Financial aid comes in a few different flavors.  Ill discuss them in depth in later posts, but here are the basics:

Scholarships

Scholarships are usually granted based on merit - academic, athletic, or otherwise.  They are given by the school or another organization.

Student Loans

Student loans are given by the government directly to the student - they are [...]

The amount of aid a potential student receives is determined by a number of factors - But to give you an idea, here are the main ones:

Expected Family Contribution:

Your Expected Family Contribution weighs heavily on how much aid your eceive for school - and with good reason:  the more money your family is able to [...]

Most people will find that they are eligible for federal student aid - but just to be sure, here are the requirements (according to the FAFSA website):

Be a U.S. citizen (or an eligible non-citizen)
Have a valid Social Security Number
Register with Selective Service
Possess a high school diploma or GED
Be currently enrolled (or accepted) as [...]

Applying for aid with the Federal Application For Student Aid is actually pretty simple, especially if you do it online. The official FAFSA website outlines the main steps for doing so - Ill paraphrase them here:

Complete the FAFSA online (it can be found by clicking here) and provide the signatures required.
Wait for the [...]

Recently I talked a bit about EFC - expected family contribution. While this is most relevant to finding out how much support you’ll receive from the government, theres another more practical application! An acquaintance who will graduate from high school next year asked me how much money I thought it would cost his [...]

I was discussing student loans with a friend the other day when they mentioned a guaranteed student loan. We didn’t have time to get into it at the time, but I was intrigued - who was guaranteeing what?
An hour or 2 of research later, and it appears that Guaranteed student loan is really just [...]

If you’ve been looking into financial aid for college, one ominous sounding acronym almost certainly popped up:  EFC.  EFC stands for expected family contribution, and plays an important role in determining how much financial aid you are likely to get.
Right off the bat, students often assume that the EFC is either how much money you’ll [...]

FAFSA, short for the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, is the application form for federal studnt grants, work study aid, and loans. In some msituations, the application can be used to apply for private aid as well. In short, its a big deal, and everyone looking to receive some form of financial [...]