Title: Which Form of Financial Aid Will Benefit Me Most?
Topic: Financial aid opportunities for prospective college students.
Written by: Kaylie Walters
College is a scary obstacle. Any student, like me, who wants to go to college after highschool is probably terrified of the almost guaranteed debt that’ll come with it. This year, there’s a total of $1.7 trillion in total student debt in the United States, with an average of $37,691 in debt for 45.3 million students studying in America according to educationdata.com.
According to the U.S. News, “About half of current students said student loan debt is making them reconsider finishing college.” This makes me wonder, as a prospective student, is there no way to avoid this debt? What can I do to avoid it? Well, as it turns out, if we’re just a little bit more financially literate and strategic, we can find a way.
https://thecollegeinvestor.com/21868/financial-aid-award/ (website for image)
Scholarships:
We’ve all heard of scholarships by now, but how much do we really know about it? Scholarships have seemed far out of reach for many students, including me. If you don’t already know, scholarships are a financial aid opportunity you can apply for. Awarded scholarships are typically determined by a student’s demonstrated academic merit. However, there’s a general misconception that only the best students can apply and be awarded with a scholarship. This is not actually true!
There are thousands of scholarships that you can apply for in the United States, so there’s an opportunity for just about anyone. Candidates definitely benefit from having an impressive G.P.A. and academic record, but even those of us who have a 2.0 G.P.A. have the chance to get a scholarship. Scholarships are a free form of financial aid which are awarded by a merit based system which focuses on academic achievements, extracurricular activities, your field of study, etc. According to CNBC, “Each year, more than 1.7 million private scholarships and fellowships are awarded, with a total value of more than $7.4 billion.”
If scholarships are something that interests you, consider looking at scholarships.com to see what scholarships in the United States you may be eligible for, or consider conferencing with your guidance counselor.
https://educationdata.org/financial-aid-statistics (website for diagram)Student Grants (Pell Grants):
Now obviously, not everyone is going to get a scholarship. But there are other options as well: one being student grants. Pell grants are awarded to students who are financially strained, using a student’s E.F.C., or expected family contribution, to judge how much money should be awarded to students who apply. This means that any student of a family who earns $30k or less per year will be eligible to receive a full student grant, with a chance for qualification for some funding with a family income under $60k. Even though 41% of undergraduates each receive an average of $5,179 in federal grants, each year $2 billion in student grants are left unclaimed (out of $32 billion offered) according to educationdata.org. This means that you will have a good chance of receiving a grant, especially since not all of the available grant money is even being used! Student grants are similar to scholarships in that neither require repayment after receiving the donation, as long as the money is used for its intended purpose. Their main differences, though, is that grants have a maximum funding per student of $6,495 (for the 2020-21 school year), and that grants don't strictly base their awards off of student academic achievements like scholarships tend to. So, if your family’s income is $60k or lower, it would likely be worth your time to apply for a grant.
Student Loans:
Student loans are an opportunity which, unlike scholarships and grants, requires repayment of the loaned money, often with considerable interest. Lenders who provide these opportunities often aren’t choosy, which makes it a great opportunity for those who will not be receiving a grant or a scholarship.
It is commonly debated whether student loans are a good or bad investment. According to author Paul Sisolak on studentloanhero.com, student loans can very well be both a good and a bad investment, depending on how it is handled. ‘Good debt’ is described as debt that increases in value over time. Take, for comparison, buying a new home over a new car: The home will likely increase in market value over time, while the car will automatically be worth less once you drive it off the lot. The determination of the debt coming from student loans is the same; trying to determine the worth of gaining debt. When considering whether debt is good, consider this: Leslie Tayne, a debt resolution attorney at New York-based Tayne Law Group, described good debt as “a debt that you can easily maintain in your budget and debt that has given you a benefit.” To conclude, when determining whether your debt gained by student loans will be worth it, determine whether the amount of debt is something you will be able to earn back in the near future, and whether the debt is actually benefiting you. Specifically, think about your resolve for college -- will it be worth it?
- - -
There are other forms of financial aid, which are used less often, such as the work-study program. The work-study program offers part-time work for students enrolled in post-secondary education, in which college will pay you for your service. If this interests you, look at what your specific college(s) offers, as every college has different opportunities.
When planning your college debt, it would be most beneficial to apply for both scholarships and grants (if you’re eligible), before applying for a loan. Especially since scholarships and grants can be stacked together without reduction in awarded funds.
I highly recommend applying for FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). This is a free opportunity provided to prospective students from the government to see what financial aid opportunities the colleges you are interested in have to offer you. The application for the 2021-2022 school year opened on October 1rst, and it will close on June 30th 2020 -- this is a large gap of time to apply. Be careful, though, as the sooner you apply, the more potential financial aid you may receive.
- - -
In conclusion, It is necessary to consider your current situation when preparing for college when committing to a form of financial aid, as well as college in general. What are your academic achievements thus far? Will you parents be paying for your tuition? And above all, are you sure that college is the route you want to take? Many student grants and scholarships only offer their donations for four to five years, so there is little room for indecision. Student loans will keep adding up as well. “According to the National Center for Education Statistics, just 41% of first-time full-time college students earn a bachelor's degree in four years, and only 59% earn a bachelor's in six years, driving up the cost of attending college significantly.” This may be a clear indicator of why so many students experience as much debt as they do, so make sure you don’t fall into the same trend, whichever path you choose to take.
https://www.petersons.com/blog/the-financial-aid-effect-on-early-decision-and-early-application/ (website for image)
Work Cited:
AbigailJHess. “Graduating in 4 Years or Less Helps Keep College Costs down-but Just 41% of Students Do.” CNBC, CNBC, 20 June 2019, www.cnbc.com/2019/06/19/just-41percent-of-college-students-graduate-in-four-years.html#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20National%20Center,cost%20of%20attending%20college%20significantly.
Bustamante, Jaleesa. “Student Loan Debt Statistics [2021]: Average + Total Debt.” EducationData, 11 Feb. 2021, educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-statistics.
Federal Student Aid, studentaid.gov/understand-aid/types/work-study.
Hanson, Mel. “Financial Aid Statistics [2021]: Average Aid per Student.” EducationData, 6 Feb. 2021, educationdata.org/financial-aid-statistics.
Nadworny, Elissa, and Lauren Migaki. “FAFSA Applications Are Open. Here's How To Fill It Out This Year.” NPR, NPR, 22 Oct. 2020, www.npr.org/2020/10/20/925739424/fafsa-applications-are-open-heres-how-to-fill-it-out-this-year.
Scholarships.com. “Academic Scholarships and Merit Scholarships.” Scholarships for College Free College Scholarship Search 2020-2021, www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarships-by-type/academic-scholarships-and-merit-scholarships/.
Sisolak, Paul. “Are Student Loans Bad or Good Debt? Here's What You Need to Know.” Student Loan Hero, 27 Nov. 2020, studentloanhero.com/featured/student-loan-debt-good-bad/.
“Student Loan Expectations: Myth vs. Reality.” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/10/07/student-loan-expectations-myth-vs-reality#:~:text=The%20standard%20repayment%20plan%20for,is%20forgiven%20after%2020%20years.
(Grace Lochner)
ReplyDeleteThis year especially, it has been interesting to see all the different scholarship opportunities that actually are available, and all the little niches that can make you eligible for specific ones. Thank you for writing this-obviously everyone has heard of student loans, but so many people including myself didn't really know their significance or relevance with college today. This is all super important information to know and I loved how you included the tradeoffs for each option to help readers see both sides and possibly narrow down their decision or ideas that they have about what they'll do in the next few years financially.
This really helped me with decided what I need to do in my coming future. Right now, I'm practically picking my dollars to really help me decide which college I want to go to even with the scholarships and grants I've earn. Crazy how at such a turning point in our lives when we really haven't fully developed became so important on what to in the future. It's really great that you touched up on this.
ReplyDeleteThis piece was very interesting to me. For someone who is going to college in about 6 months now, this provided me some closure as I was scared about the financial side of attending college. I think that you provided great information in this piece and really made it personal as I would say at least 95% of the people that are going to read this will be attending college in the upcoming years. I really liked how you even provided a link to a website where you can find scholarships that you are eligible for. I think that this piece and topic were overall great. They connected to the reader and you provided so many great ideas to help be more financially safe in the upcoming future.
ReplyDeleteThis was very helpful & I love the structure you used because it made your post very organize & easy to keep reading. I have 3 older sisters that all went to college & already have their college debt paid off because they worked all throughout college. You definitely need to be prepared & understand what you are doing & have a plan for how to pay off college.
ReplyDeleteAs a junior myself, and am going to graduate within the next two years, I am glad I decided to read your blog as it provided me with a lot of insight with loans, debt and scholarships when it comes to college. I wasn’t 100% certain I knew everything about scholarships but your blog totally helped me understand that there are so many scholarships that each person is eligible from, and looking at scholarships.com was really impactful to me because now I have a better idea of what scholarships apply to me. Without your blog I probably would not have ever went on there and took the time to read through some of it.
ReplyDeleteI can see where this article is going and really helped me decide if I should go or not or even be ready for such a big leap forward. Now i know that my mom will help with my tuition, but not help with all of it. Its just crazy that how important going to college is getting. I wonder what it will be in 10 years from now?
ReplyDeletePrior to reading this article, I wasn't super familiar with the different forms of financial aid. After reading this article I felt much more knowledgeable on it and comfortable applying for financial aid. With that being said, I think you gave great in-depth descriptions of the different financial aid options. I personally wasn't super familiar with student grants and also didn't know that scholarships are attainable for any student, even if they aren't the best student. I'm happy that you really dived deep into this topic as it can be helpful to so many high school students who aren't quite sure where to start when looking into financial aid.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really informational and helpful blog piece. All this information is crucial for high school students no matter what grade you're in. Being a junior I have been considering what my plans were going to be after high school, and I feel this information can be extremely helpful for students considering the same plans.I'm not really excited to face the financial issues around college and everyone knows how hard and how long you have to work on reaching the goal.
ReplyDeleteNice job, I thought that your blog was extremely informative and useful information that I am definitely going to consider when I start applying for colleges. I thought that the order you presented your information was extremely informative and organized, it helped me to understand your content better, so thanks! I thought it was interesting how a work study program would seem to help to reduce student debt more, but less people seem to be taking that option. I think in my life I would rather apply for the most scholarships that I can, work to get some extra money, and then whatever I don't get for my college costs, I will just apply for a loan. What do you think is the best way to prevent student loans? Also in your opinion do you think student loans are a good or bad thing considering the information you gathered? In my opinion, I think that although they can be good for some people who have the ability to pay their student loads back, for others who have little to no money and who can most definitely not pay their debts back student loans may ruin their lives. Also it was extremely interesting to see how much debt in student loans American students actually have, it was a little shocking since I have always heard about how horrible debt is but never actually seen the numbers. This also is true for how much money the government isn't giving to students with the Pell Grants.
ReplyDeleteI was also shocked by the number of people deal with debt, and just how much debt they're dealing with. Financial aid is one of my largest stressors when it comes to college, and that's why I decided that I wanted to learn as much as I could about the opportunities. As for my opinion on student loans, I personally think they're a bad idea on their own, obviously I'm no expert on how they work, but it seems that the interest people gain with using a loan is what causes people to have debt for decades of their lives. When thinking about what order I would choose to apply for financial aid, a student loan would definitely be at the end of the list. However, there are a variety of student loans as I learned after submitting this post. If it helps, I would suggest looking at the presentation our guidance counselors have provided regarding financial aid, you might learn the differences between student loads provided by the federal government and the ones provided by the schools.
DeleteThis was a really insightful article to read. I know that the struggle of pay for college is a large issue amongst many young adults, so reading all of the options laid out this way is really great to look through. College expenses are the highest they’ve ever been and many parents/guardians simply cannot afford to pay the appalling rates of a college education. I think a lot of people, including myself, aren’t the most well versed in the way that grants, scholarships, FAFSA, student loans (good debt vs. bad debt) all differ and how they are important, so having it described in an efficient and effective way was amazing to read!
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate the topic, as I, and many of my classmates will be entering college soon. Student loans is something that I'm sure myself, and many of my classmates have thought about, and have been a little intimidated by it. I also appreciate how organized your article was, and how in depth it went into each option. The article's structure, and the detail made it very easy to understand. However, I was wondering what you thought about the future of financial aid plans. Do you think some of these methods will be changed/altered in the near future? Do you think there will be a better way to combat student debt?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this article as like you I am planning on going to college after high school and I am afraid of the debt that will come with it, so seeing all these ways to receive financial aid especially with the graph showing the high acceptance rate of financial aid gives me some hope that I will be able to limit my student debt and be able to pay it off sooner rather than later.
ReplyDeleteThis is an awesome topic. I really appreciate how useful this is for many of your classmates including me. I'm going to college next year and I definitely haven't thought about all of my options as far as finance goes. For me the only thing I've really looked into was scholarships which is great but at some point I think there's only so many scholarships so it's important to think about all of the other options too! Is there one option that you think you found that sounds like the best to you as far as financing college goes? Great organization and overall well done.
ReplyDeleteI think mental drive and determination is what will differentiate how people handle their debt. Debt will have an impact on your mental health as it can cause financial stress. We can't surround ourselves with negative data all the time, though student loans are intimidating. But if we can tell ourselves that we will pay them off and we are determined to find many opportunities to pay for college,I think that our mental health can benefit and so will our productivity.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who is currently beginning the process of thinking about where I want to go to college and how I will go about paying for the expenses associated with college, this was a great piece for me to read. I think that it is very important to realize which route we want to take. I think a good point to make regarding this is that everyone has their own path to the future they want. Everyone thinks that you go to college for 4 years, get a degree, get a job, and live happily ever after. That however is very far from the truth and although I personally would love to take the route, sometimes that route isn't for everyone and or isn't possible for everyone and you need to find what route will get you to the future you want and I think you offered points in this piece that support that.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really good topic to post a blog about. Since I am a junior and graduation is only a year and a half away college is on my mind but more specifically how to pay for it. I would love to go to school out of state but as many of us know if we choose to go far away from home the cost of out of state tuition is higher then in state would be. As someone who is paying the bulk of there schooling it was good to know I had other options besides student loans that I would be paying off for years. I had never heard of the grants before so that will be a good thing to further look into. I would like to know what you think about student loans? Do you think this is an example of "good or bad debt."?
ReplyDelete(Mia Bolyard)
ReplyDeleteI have been working towards getting scholarships and other financial assistance this year especially as I am paying for most of my tuition myself somehow. One thing I can't help but wonder is when they go through these forms is if they consider that. Because a lot of the emphasis is on my Family and their financial status, but why does that matter if they may gave me only $800 and the rest it up to me? And are there different types of student loan plans? Like do they have installment plans? I've never taken a loan out before so I only know the basics, but do they have like a Plan A where you pay x amount in a time period or plan B where you pay x amount on Y date?
Kaylie, thank you for sharing! As a Senior, financial aid and the overall cost of college is something that I've been thinking a LOT about recently. I'm starting to narrow down my choices and make a final decision, and it's really coming down to the cost of each college. I've received my financial aid offers from each school, and they lay out the different amounts I'll receive for each type of financial aid, but I never knew what they were exactly and how they differed from each other. Your post was very informational and now I finally know what a Pell Grant is, so thank you! I loved how you included the graph on the student financial aid acceptance rates by year. I thought it was interesting that the rate declined drastically during 2008, due to the recession. Since COVID-19 has packed a big punch on our nation's economy, do you foresee any impacts to those rates in the coming years?
ReplyDeleteHi Jaden, costs for college is something I've been worry about a lot as well. I'm assuming you've applied through the FAFSA, considering you've received your options from each college? To answer your question, yes I do forsee a dip in this trend considering the affects of COVID-19. Nothing like going as far down as 73% obviously, but there will likely be a 2 to 4 percent dip in this year and next's -- at least for on-campus colleges. Another thing I noticed, though, if you look at the second chart, it shows the same set of years, but there isn't a dip! This leads me to believe that, though less people were recieving financial aid at the time, the people who did ended up paying extra debt. Isn't that interesting? Let's hope that trend doesn't follow us in this time of an epidemic.
DeleteAs for Pell Grants, I also hadn't known anything about them until recently, but I think they are actually a very useful form of financial aid. Especially considering how much leftover potential aid that is wasted every year, this just means people who don't apply have wasted a perfect opportunity, don't you think? I wish you luck on your journey!
I really enjoyed reading this. As someone who is going across the US for college, that is rather expensive (out-of-state tuition). I'm sure no matter where people go for college, the debt and the thought of paying thousands and thousands of dollars causes some form of stress. For those who don't participate in sports or AP/Honors classes, so many scholarships are taken off the board and very few lay available. I definitely find myself stressing more and more as time gets closer to when I go to college-- I'm already stressing about student debt and I don't have any at the moment! However, reading this definitely helped me gain more knowledge on what the debt can be like and knowledge about scholarships and grants helps me feel more confident in my ability to pay for college. Do you think that student debt will continue to increase over time because of the economics constantly changing or will it fluctuate ?
ReplyDeleteI agree that as someone looking to go into college, the idea of tons of debt is scary. I didn’t know that there were multiple ways to avoid this debt. I found the part about good debt and bad debt very interesting. I would argue that student loan debt would fall into the category of bad debt. I say that it is bad debt because as you mentioned, half of current students said student loan debt is making them reconsider finishing college. Although I don’t have personal experience with student loan debt, I’m assuming that if it is making you reconsider finishing college, then it isn’t worth it. However, sometimes you don’t have many other options (scholarships might not cover the full tuition and you may not be eligible for student grants) and that's why so many students take on student loan debt.
ReplyDeleteCollege is something that is very exciting and the next step in your life. Not until senior year did I really think of the financial aspect of it. My goal is to stay in state because like you said, "This means that any student of a family who earns $30k or less per year will be eligible to receive a full student grant, with a chance for qualification for some funding with a family income under $60k." My family income is nowhere close to those numbers so it stresses me out when it comes to getting financial help. I thought it was very helpful that you gave a link to a scholarship website. It is very stressful for students to think about how they are going to pay for college when they see those big numbers and even get back there FASFA back and don't get any or little help. I really enjoyed this article!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post for people who need to learn more about receiving money for college. Knowing the best way to get that money is beneficial. I also did not know what the Pell grant was until now either!
ReplyDeleteCollege is an exciting but it can also be very daunting. As a senior who still hasn’t gotten any decisions back I can tell you that I’m very anxious about this whole process. Knowing about all your options for affording college is something that everyone needs to be up to date with and balance with the final weeks of high school. I personally think that applying for scholarships can be a tedious process that with high school still going on can be very stressful for us students. Knowing and being confident about taking out loans can be a good option for those of us who might not get as many scholarships as other students that may need them more.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love this topic, as someone who is going to college soon I think that this article was helpful beyond belief and much needed. One thing that I really enjoy about your blog is when you were talking about student loans vs scholarships. Not many people understand the difference between the two, with you bringing light to the differences between the two is really interesting. For example, with scholarships, once you receive the money, you don’t have to pay a single penny back to the people you received it from. Whereas with student loans, it takes years and years to come back up with that kind of money. I mean college is beyond expensive and enlightening people on their opportunities of receiving help was a great idea. Good Job!
ReplyDeleteThis piece was extremely helpful. I appreciate the sources you included within your post to help us. Paying for college is something that is extremely stressful, especially now with it creeping up in the next year. I know when my older sister first started college, she didn't know she could apply for any scholarship and thought her grades wouldn't be good enough to receive any. Knowing that there are many different scholarships for everyone is extremely helpful and will definitely be something that I utilize when it comes time to pay for schooling.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your topic of what financial aid opportunity is best for me. I thought this was very relatable to most high school students as graduation quickly approaches. I definitely agree with your opening statement of “College is a scary obstacle.” I feel that many high schoolers feel pressure to know what they want to do and have their whole life planned out. Even just looking at the price for college can be intimidating. After reading about the many financial aid opportunities, it seems as if there are opportunities for everyone. I also know many hear of all these opportunities, but don’t know which would be the best fit for them. I thought your blog was very informative of what options are out there and eased the “scariness” of college debt! Great job! (Ally Longden)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how you organized this piece by proposing the issue and then giving many solutions of how to solve it, along with all of the images and links. College debt is something that concerns me a lot and I know that it concerns many people like my brother who decided that the idea of having debt wasn’t for him and decided to choose a different career path than college. Now while the debt does scare me, it is something that I consider to be good debt and that if I keep working hard to get my job that I want in the future, that debt will get paid off. I didn’t know about how many scholarship opportunities that there are and that is a good thing considering that I am starting to look at colleges. I know that it was brought up that debt steers people away from going to college, so do you think that if we were to cut the cost of college in half, would more people choose that route?
ReplyDeleteYou offered some good insight to all the different types of aid that students especially for those students who aren't doing well academically. It's also very important for students to know what to look for especially those who are applying for scholarships. If you're applying for very common ones, or ones that you don't qualify for, there's a likely chance that you won't receiver aid from that. I think that it's important to express that college isn't always the right path for everyone. If you don't value your education, it isn't worth being in thousands of dollars of debt to not even finish school, and it was helpful that you explained that.
ReplyDeleteYour breakdown of scholarship definitely helps distinguish which ones are which, and the ones that readers should be prioritizing. I appreciated how you went further in depth for some topics, like the good vs bad debt explanation, and then connected it back to a question as to whether college is really worth it or not. Including deadlines for some general methods (like FAFSA) also clears things up. As told by the article towards juniors this year that are the relevant audience for this article, the college application process includes not only the writing for college applications, but also the applications of scholarships and grants.
ReplyDeleteAs a student currently applying to colleges and scholarships, this was a super helpful article! I loved how you clearly laid out the different options and why they are suitable for different types of students, but then you also described the more specific options within the overarching financial options. I thought your quote about “good debt” in your financial aid section was especially interesting because while I do think that education is a good investment, I have also seen how it can overwhelm people’s lives. I know adults who are decades into their careers and still paying off student loan debts. Is it really worth it? Are there ways we can prevent people from drowning in debt? Really fantastic article, Kaylie!!
ReplyDelete