I Got into College, Now How Do I Pay for It? Scholarships, Grants, and Loans
How do I pay for college? That’s one of the biggest questions when it comes to going to college. Sometimes getting into college is the easy part! It’s figuring out which avenue(s) to take to pay for it which can be the biggest headache of all. So, how can you get your college paid for? Well there are several options. If you aren’t lucky enough to have a family who saved up to send you to school then you’re probably going to need scholarships, grants, and/or loans to help you out!
Scholarships
Scholarships are some of the greatest things when it comes to getting your college paid for. There are all kinds of scholarships available for many different things, usually for things like being an honors student, filling out a form and/or writing an essay as to why you’re the most deserving student, being of a certain race or gender, etc. Most scholarships are available through the college you are attending and can be found on that college’s website. I’ve always heard the biggest hindrance to people receiving scholarships is actually taking the time to fill out the various scholarships; most people just refuse to spend their time writing the essays or filling out the questionnaires which means there’s a lot of free money out there just waiting to be claimed! It may take lots of scholarships to be able to cover the cost of your classes and books, but each dollar you can get from a scholarship is free money you don’t have to worry about paying back! The stipulations usually require that you maintain a certain GPA, remain a full-time student, or things of that nature.
Grants
Grants are different from scholarships as they are given usually either federally or by the state and are given based on your financial “need” as seen by federal or state agencies. Grants are given to students and are not required to be repaid by the student after graduation, unless the student falls below a certain GPA or the student goes from full-time to part-time status. Grants are great because they are basically free money that is given based on your needs so as long as you hold up your end of the academic bargain, you get taken care of financially. They don’t necessarily cover all costs for tuition, books, and any other supplies you may need; however, they can be used along with other scholarships and loans.
Loans
Student loans are probably the most popular way to pay for college classes. You just go online to the FAFSFA (the Free Application for Federal Student Aid) website, fafsfa.ed.gov, and fill out the free form to see what loans you can qualify for. You can also, of course, go to your bank and take out personal loans to pay for your education, but like I said, the FAFSFA is probably the most popular way to pay for college courses. Unfortunately, as the name suggests, loans are something that do have to be paid back. If you use the FAFSA to get loans then you have the ability to defer payments until 6 months after you graduate; if you take out personal loans then you will more than likely have to start paying them back immediately and may need to have them paid in full within 6 months- it is important to find out the specifics of any type of personal loan you take out.
However you decide to pay for college, just make sure that you are fully informed of your options and that you understand the ins and outs of whichever avenue you decide to take. And as always, if you have questions that you don’t see answered within my blog, please leave me a comment so I can create a post for you!