It’s true that college tuition can be expensive, but you don’t need to pay for those expenses right now if you don’t have the money right now. If you wait for your financial situation to improve before you go to school so you can find a higher-paying career, how will you ever break the cycle to find your dream job? With grants, scholarships and loans you can have much of your school paid for while delaying paying for the rest until you have the career you’ve always wanted.
Federal Grants
Federal grants are one of the easiest forms of financial aid to apply for. All you need to do is fill out the online Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, before your school’s deadline to be eligible for a variety of federal grants. Pell grants are awarded to students based on their financial need, so if your finances aren’t good enough to afford college chances are high that you could qualify for one of these grants. Other grants include the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, or FSEOG, for students who have extreme financial need, and grants for single parents that are often offered through individual universities. If you are a single parent, talk to your school to see what assistance they can offer you; some will offer you free or reduced daycare while you are in school in addition to traditional grants. Grants are money you do not need to pay back.
Scholarships
The process to apply for scholarships is a little more difficult than applying for federal student aid, but if your school has a list of scholarships on their website it is a good place to start. Each scholarship has its own requirements, so apply to all of the scholarships you qualify for if you can. Unlike federal aid, scholarships are competitive, so don’t expect to receive every scholarship you meet the requirements for. Other people who meet those requirements will be applying too, and there is only so much money to go around. You do not need to pay back scholarships.
Student Loans
A lot of people have been talking about student loans lately because of the changes in repayment schedules and talk of forgiving existing loans. Some careers already offer student loan forgiveness, so if you plan on being a teacher or going into the healthcare field after you graduate you might want to talk to a financial aid officer about what the requirements are to have your loans reduced or written off all together. If you are going into a field that doesn’t offer student loan forgiveness you will eventually need to pay back the money, but you usually won’t need to make payments while you are at least a half-time student.
Regardless of how you decide to pay for school, don’t put off your education just because you don’t feel like you can afford it right now. There are plenty of options to get you through school, but the most important thing is to concentrate on your classes so you can get that great career!