Federal Financial Aid
- Collegiate Talk
- Aug 12, 2020
- 3 min read
A daunting part of applying to college is expecting the steep and overwhelming prices of attending school. Fortunately, several programs are made available for students to help cover the price of tuition, books, fees, and housing. In terms of applying to financial aid, the amount of money you receive federally is widely dependent on your annual household income, family, and academic/extracurricular rigor. The key to reducing the overall cost of college is getting the most out of financial aid resources. There are many forms of federal financial aid including Free Application For Student Aid (FAFSA), federal student loans, federal grants, and work-study.
FAFSA is a form completed by current and prospective college students and is 100% free to fill out and allows you to qualify for grants, loans, and work-studies. The form can be filled out completely online. You must fill out the form each year of school you would like to receive financial aid, loans, or grants. Each state or college sets its own deadline for the FAFSA, so it’s a good idea to get it done as soon as possible. Many grants and funds are only available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Families can begin filling out the form as early as October 1st, but the final deadline is June 30.
Every family’s unique financial need is determined by the information on their FAFSA, which ultimately calculated the Estimated Family Contribution (EFC). From here, financial aid is calculated by subtracting the EFC from the Total Cost of Attendance of a school.
Total Cost of Attendance - Estimated Family Contribution = Financial Aid. The EFC is constant for every university, but the amount of financial aid may change based on the total cost of attendance for each school. Based on your FAFSA information, you either have the choice to accept or decline the offer they give you and provide many federal student loans.
Federal Student Loans
Federal Student Loans are fixed interest loans that must be eventually repaid. The interest rate is set on July 1st and remains constant for the duration of the loan. The most popular loans are chosen through the Direct Loan Program which has four different types suitable to each need:
Direct Subsidized Loan: Loans for eligible undergraduate students who show a need for financial aid to help with the cost of college/higher education
Direct Unsubsidized Loan: Loans provided to undergraduate, graduate and professional students regardless of financial need
Direct PLUS Loan: Loans for graduates/professional students to help with educational expenses that are not covered by financial aid.
Direct Unconsolidated Loan: Loans that allow you to combine all the federal student loans into a single loan with one provider.
A grant is awarded to families based
on their EFC. This federal money does not need to be repaid. There are a variety of grants available: Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG), Teacher Education Assistant for College and Higher Education (TEACH, and Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants.
A federal work-study provides part-time jobs to students in need of financial aid and allows them to earn money for higher education. Students work part-time jobs while enrolled in school. Like all federal financial aid, you must fill out the FAFSA form to qualify. Even if you qualify for a work-study job, you must find one that qualifies. The process works the same as many other jobs- find, application, interview. The money is not directly used to pay your tuition. You receive a paycheck based on the hours you work (similar to a normal job). These jobs may be on campus or off-campus and the hourly wage varies from one job to another.
A work-study job primarily helps cover day-to-day expenses rather than tuition and other fees.
Whichever path you decide to take advantage of, college is expensive so take advantage of all these services. The first and most important step to getting financial aid is filling out the FAFSA. Before you fill out your FAFSA form, you may want to visit the articles below to filling it out effectively!
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Author: Shravani Chiddarwar
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