Paying

Paying

“Will our family qualify for financial aid? Will we be able to get any merit aid? Which colleges will we actually be able to afford?  What happens if my financial aid award isn’t big enough? How can I possibly finance this?”  Paying for college is a concern for most people.  Very few can foot the bill for one year of college upfront. However, sometimes families don’t have enough information about how to pay for the college. For example, you may be qualified for aid but you still don’t know.  You could get more aid than you may think and expensive schools might be cheaper to attend because of strong financial aid programs they have.  Dream big and make sure you cover yourself by having affordable colleges on your list.  The worst mistake students make is searching a college, apply but they have never had any frank conversation with their parents regarding the family financial status  – you need to sit and talk.  Investigate financial aid as soon as you start thinking about the colleges to apply to and use Net price calculator to get an understanding of what you will have to pay at individual colleges.  Remember you can always finance your education through grants, loans, scholarships, and work – study programs.  Carefully, compare your aid awards to understand which combination of price and student aid is most advantageous.  With a carefully thought plan and done well in advance, financing your college will be less stressful.

In this section, we will explore:

♣ Financial aid

♣ Family qualification for aid

♣ Net price and estimate of what you will pay

♣ Need – based aid

♣ Merit -based aid and scholarships

♣ Scholarships search

♣ Scams

♣ The financial aid package: grants, loans, work –study

♣ How to ask for more aid

♣ Deadlines

♣ More