Week #7 Current_Events

Week #7 Current_Event

This week's current event was to find a resource from someone we were following on twitter. As always, our group did a great job finding great and interesting resources. As much as I'd like to write about them all, we're gonna go with @edutopia http://www.edutopia.org/blog/guide-to-college-financial-aid-tanya-knight.

This resource is a step by step guide to financial aid for college. I believe one of the biggest reasons many avoid going to college is having to figure out how to pay for it. After many years of graduating from high school, I finally decided to return to college and puruse a teaching degree thanks to financial aid. Thank goodness I'm more aware of financial resources out there because in a few years, I'll have a college bound child and I'll be more prepared on what to do.
This step by step guide to financial aid is simple to understand and is a wonderful tool for parents, teachers, counselors, and students planning on going to college. It entails financial aid available from the federal government, the state of ones residence, the college where one is applying, and private scholarships available in ones hometown. The site also includes the infamous Free Application for Federal Student Aid from the Department of Education (FAFSA) site. The FAFSA form is one that is definitely recommended by everyone to apply for because this not only calculates an estimate needed for college per applicant, but it also identifies state-level and federal financial aid available. It's basically filling out one application to locate other possible "money" floating out there that many people don't know about. This includes federal grants or federal work study funds and low interest loans.
The FAFSA application must be filled out every year, however personal information is saved to avoid having to fillout the entire form again. The only thing that would most likely change is the tax information area and types of financial aid one would like to recieve. A pin number will be provided to all that apply for FAFSA for easy access to ones application online. Applications are normally available from January 1st, however must be completed with the most recent tax return information. The earlier one applies for FAFSA the better, as financial aid is on a first come first served basis. Should an applicant be accepted and qualified for financial aid, funds will be disbursed via the financial aid department at their home school.
Just by reading the resource from edutpoia, the emphasis on FAFSA shows you the importance and highly recommended site for financial aid. This is a great first step to applying for financial aid for college. It really is one application for many financial resources out there for college students. The great thing is even if you don't think you need it or don't think you'll qualify, it doesn't hurt to try. There's free money for college out there, the more people are aware of it the better.