The First Year at College and Financial Aid Applications

Perhaps more pervasive than any other post-secondary ritual, for absolutely everyone attending college, financial aid is available if they are diligent enough about applying for it.  From small, technical colleges in Minneapolis to private, four-year universities in Atlanta, the process begins with the same form.

The Federal Application For Student Aid (FAFSA) is used as something of a baseline to determine one's financial situation.  At most colleges, financial aid and grant applications use copies of the FAFSA information and then allow you to concentrate on submitting essays or more detailed information for their specific grants and scholarships.  

The FAFSA has the advantage of keeping you from having to fill all that financial information out dozens of times. Your parents are very likely to claim you as a dependent on their taxes, so check with them to see if you need to include their information instead of your own.

For seniors in high school who are considering attending any type of college, financial aid is an absolute requirement.  Even a public college is likely to cost over $10,000 per year in tuition alone and private colleges can be two or three times that.  That's a crushing burden to pay for with only loans, especially given how quickly one must start paying the back.

While not available to everyone attending college, financial aid does cover roughly 20-40% of the tuition and books of the average attendee of a state college or land-grant university.  This figure is much higher for some, with some private schools boasting 70-80% of tuitions being paid by some type of college financial aid.

Largely, this is the result of applying for anything you feel even a tiny bit qualified for.  The more you apply, the better your chances.  Talking to an advisor, even before you begin attending a school, is a great way to find out about local or institutional grants as well as other types of college financial aid that may be very particular to that institution.  It's partly their job to make sure you can afford to keep going to school as well as advising you on the best path through school.

If you plan on beginning classes in the autumn, winter break of the previous year is a good time to start filling out forms, since many of them are due by the spring.  Give yourself as much time to get those essays in tip top shape for some of the more competitive colleges.  Financial aid is a specialty of your high school advisors and teachers – let them assist you however they can, if for no other reason than to proofread your work.  He or she will also be able to give you ideas to get started on answering scholarship questions if you're feeling stuck or daunted.

Applying for college financial aid is the hardest that first year, but with some help and good advice, you can fund a sizeable chunk of your college burden.

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