By EMAYENEME GBEMIYE-ETTA
In this day and age and even with the sources available on the Internet so many students are still taking out loans for college when with a bit of planning and work beforehand they could possibly come out of college without any loans at all even without the help of their parents. In fact there is a program airing on Maryland Public television that provides some good information to get started. The show airs on Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 2pm.
The average student still feels that loans have to be a part of their path to getting a college degree which is not the case. What students need to realize is that there are so many options available online for scholarships and grants and the process can be started by the parents of the students as early as when they are babies and it can continue even if they have already started college, it is never too late.
Students need to be aware that other than the resources listed below students can also look to their Church or religion for scholarships and or grants. A couple of sources to use for religious scholarships include: Religious scholarships; Catholic scholarships.
Sources of Financial Aid
- FinAid!
Provides information on financial aid resources to students and parents. - FastWeb
This site provides information tat on free scholarships and matches te student’s background against its database of over 600,000 scholarships. - Embark – Provides tools, scholarship search, and advice students and parents and elp wit the financial aid process.
- U.S. Department of Education
- Maryland National Guard – Provides an alternative form of financial aid.
- The College Board – Review the section on the plan for college and click on “Paying for College”.
- Peterson’s/Thomson Learning – Features financial aid calculators and search engines for scholarships.
- College Savings Plans of Maryland
In so many ways students do not make full use of the resources and money that is available to them. There are many sources for grants and scholarships and they are very easy to get because since they are not well known there is limited competition for them. For most of these rants all they require is an essay and usually filling out a straightforward and easy form.
Sometimes these grants and scholarships are a onetime thing but sometimes the can be easily renewed ever year and just require re-applying before the due date.
Another option for students is to start out at a community college and keep their grades up and be able to get a full scholarship when the transfer to a nearby college. College is expensive but it is doable even for the independent student.
Sources
1. MPT