Financial
Aid & Scholarship
Information
The
prospect of funding a college education is extremely daunting to all
but the extremely wealthy. Since most of us don't fall into that income
category, financial aid is out there. That being said, while the term
financial aid gets thrown around in the college talk, it can be hard to
decipher the different types of financial aid or to know how to find
and acquire financial aid for college.
In order
to answer some of these questions, we have the Unity Scholarship
Newsletter, and many financial aid resources linked below. While all of
these are great, make sure to contact and work closely with your
prospective college's financial aid office; it will have even more
resources for you.
Financial
Aid Glossary
Myths
and Realities About Paying for College
Basic
Facts About College Prices and Student Aid
Determining Financial
Aid Eligibility
Recommended
Websites, Books, and Brochures
Comparing
Financial Aid Packages
Chosing which
college to attend can be a very exciting, yet stressful thing to
do. The student has applied for admission and received the
admission notice, and now the family is dealing with the scariest
question: "How are we going to pay for this?" Do not rule out any
college option simply because of the initial price tag. You may
be suprised to find out that a mre expensive college may offer a
financial aid package that makes their college cost comparable to a
less expensive one. Once the financial aid application process
has been completed, the financial aid administrators at the colleges
the student is considering will "package" all available financial aid
options. Families can use this "Financial Aid Package Comparison
Worksheet" to get organized and help decipher award letters and compare
aid packages.
Financial
Aid & Scholarship Websites
FAFSA Online
The official
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) website. Accept no
imposter! Here you can learn more about student aid and fill out your
yearly FAFSA form.
FinAid!
This site provides scholarship searches based on your
personal profile, financial aid calculators and definitions of
different types of student aid.
FastWeb
This site allows users to build a personal profile and search for
colleges and scholarships that match their individual characteristics
and needs.
Scholarships.com
Much like FastWeb, this site allows users to build a personal profile
and search for scholarships that match their individual characteristics
and needs.
CollegeZONE
This site through the Illinois Student Assistance
Commission not only provides information about financial aid, financial
aid calculators, and so much more, it also houses a ParentZONE
that is customized for college planning at different stages in a
child's life and a StudentZONE
focused on a prospective college student's planning needs.
College
Answer
This site provides students with a guide for preparing
for, selecting, applying to, paying for, deciding on and financing
college. It also provides a parent guide for some of the financial
aspects as well.
Careers
and Colleges
This site works to help students choose a college,
apply, look for financing options and even explore careers.
CollegeNET
This site
contains a college search function, financial aid resources, online
application help and other college resources.
Scholarship
Websites for Specific Populations
Universal
Technical
Institute Scholarship Opportunities List - Many
students
find career opportunities through vocational and technical
training. Universal Technical Institute provides training for a variety of
occupations and careers. Use their web site to invistigate
careers and scholarships opportunities available in the technical
fields. (Mr. Rich Brady, UTI Scholarship Contact) This list of scholarships was provided by Rich Brady,
a representative
of UTI. If you see a trade or vocation that interests you
or that you may be
qualified for, check out the UTI
website or contact the source to
find out if it is being offered this year.
The Hispanic
College Fund (HCF)
HCF was founded on the belief that "the Hispanic
community is a family, and each member, whether individual, business or
organization, shoulders responsibility to help the community thrive to
its full potential." At the HCF website, students can find information
on scholarships specifically for Hispanic college students.
Hispanic
Scholarship Fund
The Hispanic Scholarship Fund works at making college affordable and
provides educational outreach support to the Latino community.
Jackie Robinson
Foundation
The Jackie Robinson Foundation is a "public,
not-for-profit, national organization that award four-year college
scholarships to academically gifted students of color with financial
need, enabling them to attend a four-year college of their choice."
United Negro
College Fund (UNCF)
UNCF is a minority higher education assistance organization. Their
website provides information on member colleges, scholarships, careers
and more.
Minority
Scholarships
This
site allows you to explore the many scholarship options available for
minority
scholarships.
Aviation
Scholarships
This
site allows you to explore the many scholarship options available for
aviation
scholarships.
Miscellaneous
Scholarships
This site allows you to explore
a variety of scholarship opportunities
that may or may not apply to you and/or your family.
Grants
This site lists eight (8) grant
sites that allow you to explore the
options of grant money for college.
Military Scholarships
Marine
Scholars
This website has information on scholarships for the
children of Marines, with special consideration to those whose Marine
parent died in active duty.
Army Reserve Officer Training Corps - Army Reserve Officer Training
Corps (ROTC) scholarships are offered at hundreds of colleges.
Application packets, information about eligibility, and the telephone
number of an ROTC advisor in your area are available from
1.800.USA.ROTC or www.goarmy.com/rotc
Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps - The Navy
Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) offers both two-year and
four-year scholarships. For information and applicaions, contact
1.800.NAV.ROTC or www.nrotc.navy.mil
Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps - The Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) college
scholarship program targets students pursuing certain foreign language
and techical degrees, althought students enterin a wide variety of
majors may be accepted. Information about AFROTC
scholarships is available from 1.866.423.7682 or at www.afrotc.com
The American Legion - "Need a Lift"
gives specific information on 1,400 colleges and universities around
the nation. Another section contains information provided by
Scholarship Resource Network about its electronic scholarship search
service. This computer search provides access to additional
scholarships, grants and loans based upon the student's major, college
selected, interests and/or hobbies free on the Internet at www.srnexpress.com
YOUR
PROSPECTIVE COLLEGE IS A RESOURCE, TOO!!
Contact the financial aid office for your prospective school(s) and
learn how they can help you plan for financing college.
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