Parents are expected to help pay for college for their undergraduate students. But many have not been putting aside money in a college fund along the way. With the recent dips in the housing market, taking out a second mortgage is not an option for most people. And, the stock market decline has made those savings less accessable. For parents who cannot come up with the amount of money that they are expected to pay, the PLUS loan makes a lot of sense.

A PLUS loan is a federally guaranteed loan to parents to help them assist their children in realizing their dreams for a higher education. Parents can borrow the full out of pocket costs for their child’s higher education. To figure out how much you are eligible to borrow, take the school’s cost of attendance figure (tuition plus living expenses) and subtract any financial aid in the form of scholarships, grants, and other federally backed student loans.

The interest rate on PLUS loans is attractive. If your student’s school arranges loans directly with the federal government, the interest rate is 7.9 percent plus a one time 4 percent origination fee. If your student’s school allows you to shop around for loans, the maximum interest rate a bank can charge for a PLUS loan is 8.5 percent. If a school allows you to shop around, they may provide you with a preferred lenders list. You are not required to go with banks on this list and can often find better rates with a little research.

There is a credit check for PLUS loans. If a parent has been rejected by two lenders, they should call the student’s financial aid office and ask to participate in the “lender of last resort” program. The college has a legal obligation to help put you in touch with a lender who can try to make the loan despite your circumstances.

Students whose parents have been rejected for PLUS loans qualify for more student loans on their own. Student loans do not require credit checks.

Because of the current credit crunch, parents are advised to line up a PLUS loan as early as possible.

While interest can be deferred while the student is in school, interest accrues on the loan. Therefore, it makes sense to begin payments on at least the interest, if not the principal itself, during this period. Parents who borrow $10,000 for their student’s freshman year will end up having to pay $14,000 if they haven’t made the interest payments during the student’s four years of school.

The major benefit of the PLUS loan over other types of lending is that it has a low, fixed rate. A disadvantage is that PLUS loans, like other federally backed student loans, cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.

PLUS loans can allow parents to make their children’s college dreams come true.

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When you apply for financial aid for college, you will probably be given an award letter. This is a document which details how much money you will be given toward the cost of college. However, there are different components to the award letter, and you should be aware of how they will affect you.

The best thing in your award letter is the scholarships. These are given based on merit. For instance, an athletic scholarship is given to a football or cross country star who agrees to play on the school’s sports teams. At Division I schools, athletic scholarships cover tuition and fees, room, board, and books. The student basically only has to pay for his or her toothpaste.

But scholarships are not only given to those with athletic prowess. After all, a school’s primary mission is to turn out scholars not athletes. A variety of merit scholarships are granted on the basis of high grades or test scores or for specific skills such as dance or photography.

Often, alumni and other benefactors set up scholarships to help the school attract a certain kind of student. There may be scholarships for students in specific majors or who come from certain locations. These scholarships often honor a graduate of the school.

Sometimes a scholarship will be good for all four years while other times it covers only a year or a semester. If it is a four year scholarship, find out what the requirements are to renew it. If it is a one time offer, find out how easy it will be to get similar funding in subsequent years.

Almost as good as scholarships are grants. The college or university has a pool of free money that they can use to put together financial aid packages for students. Many schools promise to meet the full need for all admitted students. They use grant money to make good on this pledge.

Grants aren’t targeted at specific students, but many times, a financial aid office will use larger grants to entice their most desired students to actually enroll in their college over other places where the student has been offered admission. It is possible to use your financial aid packages from different schools to get the school you want to attend to increase your grant award.

The next category of aid is called work study. Work study is largely funded by the federal government as a form of aid. But, the college is able to benefit from this by having the students perform duties in the dining hall or library. Most colleges prefer to hire students on work study grants over traditional student assistants because it doesn’t affect their bottom line.

Work study often helps you cover the non-tuition costs of attending school such as housing and food. But, keep in mind that you might be better off passing on work study aid if you think you can get a higher rate of pay or more hours by working off campus.

The final category of aid in your award letter is the student loan. Many students don’t realize the burden they are putting on themselves in the future by accepting student loans. Because it looks like part of the aid package, students just accept that they have to take out the loans. But, if you can come up with another way to make ends meet, take it.

Most students who take on student loans end up graduating at the end of four years with $20,000 in debt. That means that when they get out of college, they will owe $230 a month to the bank before they are even doing things like paying rent or saving for a home. An English major, for instance, can only expect to bring home $2000 after taxes per month, so that $230 is a big chunk of money.

When you go over your financial award letter, take a look at the different kinds of aid being offered. That will help you to decide what package is the right one for you.

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Your parents owe more on their house than it is worth and their stock portfolios just took a hit. But, they are professionals and make a healthy salary. They tell you that they’re not going to be able to pay for much of your college expenses. You wonder, who qualifies for financial aid?

The truth is that more people qualify for financial aid than take advantage of the opportunity. Financial aid can be broken down into three categories.

The first category is based entirely on financial need as determined by the Free Application For Student Aid (FAFSA). You fill out this form with the information about your parents and your own income and assets. These numbers are fed into a computer program and an expected family contribution is produced.

This means that wherever you go to college, your family should pay that amount. If your expected family contribution is $15,000 and the total cost of attending the local state college is $14,000, you probably won’t get any financial aid unless you have some special skills or talents.

If you go to a school which charges $25,000, you should get $10,000 in financial aid in the form of scholarships, grants, work study, and loans. But, here’s the clincher. If you go to a school where the cost of attendance is $40,000, you shouldn’t have to pay any more than you would have at the $25,000 school. That is because your estimated family contribution is the same. So, the $40,000 school should come up with $25,000 in aid for you.

Therefore, it is important to not limit your choice of schools based on price.

Many colleges guarantee that they will meet the full need of all admitted students. Most are able to meet it for a good many of their students. If the school is not able to meet it through grants, loans, work study, and federally backed student loans, you have the option of taking out private loans to cover the difference.

The second category of scholarships comes in the form of merit aid. Who qualifies for financial aid grants? Well, when the college wants to attract a specific type of student, they will offer extra non-need based aid.

For instance, colleges often offer full athletic scholarships for people who play on their sports teams. This is particularly true for Division I football and men’s basketball teams.

In order to attract the best and the brightest, some colleges offer honors scholarships for students with high grades and test scores regardless of financial need. Scholarships are also frequently offered to students with specific artistic talents.

In order to provide a broad demographic diversity and to make up for past injustices, most schools offer some level of scholarship support to racial minorities.

Though women make up the majority of students on most campuses these days, there are still scholarships that are targeted at them, left over from the days when they were underrepresented.

But the real answer to the question “Who qualifies for financial aid” comes down to this: the people who qualify are the people who apply. Many people who consider themselves comfortably upper middle class are surprised at the amount of financial aid they qualify for.

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Graduate scholarships are for students pursuing post-bachelor’s work at a university. Some of these students are in professional school pursuing law degrees or MBAs. Others are doing graduate work towards a MA or Ph.D. in the humanities or sciences.

Many graduate scholarships are designed along the same lines that undergraduate scholarships are. That is, they look largely at grades and test scores. There aren’t any athletic scholarships at the graduate level and scholarships for community service or specific accomplishments are rare.

Professional school is funded primarily through loans, although some limited scholarships are available. The assumption is that the student will have a good salary when he or she finishes medical school, law school, business school or the like and will be able to pay off the loans. In some ways, this limits graduates from taking on public service jobs because the crushing debt of the loans means they must pursue jobs where they make a lot of money. Limited scholarships are available. Schools which are trying to move up in the rankings may offer large scholarships to students who lift up their overall statistics as far as grades and test scores go. However, most professional school scholarships are under $5000.

Graduate scholarships in the sciences work differently though. These students don’t have a lucrative payoff at the end of their educations to look forward to. Therefore, they have to pay for school as they go.

Many graduate students finance school through fellowships. These fellowships often give full tuition remission as well as a small living stipend. In exchange, the fellows serve as research or teaching assistants part time while attending school.

Graduate scholarships are also available for students pursuing research in specific areas. Corporations often want to further knowledge in specific fields and will make grants to ensure that the next generation of researchers are well versed in a specific subject area. This is more true in the sciences than the humanities.

There are scholarships for non-professional graduate students as well. Some of these are targeted at women or minorities.

Graduate students should also be aware that many scholarship essay competitions are available to students at any level of schooling. While most of the time undergraduates participate in these competitions, graduate students actually have the edge in terms of experience and education.

If you are a graduate student and you are considering looking for scholarship money, you should subscribe to a free national scholarship database which will allow you to be matched with and to search for scholarships that will allow you to continue your education.

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From kindergarten to your senior year in high school, your parents determined where you would go to school and how the bills would be met. Now, it’s your turn to make the decisions. But, that also means that you have to shoulder some of the responsibilities. You have to apply for college and you have to fill out the necessary applications for scholarships, grants and loans.

Applying for a college scholarship takes some guts. You will be competing with many other talented students to get the award money. But, the benefits of having scholarships in your portfolio in the place of work study and loan awards are great. With a scholarship, you don’t have to work in the cafeteria for the money or pay it back when you are done with school.

When you apply to colleges, inquire about special scholarship opportunities that come directly from the school itself. This will let the college know that you are interested in funding sources from them. You are more likely to get the scholarships if you ask about them.

Talk to your high school guidance counselor about scholarship opportunities within the community. Many of these scholarships are available from local businesses or service clubs.

Finally, you should join a free scholarship database offered on the internet. When you fill out a detailed profile of your activities, interests, and personal traits, you will be matched with a number of potential scholarships.

Here are some tips on how to get the scholarships you go after:

· Know what the deadlines are. Too many students leave money on the table because they don’t apply on time.
· Start early in the year. Some of the scholarships are actually offered in October and November. Also, the essay scholarship competitions require that you put some hard work and thought into your composition.
· Do a good job filling out the application. Don’t throw something together the night before the deadline. Scholarship winners put a lot of thought into perfecting the application.
· Get good letters of recommendation. Often many of the applicants for scholarships look the same on paper. They all have high grades, high test scores, and loads of leadership experience. What can set the winner apart, though, is a thoughtful letter of recommendation from a teacher, principal, counselor, or community leader.
· Spend the most time on scholarship applications that you are well qualified for. A scholarship for people who have done a lot of community service will not generally be awarded to someone who spent one afternoon in a food bank. Focus on scholarships you have a good chance of winning.
· Complete the application. It’s not good enough to get started. Until all of the required elements are in the hands of the scholarship committee, you don’t have a chance of winning.

After you have finished filling out the initial application, there may be further requirements such as an interview if you are a finalist. At this point, since you know you have a good chance of winning, go all out and try to win the award.

Applying for a scholarship involves putting yourself out there. But, as you start a new phase of your life, you will need to start risking more of yourself. Get ready for adulthood by applying for scholarships now.

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Many students who thought their parents could fund most of their education are seeing that dream dry up as the financial crisis deepens. As a result, they are asking how much they can get in student loans so that they can finish their college degrees.

First of all, you need to understand that there are different loan programs for college students.

The Perkins Loan provides very low interest rate loans to the neediest students. Undergraduate students can receive up to $4000 with the average award being $2206.

The Stafford Student Loan is perhaps the best known and the most common loan program. Students can either receive the funds directly from the government (Direct Student Loan) or through private lenders (FFEL).

Subsidized Stafford Student Loans are granted based on need. Unsubsidized Stafford Student Loans can be obtained by any student. The amount depends on how many credit hours a student has earned:

· $5500 for first year students (up to $3500 can be subsidized)
· $6500 for second year students (up to $4500 can be subsidized)
· $7500 for third year students and beyond (up to $5500 can be subsidized)

In addition, independent students (students who cannot be claimed on their parent’s income taxes) can receive between $9500 and $12500 depending on their year in school. Graduate and professional students can get $20,500.

Students can not borrow more than their cost of attendance minus the amount of any Federal Pell Grant they are eligible for and minus any other financial aid they get. Students may receive less than the annual maximum amounts depending on their other financial aid awards.

The next kind of student loan is one that parents take out for their children. It is known as the PLUS loan. Unlike Stafford loans, there is a credit check for PLUS loans and not all parents will qualify. If you are attending an expensive school, the PLUS loan may help pay the costs better than the Stafford loan because the limits can be much higher. In fact, the limits are the total cost of attendance minus any other financial aid you receive.

The funds are generally applied to any amount a student owes the school such as tuition or room and board. The excess is distributed to the parents. The PLUS loan accrues interest while the student is in school, so parents are encouraged to make at least interest payments to avoid compounding interest.

The final category of loans are private student loans. Many banks award amounts between $1000 and $40,000 to credit worthy students for expenses such as tuition and living expenses. If a student has not established credit themselves, they will need a co-signer for this kind of loan.

Because private student loans are not backed by the government, the interest rates are much higher. Students should view private student loans as the loans of last resort.

It is possible to cover the cost of attendance including tuition and living expenses at most colleges and universities across the United States with a combination of available student loans.

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Many students work their way through college. Whether they are working a part time on campus job, have a part time off campus job, or work 40 hours a week while going to school, they need the income they derive from working to help defray the college expenses.

Traditionally, students have worked in the school’s cafeteria or library to help pay for their living expenses. Usually this is through the school’s work study program. Work study is a federally funded program that is part of a student’s total financial aid package. The federal government provides most of the money for these jobs. That’s why the colleges are more likely to hire a student who has work study money than a student who doesn’t. The fed, is in fact, picking up most of the tab.

Most work study jobs pay slightly more than minimum wage. Students are not permitted to work more than 20 hours a week, and some colleges have an even lower cap. At Washington and Lee College, freshmen are not permitted to work more than 5 hours a week with work study aid. The college makes up the difference in the form of grants.

Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to take work study jobs, even if they are part of a financial aid package. That’s because off campus jobs pay more and don’t have the maximum hour restrictions. For instance, a call center job may pay $11 an hour for 25 hours a week while the on campus job calling alumni for donations pays $9 for 15 hours.

Also, a few off campus jobs actually have tuition remission programs for their employees. For instance, students who work for the Geek Squad and are majoring in computer, science, or engineering related fields can get up to $2500 in tuition paid for by the company in addition to earning a good salary. That money can cover half or more of the tuition at a state school.

But, some students are not lucky enough to be able to afford to work part time when going to school. Because of their family responsibilities and financial obligations, they must work 40 hours a week at a traditional job. Many of these students attend college through flexible programs that meet at night or on the weekends. They may also attend only part time taking 6 or more years to get through a bachelor’s degree program.

Students working full time should consult their company’s human resource department to see whether the business has a program to help student employees. Many companies have tuition remission programs for students.

There are also grants and scholarships for people who have to work full time. This may allow some to cut back on their work hours.

So whether you work 5 hours a week or 40 plus, the challenges of working, doing well in school, and having a healthy life are many. But, the income from work makes the option of school a reality for many.

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The National Health Service Corps Scholarship is a program funded by the federal government to increase the number of graduate level health professionals in underserved areas. The scholarship is available to future physicians in both MD and DO programs, dentists, certified nurse-midwives, certified family nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.

The National Health Service Corps Scholarship pays for tuition and fees plus offers a monthly stipend. In exchange, the scholarship recipients agree to work in a designated underserved area for one year for each year of the scholarship award with a minimum of two years of service.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens. They must attend an accredited program full time.

Applicants who can demonstrate that they have a real commitment to serve traditionally underserved populations and have the geographic flexibility to move to such areas are given first consideration. All candidates must be considered well prepared for the program. Additionally, they must have a strong interest in primary care. Applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds are also favored.

For doctors, primary care is internal medicine, family practice, ob-gyn, and psychiatry. Doctors can take no more than 4 years to finish their internship and residency before beginning their National Health Service Corps Scholarship service.

There are the most vacancies in rural areas. Opportunities in inner cities also exist. Some people on the scholarship will qualify to serve as health practitioners in Federal Prisons.

The National Health Service Corps prepares a list of eligible vacancies each year. Once a person accepts a position, the salary must be submitted to the government agency for approval. This is so that the hiring office cannot take advantage of the fact that the health professional must fill one of the vacancies by offering them a lower salary.

If a person accepts a National Health Service Corps scholarship and then does not complete the required service, they are required by law to pay back the loan amount times three.

If working in a rural or inner city area appeals to you, the National Health Service Corps scholarship provides you with a good way to fund your post-graduate medical education.

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Division I schools major sports programs such as football and men’s basketball have recruiters who go after the top players from around the country. Less well funded sports, even at major schools, and all sports at Division II and III schools do not have this luxury. While the coaches are aware of the high school athletes in their immediate area, students who want to obtain an athletic scholarship to attend college can enhance their chances by promoting themselves to coaches at schools where they would like to attend.

The first thing that you should know is that thousands of students attend colleges and universities with the help of athletic scholarships. If you are an outstanding athlete in any sport, talk to your coach about helping you to get a sports related scholarship.

Your coach will help you to pick out realistic target schools. If you are a good player on a good basketball team, you may have a shot at a Division II school. Don’t set your sites only on the schools that made the Sweet 16.

Put together a list of schools that you would like to attend. Don’t base this solely on the prowess of their athletic team. Consider whether they offer the major you’d like to study and the general environment where you would like to spend four years of your life. Take into consideration whether the school is in a large city or a small village.

Don’t overlook sports team opportunities at smaller or lesser known colleges. Many times, teams there can be quite nurturing.

If you don’t believe you have a realistic chance at a pro career or if your sport doesn’t offer a pro circuit, choose your college based on the following factors:

1. What school you would really like to attend. Pick a school where you would go even if the athletic scholarship opportunity wasn’t there.

2. What team you would like to play on. The coach and the players that you’ll be spending a lot of time with make a big difference. Pick a team that matches your personality.

3. The total financial aid package. Many people think an athletic scholarship is equal to a full ride and are disappointed to find that the aid covers only a fraction of the total cost of attendance. Keep in mind that you will be giving up opportunities to work, study, and have fun in college in exchange for playing on the team. Balance out the prospect of money with the commitments you will make.

If you are serious about getting a scholarship, talk to the admissions offices at the schools you are interested in early. Coaches are not allowed to talk to potential players ahead of time. But, the admissions office can be recruiting during a student’s Junior year.

If you are interested in a program, you can contact the coach by email late in your Junior year of high school. Tell him you are interested in his program and invite him to follow your senior season. If you are going to send out multiple emails, make sure they are personalized with the name of the coach and the name of the school. There’s nothing more embarrassing than sending a letter to Harvard’s coach praising Yale’s team. Include your name, high school, and all contact information including home address, phone numbers, and email information. If you think it helps to make your case, include information on grades, test scores, and community service.

It is possible to attend college with the help of an athletic scholarship. Playing college level sports just might be one of the highlights of your life.

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The students graduating from high school are an unlucky crowd in many ways. First of all, there are a lot of them – down only slightly from last year’s highest ever crop of graduates. Next, more of them are going to college. Nearly 77 percent of students will attend some form of post-secondary education directly after college. The financial crisis has affected the ability of student loans. Finally, the endowments of many colleges have shrunk which has made the aid they have traditionally made available decrease. In this environment, it is important to maximize your chances of getting a good financial aid package. This article includes tips for increasing your financial aid.

First of all, you might consider going to a college where you are “above average.” If you are applying to the most competitive schools and are in the middle of the pack in terms of grades and test scores, the college has little incentive to sweeten the financial aid package to get you to come. But, if you will help the college increase their statistics or provide needed variety to the class, they may be willing to give you more in terms of free aid.

If you don’t think the FAFSA Expected Family Contribution amount represents your family’s true situation, you can file an appeal with the school. This generally only works if there is something extraordinary such as a recent layoff of a primary income earner or very high health care bills. But, it doesn’t take much effort to fill out an appeal form and it could bring in thousands of dollars in aid.

If you get financial aid offers from two schools and the college you really want to attend comes in lower than the other one, make a copy of your second choice’s award letter and forward it to the first choice school. They may match it.

But don’t just depend on the institutional aid. Go out and look for scholarships yourself.

There are free online databases of scholarships that you can search to find money to apply for. Some of these scholarships actually go unclaimed each year because nobody applies. Doing a little front end work can save you a lot of money and allow you to go to your first choice school.

While it may be harder to get into college and to pay for college than ever before, resourceful students will find a way to make post-secondary education a reality.

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