PARENT MEETING JANUARY FINANCIAL AID, SCHOLARSHIPS, & STUDENT LOANS January 26, 2015

FAFSA…  Free Application for Federal Student Aid  This application takes your tax information and assigns your family an EFC (estimated family contribution) code which determines whether or not your child is eligible for financial assistance from the government for college. This assistance can come in the form of a Pell Grant (free money you don’t have to pay back), Student Loans (money you pay back during and after college), and Work Study (a flexible work program in which students work on a college campus as their job).

Do I have to file this FAFSA?  Yes! The FAFSA is not only an application for colleges; it also helps the government determine how much federal funding colleges get. Also, schools cannot issue scholarship money to students until they get your family’s EFC code. This has to be done annually to continue to receive money from the college and from the government.

How do I get this FAFSA done?  FIRST!!!! Get your taxes done… I know that this is a ‘sore spot’ for some small business owners who like to wait until April to file their taxes, but if you have a senior this is the one year that you want to go ahead and file as soon after February 1 st as possible to get all financial aid paperwork squared away.  SECOND!!!! We are lucky to have a TRIO program office in Scottsboro, Alabama. The North Alabama Center for Educational Excellence are paid by the Feds to provide services in rural areas to help promote education. One of the FREE services they provide is processing your child’s FAFSA.  You simply call and make an appointment.

SCHOLARSHIPS  A scholarship is defined on Dictionary.com as a ‘sum of money or other aid granted to a student because of merit, need, etc. to pursue his or her studies’. The word MERIT when defined as a noun means ‘claim to respect and praise; excellence; worth’. Another definition is ‘superior quality deserving praise’. You earn them, win them, or are awarded them based on achievement.

SCHOLARSHIPS  There are as many scholarships available as everyone says!  In order to get a scholarship you must APPLY, BE ELIGIBLE, & STAND OUT as an applicant.  The three primary types of scholarships are:  INSTITUTIONAL  CORPORATE  LOCAL

INSTITUTIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS  These scholarships are given from the school you are attending. For incoming freshmen they award these scholarships based on things such as ACT score, GPA, & outstanding Resume’s  You get these applications from the college itself & they are posted on their websites.

CORPORATE SCHOLARSHIPS  This money comes from big businesses such as Honda, McDonald’s, Best Buy, etc.  You get the applications for this money directly from business sites or scholarships.com.  New site!! High Five Scholarships (this site has ACT/SAT test prep)  Check out Pinterest for scholarships! Search Pinterest for the word ‘scholarship’

LOCAL SCHOLARSHIPS  This money comes from local businesses, organizations, Civic groups, churches, etc.  You get these applications from the businesses themselves, on the school website, or from your guidance counselor.  Local Scholarship applications are available no later than February 1 st (due Feb 20 th )