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Tessa
Student
New Cumberland, West Virginia
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What are the benefits for financial aid paying for college?
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Gurpreet Lally
CareerVillage.org TeamSr. Community Manager at CareerVillage
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Austin, Texas
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Gurpreet’s Answer, CareerVillage.org Team
The main benefit of financial aid is that you don't have to pay the cost of college yourself! There are many ways of doing this including FAFSA, scholarships, grants, loans, and probably others!
Here are some general tips around financial aid (mainly scholarships) that might help:
1. Find LOCAL scholarships (scholarships hosted by the college you plan on attending, your high school, local businesses, etc). Why local? There is usually a smaller application pool for these as you're only competing against your community. For instance, in my hometown, there was a small concrete mixing company that hosted scholarships specifically for seniors who went to my high school. Because I was only competing with a maximum of 800 students, I was able to secure a scholarship! That's not to say you shouldn't apply to bigger scholarships but be mindful of how many people are also submitting applications (sometimes websites will tell you this information).
2. Talk to the financial aid department at Kismet College to learn about opportunities that they may be aware of. Often, institutions may be able to connect you directly with opportunities or, due to partnerships, know of opportunities that are available.
3. The internet offers a ton of opportunities but it can be hard to find the right one. When looking for scholarships, try to be as specific as possible. For example, instead of searching for "scholarships for high school students", try "scholarships for students in Kenya" or "scholarships for nutritionist". This will help you quickly identify scholarships that are a good fit for you.
4. If you're attending college in the US (and meet the other requirements), don't forget to apply for FAFSA! This is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and can qualify for you grants, scholarships, and work-study programs
5. While it's not for everyone, I would recommend looking into part-time work. While in college, I was able to tutor as a nearby tutoring center that offered flexible hours. I normally picked my classes so that I would be in school two days of the week (normally Mondays and Wednesdays) which left me the other days to work and complete school assignments. Other flexible jobs might be nannying or finding an on campus job.
Here are some general tips around financial aid (mainly scholarships) that might help:
1. Find LOCAL scholarships (scholarships hosted by the college you plan on attending, your high school, local businesses, etc). Why local? There is usually a smaller application pool for these as you're only competing against your community. For instance, in my hometown, there was a small concrete mixing company that hosted scholarships specifically for seniors who went to my high school. Because I was only competing with a maximum of 800 students, I was able to secure a scholarship! That's not to say you shouldn't apply to bigger scholarships but be mindful of how many people are also submitting applications (sometimes websites will tell you this information).
2. Talk to the financial aid department at Kismet College to learn about opportunities that they may be aware of. Often, institutions may be able to connect you directly with opportunities or, due to partnerships, know of opportunities that are available.
3. The internet offers a ton of opportunities but it can be hard to find the right one. When looking for scholarships, try to be as specific as possible. For example, instead of searching for "scholarships for high school students", try "scholarships for students in Kenya" or "scholarships for nutritionist". This will help you quickly identify scholarships that are a good fit for you.
4. If you're attending college in the US (and meet the other requirements), don't forget to apply for FAFSA! This is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and can qualify for you grants, scholarships, and work-study programs
5. While it's not for everyone, I would recommend looking into part-time work. While in college, I was able to tutor as a nearby tutoring center that offered flexible hours. I normally picked my classes so that I would be in school two days of the week (normally Mondays and Wednesdays) which left me the other days to work and complete school assignments. Other flexible jobs might be nannying or finding an on campus job.