FINANCIAL AID

The Financial Aid

Paying for College

The most important thing to know about paying for college is that financial aid is available to everyone.

For some reason, most college applicants believe they need to land scholarships to pay for school, but that's not true. Instead, they need financial aid, which is completely different.

Three Forms of Financial Aid

College financial aid comes in the form of grants, loans, and work-study jobs, and most aid packages contain a mix of the three. Grants are free money that you never need to repay; loans consist of temporary money that you will need to repay after graduating; and work-study jobs require that you work on campus.

These three sources of money are designed to be enough to allow you to attend college full time. All you need to do is apply for aid and wait to see your aid offer.

Keep in mind that the aid will come from different sources. Sometimes it will be the state government; sometimes it will be the federal government; and sometimes it will be the university itself. You have virtually no control over it, and it doesn't matter where it comes from. All you need to do is submit your FAFSA form and let the various sources of aid do their work.

The Most Important Thing

The most important thing to know about college is there is enough money for you to attend regardless of your circumstances. You should never opt out of school because you believe you can't pay for it. That's not true!

Submit your FAFSA each year, and if you find yourself short of cash during the semester, contact your school's financial aid office and ask what they can do. They handle requests like this every day!