Sat Test

In my last couple of blog posts I talked about scholarships and how to find one that will help fund your college education. I also mentioned some obscure scholarships that might have made you giggle. Life is serious, but you should always make time for laughter. Hopefully some of those offbeat scholarships gave you a little fun.

Now I’d like to get serious for a little while. Funding your education is a serious business and there is the potential for disaster if you’re not careful how you go about doing things. I’m talking about using credit and student loans responsibly.

Maybe you haven’t qualified for a scholarship so you’ve decided that you might want to look into how to go about getting a student loan. No matter what career choice you’ve made once you graduate from high school, you should make a financial plan and do your best to stick to it.

Previously I gave you some tips on where to look for scholarships. Now I’ll talk a little bit about grants. A grant is money that you get and do not have to pay back. There are different grants available to help you fund your college education.

Federal Pell Grants~ A Pell grant helps over five million full and part time students in four year colleges, two year college and vocational schools. Your family can have an income of up to $50,000, but most Pell Grants are awarded to students whose family’s income is less than $20,000. Go to FAFSA at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ to find out how to apply for a federal grant. You’ll need to collect all of your personal information and learn the deadlines for federal and state filings. Some state deadlines are earlier than the federal ones, so make sure you don’t miss any deadlines! Grants are given out in increments from $400 to $4,310, depending on qualifications.

Academic Competitiveness Grant is a federally funded grant given to students in addition to a Pell Grant, so you must be eligible for a Pell Grant to be given this extra financial aid. It’s given to first and second year students. First year students are awarded $750 their first year and up to $1,300 for their second year.

National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant or SMART Grant or Smart Grant~ This is a grant that’s also given in addition to a Pell Grant, so this means that you must be Pell eligible to receive this money. The Smart Grant gives up to $4,000 to third and fourth year students in a baccalaureate program with a 3.0 cumulative G.P.A. and be enrolled in an eligible program. Eligible programs include Computer Science, Engineering, Critical Foreign Languages, Mathematics, Physical Sciences, Technology or Multidisciplinary Studies. There are other requirements to qualify, so check here for more information. http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/NewPrograms.jsp

Be sure to talk to the financial aid office at the school you’ve chosen to apply to for more information on their special financial aid packets. More than likely there is something there for you to consider.