Is there a full-ride scholarship, grant, or any kind of financial aid a deaf student can receive?

Question

I am a junior in high school and I was born deaf. I currently am enrolled in three AP classes of English, US History, and Biology along with Pre-Calculus and Competitive Speech and Debate. I have been involved in three clubs, high school softball the entire time, competitive softball and still keep up a 3.7 grade point average.

I am an aspiring journalist and wish to go to an University of California or an California State University after I graduate. Ever since my freshman year colleges have been chasing after me, and I already have narrowed it to a good list of five.

What worries me though is how college will get paid. My parents quit their jobs for six months just so we could get more family time, remodel the house, et cetera so therefore I will have to figure out how to get it paid.

Other than the Department of Rehabilition, do you know of any scholarships, grants, or a different form of financial aid that will pay for college in full, without me needing to repay?

Answer 1

I'm deaf and went to C.S.U.N. The Department of Rehab. paid my tuition in full including books. The requirement was that I had to be a full time student. Is there a reason why you aren't interested in using that route? Did you know that CSUN has the largest center on deafness on the West Coast with so many wonderful services. http://ncod.csun.com Try contacting someone there for some advice on other ways to get college paid.

You can receive money from Social Security Disability while in school. The only requirement is that you prove that you are deaf. Apply for both S.S.D. and S.S.I., the S.S.D will be the majority of the payment while the S.S.I. is a little extra on top of that and gives you free healthcare (Medi-Cal). If you only receive SSD, you will only have Medicare and that has co-payment, so it's best to get Medi-Cal also as there is no co-payment on that one. Many deaf students in college are on this. It's about $800 a month. If you find a room to rent for like $400, then that can work out. You can also work part time while on it. What you receive from S.S. would be based on how much you earn.

The work study program is ideal as they do not charge you taxes

If you go to CSUN, you would get even more great services such as having an interpreter (you can chose signer or oral), notetaker, real time captioning (a laptop is used. You read what is on the laptop during the lecture and best of all it is saved, so you have instant class notes to study from) and much more. You can get the same kind of services at other Universities from the disabled services, but they won't be as sophisticated as NCOD (National Center on Deafness). They have everything ready for you! The Dept. of Rehab comes to campus to meet with you and set up everything rather than you having to go to their offices.

Try asking your question at http://www.alldeaf.com in the education section. That is a very active forum with thousands of deaf members. I'm sure you can get some more information from other deaf students or former students on how to make this work. The deaf community is very close knitted and offers a lot of great information and support.

Oh I remember I applied for the Federal Pell grant. That was free money to students that qualified. You have to apply for it early so that you have a chance to get the money. I did receive money that I did not have to pay back. You ask the financial aid office for an application for the Pell grant. Just fill it out and then wait and see if you get something for it. I did this every year. I don't remember what I got as I graduated in 1996. Most people who apply for it, do get something. So put that one on your list as a must apply for.

http://www.ed.gov/programs/fpg/index.html
Program Description

The Federal Pell Grant Program provides need-based grants to low-income undergraduate and certain postbaccalaureate students to promote access to postsecondary education. Students may use their grants at any one of approximately 5,400 participating postsecondary institutions. Grant amounts are dependent on: the student’s expected family contribution (EFC) (see below); the cost of attendance (as determined by the institution); the student’s enrollment status (full time or part time); and whether the student attends for a full academic year or less. Students may not receive Federal Pell Grant funds from more than one school at a time. Financial need is determined by the Department of Education using a standard formula, established by Congress, to evaluate the financial information reported on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and to determine the family EFC. The fundamental elements in this standard formula are the student’s income (and assets if the student is independent), the parents’ income and assets (if the student is dependent), the family’s household size, and the number of family members (excluding parents) attending postsecondary institutions. The EFC is the sum of: (1) a percentage of net income (remaining income after subtracting allowances for basic living expenses and taxes) and (2) a percentage of net assets (assets remaining after subtracting an asset protection allowance). Different assessment rates and allowances are used for dependent students, independent students without dependents, and independent students with dependents. After filing a FAFSA, the student receives a Student Aid Report (SAR), or the institution receives an Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR), which notifies the student if he or she is eligible for a Federal Pell Grant and provides the student’s EFC.

ADDED: If your parents still claim you as a tax dependent while you're in college, this can affect your ability to receive grants, etc because they will also look at your parent's income and assets as well and can affect whether you qualify or not. So weigh the pros and cons of being claimed as a dependent. If it will interfere with you receiving financial aid, then tell them to stop doing it.

Answer 2

You picked the best time to start searching for college scholarships because scholarship deadlines are throughout the year. You mentioned actually several strong possibilities for locating college scholarhsip money for other than being born deaf. I will list several free search methods to locate money to attend college.

First, the college's financial aid office and website has a list of private scholarships offered from outside organizations and companies. Sometimes a college major's website will list scholarships, too.

Second, the public library has a book listing scholarships with some not even listed on the web.

Third, the high school guidance office has a list of local scholarships and state scholarships & grants.

Fourth, a campus work study job can help with money needed during the school year. The program is funded by the federal government. It will be a job on campus and most times can work to your availability schedule. There should be a box on the FAFSA form for it.

Fifth, fill out the FAFSA form after January 1 of your senior year of high school. It will qualify her for need based financial aid from the federal government and the school itself. It will come in the form of scholarships, Pell Grant, student loans, and the work study program.

Sixth, study and practice for the SAT or ACT tests. It can help bring merit scholarships from the college itself.

Seventh, apply for the NCAA database for softball. It can bring athletic scholarship money ranging from a partial to a full ride scholarship. This only works for division one and two schools because division 3 schools typically do not offer athletic scholarships.

Eighth, states do offer grant and scholarships for students with excellent grades. Search Google.com and Yahoo.com for these grants and scholarships with your state's name.

Finally, I recommend joining several free membership scholarship search websites. There are scholarships for a variety of things including ethnicity, clubs, hobbies, and even wearing duct tape to the high school prom. Most are updated on a regular basis. Most offer a customized search based on information entered onto a form on the website.

Good luck!