College Grants and Scholarships

College grants and scholarships are becoming increasingly important because the cost of university is increasing just as the assets of many parents are shrinking.  Additionally, college is increasingly the best way to ensure that you have a secure future.  But how can you fund university?  College grants and scholarships are the best way to do it.

First of all, let’s look at the different types of funding there is for college.

A scholarship is an award given to you based on the merit of your application.  Sometimes the college itself gives these scholarships and sometimes you apply for them separately from community organizations, businesses, and foundations.  Usually, scholarships are based on merit or a combination of merit and need.

A grant is an award made to meet the difference between what you can afford to pay and the cost of attending college.  While the university gives most grants to students that they really want to come (hense the merit factor), these are typically associated more with need than with accomplishment.

College grants and scholarships are wonderful because you do not need to work for them or pay them back.

The next category of aid is work-study.  Work study is an on campus job that helps you meet the cost of attendance.  Colleges prefer to give work study jobs than pay for normal student assistants because the government foots a large portion of the work study bill.

Finally, there are student loans.  Unfortunately, student loans must be paid back after you graduate.  Try to work out any other scheme to pay for college before accepting a loan.  Because student loans are bundled into the total aid package, many students do not realize what a burden they can be once they graduate.  $20,000 in student loan debt can end up costing you $500 a month when you graduate.  That may mean the difference of whether you can take a job you really want and one that will cover the expensive student loan bills when you are done with college.

If you are actively looking for college grants and scholarships, you need to take a look at this website:

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Need money for college? Use FastWeb’s free scholarship search to find information on more than 600,000 scholarships!

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this is a free service where you fill out a form and have scholarships that match your profile sent to your email address.  I highly recommend their service.