how do you get federal aid?

Question

I am a african american/ cuban senior in high school. next year i plan to major in psyhology . I have a solid b average but i dont know where to start in applying for colleges or getting federal grants or financial aid. I know college is a major part in securing your future but i dont know where to start in getting there

Answer 1

You have selected a fantastic time to start searching for both scholarships, but it is a bit early to apply for federal grants. Scholarship deadlines can be located throughout the year. College admission applications should be sent during the fall semester. If you have not taken the SAT or ACT yet, you need to take it soon, and I will include a link to the SAT. I will include some free resources to locate money for college and college admissions.

First, the FAFSA form must be completed in either January or early February of your senior year. It needs to be completed every year until you graduate from college. It will qualify you for Pell Grants, federal work study program, and student loans. It is based on a percentage formula of your income and your parents's income, your savings and your parents' savings, and takes into consideration your family size along with those who will be attending college at the same time as you.

Second, the high school guidance office and your guidance counselor is a wealth of information on college admissions and local college scholarships.

Third, start considering your references carefully because they can influence college admissions (sometimes) and college scholarships. Great ones include a favorite teacher, sports coach, religious leader, volunteer coordinator, mentor, and work supervisors.

Fourth, search Google.com and Yahoo.com for college admissions in your state. Some states offer a single place to apply for admission and some special state government grants which are not located anywhere else.

Fifth, U.S. News and World Reports publishes yearly an excellent guide on undergraduate admissions and also has one for graduate school. It has a lot of useful tips on a variety of subjects and well worth the price of the magazine.

Finally, join several free membership scholarship search websites. Most offer a customized search based on information that you enter into a survey. Most of these are national in nature and cover many different things.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Here are the steps you need to take to get federal aid:

1) Fill out the FAFSA. This will determine if you are eligible for financial aid. Go here:
http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

2) Once you are eligible for aid, choose a government-based student loan. The best loan to get is a Federal Perkins Loan. These have low interest rates and the government will help you pay it back as long as you stay enrolled in school. You also don't need a cosigner or good credit for it. For more info go here:
http://www.studentfinancedomain.com/student_loans/perkins_student_loans.aspx

3) The next best loan to get is a Subsidized Stafford Loan. This has many of the same benefits as a Perkins Loan. Learn more here:
http://www.studentfinancedomain.com/student_loans/subsidized_stafford_loan.aspx

4) You can also try to get a grant or scholarship, which is free money that you won't have to pay back. Look here:
http://www.fedmoney.org/
http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp
http://www.freegovmoney.net/
http://www.educationplanner.com/education_planner/paying_article.asp?sponsor=2859&articleName=Grants_and_Scholarships
http://www.studentawards.com/
http://www.college-scholarships.com/

Good luck!

Answer 3

There WAS Federal Aid out there, but you may have waited too long. You should always check out any contractor with references or check with the Better Business Bureau before hiring someone. Unfortunately, I think you are out of luck. You can check with FEMA, but like I said, the disaster Katrina caused has already tapped out many of the funds available. Our family donated a considerable amount of money and gave away lots of new and used clothing to help those in need. While I really feel for the people of New Orleans, I don't think anymore aid is available for you. Sorry you had a really bad experience, but once bankruptcy is filed, the contractor is protected under Federal Law, right or wrong.

Answer 4

Great that you are looking into this way ahead of time. Do you want to stay and go to college in your area or out of state? I would research schools that are within your budget and that have a good Psychology program. Also, you MUST file the fafsa for financial aid. You may be eligible to receive grants or loans depending on your parents' income. I know that many people get upset when they realize that though they are not living off of their parents when they go to college, they still have to use their parents' finances to qualify for aid. Also, when you find a school, make sure you apply for all of the scholarships that you are qualified for. I have included the link to file the fafsa below. Good luck!

Answer 5

to start applying for colleges, you might just want to google some universities that you're interested in. most colleges have a way to apply online, and that can start as early as now! ask your counselor at school to make some recommendations, too... they might know of some schools that fit what you're looking for. state schools are a good place to start.

take your entrance exams. the ACT and the SAT are very important, and you can take them now. you can take them as many times as you need to in order to get higher scores, and those scores can determine where you're placed in core classes. for instance, if you get a score of 29 or higher on the english portion of the ACT, you might be able to skip freshman english classes...

financial aid is actually the easiest part of the process. in march 2008, you need to fill out the FAFSA (free application for federal student aid) to apply for federal aid, including the pell grant and other local grants. this will determine how much money you will recieve based on the tuition for your school and how much money you and/or your parents make. they'll send that information to the school, and you should only have a few forms to fill out from there.

the most important thing right now is to look in to what colleges you like. http://www.princetonreview.com gives you all the information you need on almost every college in the US and major foreign universities, along with tips for increasing your test scores and connections to scholarships and other private grants.

ahh, long answer... i hope this helped. i had a lot of help in high school getting ready, and a lot of kids these days don't get any guidance...

Answer 6

apply thru FAFSA. u can go to the website FAFSA.gov and apply for need based loan once u are accepted to a school. There are lots of scholarships that u might be eligible for based on ethnicity, and GPA, but u need to look them up and then apply for them before their due dates. several of them require an essay and a recommendation.. etc, so be sure to get on that as early as u can. sometimes there are scholarships because of class standing, prospective major, and where ure highschool is located (city, rural etc.)

an excellent place to start is by google-ing it. type in undergrad scholarships and u will be well on ure way.

hope that helps u out, and good luck!!

Answer 7

I found interesting information about your answer, FEDERAL LOANS, COLLEGE GRANTS here. http://all-student-loan-consolidation.blogspot.com/2007/08/federal-loans.html Good luck!

Answer 8

CONTACT THE UNITED ***** COLLEGE FUND...I AM SURE THEY CAN HELP YOU...GOOD LUCK

Answer 9

FASFA.com its really easy