easy to see why. The average student who takes loans has $32,000 to pay back when they graduate—that’s a pretty nice car, or payment on a house.
But loans aren’t always bad.
Tight budgeting can make this possible for many students, while others have jobs that would allow them to pay the loan off quickly—like the petroleum engineer making $85,000 a year out of college. Talk to a money manager about this, or the financial aid office.
Private scholarships. Finaid.org and other websites show you other scholarships you can apply for, if you’re willing to write more essays and do the search. These are national scholarships, so they have a big audience, but someone has to earn them. Many local groups offer smaller scholarships as well, money that can add up if you received 3 or 4 of them. Ask your counselor.
Long term financial aid. Many colleges offer more scholarship opportunities for students the longer they’re in college, since the college really wants you to finish. These often take the form of teacher assistant grants, or free housing and tuition for dorm advisers. Ask the financial aid office about money opportunities for returning students.
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