When we speak of college scholarship application, the burden is always on the parents. Since they have the responsibility over the education of their children and they know what will be good for them, parents apply personally for the college scholarship of their children.

What if we turn the tide? From primary to secondary education, your parents accepted the responsibility. But you are old enough to take care of a simple college scholarship application. It takes some courage, self-confidence, and some excellent academic records to apply for a college scholarship. Keep in mind that is you who will utilize the financial aid that comes with the scholarship and not your parents. Thus, applying for a college scholarship is now your business, and you can do it with less supervision from your parents.

The procedure for college scholarship application is similar when you apply for college. You need to learn every scholarship opportunity available and make a list of potential prospects that you think will fit your personal needs. Once through with the list, you need to create an application letter and state your achievements (good high school scholastic records and recommendation letters from your high school director and teachers) and you are now on your way on getting into college for less, if not for free.

The above-mentioned procedure is the most common way of getting a college scholarship. However, the chances of success lies in you, and you need to exert more effort to assure yourself of a financial aid when you go to college. To increase your chances, here are some pointers that you can consider:

•    You should start as early as your high school years. There are many college scholarships that open during your senior high school year. In addition, these financial aid programs are only open in a specific period of time. Once the application closes, you have to wait for another year before you can file for your application. Starting early will give you better chances of getting the best financial aid available.

•    Give importance to the scholarship requirements. Keep in mind that among all available scholarships, there are only few that will fit your qualifications. Read the eligibility standards of the college scholarship that you want to apply. If you found out that the financial aid does not fit with the qualifications that you have, search for another. Do not insist yourself on scholarships where your chances of success is minute.

•    Do not forget to complete the requirements asked by the college scholarship. Prepare the documents that are commonly asked by the scholarship grantee to its applicants.

•    Your application letter will be your “speaking alter-ego” to the sponsor of the college scholarship you have applied for. Thus, you need to create an application letter that will convince the sponsor that you honestly need the financial aid and you deserve to get one, state honest information in your application. Never include false information especially if your purpose is just to “flatter” the sponsor with your achievements.

After you followed the aforementioned recipe, you are now ready to submit your application to the scholarship screening committee. Be prepared for other requirements (such as interviews and examinations) that will determine if you are eligible to receive a college scholarship.

Follow the aforementioned college freshman’s recipe when you apply for a college scholarship.  And best of all, do not forget to pray that the sponsor would consider you eligible for the college scholarship. Good luck!

Click here to get your copy of The Scholarship and Grant Guide.

Many believe that being a parent is the happiest moment in the life of a human being. Probably you still remember the excitement that you felt when your wife gave birth to your first child. There are times that you will not sleep because you want to take care of your child even in the midst of the evening. You want to ensure that he/she will sleep soundly through the night.

It is true that happiness comes with children in the family. However, such happiness could be achieved if you are responsible enough with your children. You need to provide all of their needs, starting from their infancy until the time that they are studying. Although it will really cost you a lot, you have the responsibility to your children, especially in giving them the education that they need.

If you have children who are now going to college, you have to think of their financial needs. Probably you still remember your own collegiate years and you are aware of the financial needs of an ordinary college student. However, the difference is that you are now the parent—you will now be the one to think of the different payments that you need to settle for your children’s college education, such as college application, scholastic assessment test expenditures, transcript of records, and others. Add to it the lodging and food allowance of your children if the college or university is far away from your own residence.

Thinking all of these college-related expenses could be overwhelming and bothering as well, especially if your salary is not enough to support such expenses and your family’s financial needs at the same time. But if you know how to get a college financial aid for your children, you will find out that everything will work out smoothly.

How you will start your search for the college financial aid for your children? Here are some tips that you can start with:

• When your children are still on their high school years, you should start searching for potential universities that offer college scholarships for deserving freshman students as well as financial aid programs funded by different organizations. You may start your search on the Internet to look for possible college financial aid options for your children.

• Once you find a prospective university, visit their main office and inquire for any college scholarship or financial aid offers.

• Always ask for the cut-off dates of filing and submission of college financial aid application forms.

• Tell your children about the importance of a scholarship to their college education. Make them aware that they have plenty of options to consider as long as they have good high school scholastic records. In this way, you will be able to motivate them to study harder and make good grades, thus increasing your chances of a good financial aid.

• You may also consider filing an application for financial aid programs funded by the Federal government. State-owned colleges and universities offer this kind of financial assistance to qualified and deserving students who want to pursue their college studies despite of financial difficulties. You may submit the FAFSA (Free Application Form Student Aid) personally.

• Make certain that you have completed all the FAFSA requirements (such as present statement of bank accounts, monthly income records, present mortgage information, and others) and understand the rights or special advantages before accepting the financial aid for your children. You may also check if the financial aid is renewable.

With different financial aid programs such as college scholarships and federal grants, you are assured of a bright future for your children despite of the financial difficulties that you are currently experiencing.

Click here to get your copy of The Scholarship and Grant Guide.

How much is the cost for a college education?

Is there an available financing scheme?

Let’s face the reality. College education is expensive! A lot of parents do a double take when their children are preparing and looking forward to attending a community college or a state university.

There are a lot of things which comprises the cost of college education and the tuition fee is just a part of the big picture of getting into college. Other everyday expenditure includes food, transportation, housing, pocket money, and other miscellaneous fees which when added up can create a significant portion in financing a college education.

A lot of families in this day and age, even if they belong to the upper-class society, think about applying for financial aid. College grants and scholarships are the most excellent kind of financial assistance.

Grant and scholarship programs do not entail students or the family to pay back. These could be of two kinds: (1) base on need, which is given due to the financial inability of the student and the family as a whole, and (2) base on merit, the talent of the student like in sports, is the main consideration. The student’s academic ability also falls under the merit-base college grant and scholarship.

Oftentimes, college grants and scholarships combine the merit and need criteria to ease out the whole financial aid process. Numerous students and their families are in the look-out for this type of financial aid. However, college grants and scholarships are limited compared with the growing number of students year after year.

Qualifying students can avail of federal and a number of state scholarship programs. Some of which are the following:

Federal or National Pell Grants – this is a program funded nationwide intended to endow assistance to any qualified undergraduate learner pursuing postsecondary schooling. Grants and scholarships of this kind are given to those who have not finished a baccalaureate degree.

The worth of the grant can vary year after year and will depend largely on the financial need of the students, the expenses that will be incurred while attending the chosen university or college, and the availability of funds from the national government.

This type of grant will open opportunity for the students to avail succeeding financial aid from the national government.

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) – this is a program for ongoing undergraduate students with outstanding monetary need. However, not all students can avail this type of grant. This will depend on the eligibility of the students and availability of finances of the concerned school.

Another form of financial aid that students and families can turn to is through loans. This type of financial assistance should be paid back. The financial need of the family should be considered thoroughly to avoid paying high interest rates.

It is also a must to understand all the terms of lending agencies such as the schedule of repayment and interest rates, before signing in or making a commitment.

Work study is a form of financial assistance which calls for students to do labor to sustain their college education. Work study is commonly done on campus and is the most typical form of financial aid in all universities and colleges. Usually, the students will render service to schools for ten to fifteen hours per week.

Scholarships, grants and other forms of financial aid to acquire college education is really multifaceted, confusing at times, and even exasperating. The good thing is college education is a non-refundable and non-biodegradable type of investment. It is for the future!

Click here to get your copy of The Scholarship and Grant Guide.

Health care continues to be one of the career areas where professionals are still in demand. Nursing is recession-proof as the number of people who get sick doesn’t decrease when times are bad. And, as the overall population of the United States continues to age, health care is going to be even more in demand. So, now that you’ve decided that the field is for you, how do you find scholarships for nursing school?

First, you should know that nursing programs at community colleges and state sponsored four year schools are impacted. That means that even many qualified students are turned away. Many of them end up going to more expensive private programs.

Next, you should know that nursing school has more expenses associated with it than comparable degrees in business or English. You have to buy specific uniforms for your clinicals and carry malpractice insurance. You have to have extra immunizations. And, you have to have reliable transportation between the school and the hospital site.

Contact the school you want to go to and find out what kind of aid package they can put together for you. This will probably be a combination of scholarships, grants, work study and loans at public and non-profit private colleges. There are many for-profit nursing schools around which offer degrees but little aid. Your aid package will consist mostly of loans when you go with these schools.

Another avenue to pursue is a sponsored ladder. In these programs, a hospital will pay for your first year of school to become a practical or vocational nurse in exchange for your commitment to work for that organization for two or three years following graduation. You draw a full salary once you get started working. The hospital offers these programs because they want to ensure a steady stream of new recruits.

But the deal gets even sweeter because the organization guarantees that they will pay for your part time studies toward a Registered Nursing (RN) degree during your two or three year commitment. In this way, you have your tuition paid for and, after the first year, you earn while you learn.

If you are planning to get a four year Bachelor of Science of Nursing with a RN, you can qualify for a military scholarship. These scholarships pay for your tuition and books as well as providing a small stipend. When you graduate, you are commissioned into a branch of the military as an officer.

In the Air Force’s program, all students who meet the minimum qualifications get the award. There is no selection process. Students tend to have an eight year commitment to the military, three of which must be active duty.

If you are considering majoring in nursing, you should take advantage of a free online scholarship database that will let you search nationwide nursing scholarship opportunities.

Click here to get your copy of The Scholarship and Grant Guide.

The average cost of attending a private school is over $40,000 when you factor in tuition, room, board, and the other costs of going to school. Public schools may be less expensive, but the total cost of attendance can still be more than a graduate’s first year salary. That is why it is important for parents to do everything they can to increase the financial aid awards for their children.

You need to fill out the FAFSA early so that you know what your family’s expected contribution will be. This will help your child choose schools that are in your price range or get outside scholarships if they want to attend a more expensive college.

Next, understand how the FAFSA works. The government considers that 20 percent of the student’s assets are available for college expenses and 5.6 percent of the parent’s assets can be used for this purpose. If your child has a lot of money in savings, consider transferring that to your accounts as that will decrease the amount that will have to go to college.

If your child is interested in merit based awards like scholarships, teach him or her how to market themselves. They are more likely to get the award if they have packaged themselves correctly.

You should also find out how these outside merit awards affect the overall financial aid picture at individual colleges. Some colleges simply use outside awards to reduce the amount of money they give students in the form of grants. Others allow this money to be used against the family’s contribution.

When you go to tour campuses, don’t just talk to the people in admissions. Their job is to sell you on applying to the school. Make an appointment with the folks in financial aid as they can give you a better picture on what aid packages for typical students are looking like.

Find out whether your child’s financial need will impact whether they get accepted at a particular college. There are need-blind admissions policies at some, but not all schools. If a school isn’t need blind, they will consider whether you will be able to afford the college if your student is admitted.

You also need to find out whether the college guarantees to meet the full financial need of all admitted students. While quite a few of the wealthier schools make this promise, many schools with less robust endowments give only limited aid leaving the students to take out expensive private loans to make up the difference.

Pay attention to deadlines as missing an important date can doom your chances for aid. For instance, in California, if you don’t file the FAFSA by March 15, you can’t get any Cal Grant money. Scholarships at the state colleges are also determined by the March 15 deadline.

You should fill out the FAFSA even if you don’t think you will qualify for any awards. Many families are pleasantly surprised to find out that they have financial need.

Finally, if you have special financial circumstances that aren’t reflected on the FAFSA, make sure the school’s financial aid office knows about them. For instance, if a primary breadwinner has been recently laid off but the FAFSA information reflects last year’s income, let the school know. Similarly, if your family has extraordinary health care expenses, this can be taken into account at the institutional level, even if the FAFSA does not have a place to reflect this.

Financing college is becoming more difficult as the price of school continues to rise while income and assets remains stagnant or declines. That’s why it is important to know about all of your financial aid options.

Click here to get your copy of The Scholarship and Grant Guide.

The sticker price of a college is not the only thing you should consider when choosing a post-high school experience. Many students pick the college with the lowest tuition or the largest financial aid package. But, this does not factor in all of the costs of going to college.

How Long Does It Take to Graduate?

One of the things many students don’t consider is that some schools have very high 4 year graduation rates. They offer their courses in such a sequence that allows most students to get done with school in 4 years. A few programs even are designed so students can finish in 3 years.

At other schools, it takes longer than that to graduate for the majority of the students. At many of these schools, students have to take time off work or reduce their class load for financial reasons. But, there is also the frequent problem that the students cannot get the classes they need. Sometimes the classes simply aren’t offered in the right sequence. Other times, not enough seats are available to meet the demand.

When it takes more than 4 years to graduate, students will be paying extra money for tuition and living expenses. There is also the opportunity cost of lost income in the 5th and 6th years and beyond.

What Percentage of the Aid Package is Loans?

Some colleges offer large aid packages to entice students to attend. Unfortunately, many students don’t realize until too late that a large portion of the money comes in the form of loans. While this is aid for right now, it’s not “free” money. When you graduate, you will have to pay this money back.

If you take out $20,000 in loans (the national average for students taking out Stafford Loans), you will be paying $230 a month when you graduate. When you consider that an average English graduate’s entry level salary is $32,000 and he or she actually brings home about $2000 a month after taxes, the cost of the loans can exceed 10 percent of a student’s post-college take home pay.

If you have the choice between two schools and one offers the bulk of the aid in loans while the other provides scholarships, grants, and work study options, consider going to the one that doesn’t require you to borrow. Even if it means passing up a first choice school, you will be glad to not be burdened with student loan debt in the long run.

How High are the Starting Salaries?

Some colleges are known for getting their students into good jobs when they are done with school. For instance, MIT grads’ average starting salary is over $72,000. That justifies the $35,000 a year tuition price tag. But, over the course of a lifetime, Dartmouth grads have proven to make the most money.

State colleges can be a bargain in terms of tuition. But, some of them are also really good in terms of what their graduates can earn as well. For instance, the starting salary for grads from the University of California, Berkeley is almost $60,000. That’s not bad considering that in state tuition is only $9,000. Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in the heart of the Silicon Valley charges only $3500 to in state students, but the average student makes $57,200 upon graduation.

Your starting salary will also depend on what your major is. Students with degrees in finance, economics, chemical engineering, math, and physics tend to have the highest starting salaries. Liberal arts majors like English, psychology, and history tend to make a lot less right out of college.

Putting the pieces of financing college together is a challenge. But it is important to take all of the factors into consideration so that you can make the best decision for the long run.

Click here to get your copy of The Scholarship and Grant Guide.

You have heard of scholarships for smart people, athletes, and artists. You understand that there are scholarships set aside for people of specific ethnic backgrounds or who are majoring in certain subjects. But, do some scholarships strike you as just weird? This article is a look at some of the odd scholarships out there.

For instance, you would assume that a college scholarship organization would want you to hit the books not the casino. But, the Online College Poker Championship offers a large scholarship for its grand prize winner.

At Juanita College in Pennsylvania one lucky southpaw wins a scholarship each year. That’s right, there’s a scholarship which is restricted to left handed students.

If you have an unusual last name, you might get a discounted college education. At Loyola University of Chicago, there’s a specific scholarship for someone with the surname of Zolp. The Van Valkenburg Memorial scholarship awards $1000 to decedents of ambert and Annetje Van Valkenburg, who immigrated to the United States in 1643.

Future Tommy Hilfigers and Vera Wangs can get their start in college by making a prom dress. That is, if they can craft it out of duck tape. Duck brand offers a $3000 scholarship for the best prom dress made out of the material.

It’s okay to be average, at least according to David Letterman. He established a scholarship at his alma mater, Ball State University, for average students with a creative mind.

Similarly, the J.D. Salinger award at Ursinus College recognizes and supports “oddball geniuses.”

After being told that skateboarding was a crime for years, boarders can now stand up and say they won a scholarship based on the hobby. The Patrick Kerr Skateboarding Scholarship awards up to $5000 to skateboarding activists.

The SAMMY award stands for the Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year. Graduating high school student athletes must meet academic and community service requirements – and submit a photo of themselves with milk on their upper lip. 26 awards of up to $7500 are awarded.

High school students who picked up spending money as caddies for at least two years and who graduate in the top quarter of their graduating class can win one of 200 Evans Scholars Foundation awards. This scholarship provides full tuition for four years for the students.

If you haven’t lost your marbles, take a look at this scholarship. The National Marbles Tournament Scholarship awards $5000 in scholarships each year.

Are you planning to study spores, mold and fungus in a graduate Biology program? Then you qualify for a scholarship from the Mycological Society of America.

If you got hooked on the X-Files early in life, try out for the Eileen J. Garret Scholarship which awards up to $3000 to students with an academic interest in parapsychology.

Trekkies can also get money for college. The Klingon Language Institute Scholarship grants $500 to a language student – but the language doesn’t have to be Klingon! Similarly, college students who are active members of the society known as the Star Fleet Academy can win one of several $500 scholarships.

Every scholarship is set up by people with good intentions. But some of them qualify on our list of odd scholarships.

Click here to get your copy of The Scholarship and Grant Guide.

When you are done with college, do you want to have a guaranteed job with a respected organization? Then all you have to do is let the military pay for your education. After you finish school, you will become a commissioned officer with a 3 to 8 year active duty commitment.

The military academies are perhaps the best known route to military service. The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York (Army), the Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD, and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO all provide officers for the military services. Marine Corps officers come from the Naval Academy. When an Officer graduates from one of the Academies, he or she is a “regular” instead of a “reserve” officer. Most of the military’s top leadership comes from the Academies.

Students who go to the Academies are offered full rides. There are absolutely no fees associated with going to school. Indeed, they receive a salary courtesy of the U.S. government.

One step down from the Academies are the six senior military colleges. These are the Citadel in South Carolina, the Virginia Military Institute, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M, North Georgia College, and Norwich University in Vermont. These programs offer school-wide ROTC programs. One difference between these military colleges and other schools is that the graduates become “regular” rather than “reserve” officers.

Everyone else who goes to school on a military scholarship takes part in the Reserve Officer’s Training Program on their campus. Only a small percentage of students on these campuses participate in the ROTC program. The ROTC program produces 56 percent of the Army’s officer corps, 41 percent of the Air Force’s corps, 20 percent of the Navy’s corps of officers and 11 percent of the Marine Corps officers.

ROTC scholarships can cover up to full tuition at a college. Many also come with a small stipend. If a student accepts a scholarship, he or she is committing to serve in the military when they finish college.

A final way to get the military to pay for college is to join up after you have finished school. As an inducement to get you to sign up, the military may pay off all of your college loans.

Professional students in law and in health related fields may also be able to get the military to pay for some of their expenses in exchange for future service. Law students who want to join the JAG corps or medical students who want to join up with MASH units are two examples.

Because the United States has been involved in two unpopular wars for several years, the military is finding it difficult to meet their officer recruitment goals. As a result, there are many good military scholarships available.

Click here to get your copy of The Scholarship and Grant Guide.

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.

Need More Scholarship Information? Click here to get your copy of The Scholarship and Grant Guide.