Affordable Education with College Grants

By: Ramona Mackgil

You get what you pay for, so it only stands to reason that a proper education comes with a big price tag. Everyone deserves to have a good education, so the government has stepped in to assist students in need. With a variety of student aids, from employment opportunities to scholarships to college grant money, government programs are giving students the opportunities to get the education they need. Do you know what a college grant is, and how it differs from a student loan or scholarship?

College grant money is in fact a type of student financial aid that is awarded to deserving individuals. The federal government, non-profit civic groups, and private institutions may offer these grants to students generally based on economic need.

But contrary to what some people may think, college grant money is actually unlike a student loan. One difference is that when you have qualified for a grant, it means you no longer have to pay back the money you are given. In contrast, when you apply for a student loan, it means you are obligated to repay the money within a certain specified period, depending on what has been agreed upon between you and your loan provider. Because of that, parents and students alike favor college grant money to student loans.

In an effort to determine the amount of college grant money you may receive, most colleges and grant programs will factor in your parents' income as well as the average cost of college. The result is a basic estimate of how much money you may be eligible to receive from your grant.

Most college grant money programs will have a fixed amount that will be provided to the college or university. Then, the student will either receive the money in checks through the postal service, or the college will automatically credit the amount to the student's account.

If you want to be considered for federal financial assistance and receive college grant money, you must fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or the FAFSA. The easiest way to do this is online at the FAFSA.ed.gov website. The FAFSA can only be filed no sooner than January 1st of the year you will be attending.

Be cautious of the dates for which you will be filing for college grant money. Sometimes, the deadlines announced by the federal student aid programs may not match with those of the college of your choice. To be safe, file your application well before any deadline dates.

There may be other forms that you'll need to submit in addition to the FAFSA. If you are an incoming freshman, you may also need to complete a CSS Profile Application, as required by many private colleges. The CSS profile will give administrators a broader set of data from which to derive your eligibility for need-based institutional assistance. The profile application is usually available in the middle of October. Registration and application may be done online at CollegeBoard.org.

With the use of the processed information from either the FAFSA or the CSS Profile, colleges determine your eligibility for college grant money by using your household, demographic, and financial data as the basis.

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Columnist Ramona Mackgil provides material for several Internet sites, on family history suggestions and home improvement loan themes.

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