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Student Financial Aid
This Information Web page, prepared by the Congressional Research Service for Members of Congress, guides students through the process of locating and applying for financial aid. [Updated March 2006]
- The Basics: Getting Started
- Student Aid and Where It Comes From
- Targeted Aid for Specific Groups
- Repaying Your Loans
- The Basics: Getting Started
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Start gathering information early.
Free information is readily available from:
- High school counselors
- College and career school financial aid offices (where you plan to attend)
- Local and college libraries
- U.S. Department of Education Web page
- Other Internet sites (search terms student financial aid OR assistance)
Ask questions: counselors may know if you have exceptional circumstances that affect your eligibility.
Be organized: use calendars to keep on track.
Keep copies of all forms and correspondence: you must reapply for aid each year.
Parents of students: save money long before your child attends college.
- College Savings Plan Network (state "Section 529" plans)
- FinAid: for Parents
- Tax incentives for higher education expenses
Good overviews:
- Cash for College
- FinAid: The Smart Student Guide to Financial Aid
- Looking for Student Aid
- Mapping Your Future
- Paying for College
Beware of scholarship scams -- don't pay for free information!
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- Student Aid and Where It Comes From
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Basic assistance categories:
- Financial need-based
Remember that students and their parents are responsible for paying what they can-- financial aid is a supplement, not a substitute, for family resources.
- Non need-based
Factors include academic excellence, ethnic background, or organization membership. Corporations may also offer assistance to employees and children.
Federal Student Aid:
- Provides nearly 70% of student aid under Loans, Grants and Work/study programs.
- Available to all need-based applicants; some loans and competitive scholarships for non need-based.
- Free information from the United States Department of Education:
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Loans are the most common federal aid and must be repaid when you graduate or leave college.
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Stafford Loans include:
- Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) from private lenders, such as banks and credit unions, guaranteed by the federal government
- William D. Ford Direct Loans (DL) directly from the federal government.
- Federal PLUS Loans parental loans, not need-based
- Perkins Loans for the most needy undergraduates; through participating schools.
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Stafford Loans include:
- Scholarships/grants are mostly need-based and require no repayment:
- Other grants, scholarships, and fellowships, mostly graduate level: search the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) by Beneficiary, such as "Student or Trainee" or "Graduate Student".
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Congressional" scholarships:
- Named for Member of Congress or other prominent individual (such as Byrd Honors Scholarships, Fulbright fellowships)
- Merit-based and highly competitive
- Members of Congress do not play a role in selecting recipients
- Search by Beneficiary in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
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Work study programs allow you to earn money while in school:
- Federal Work Study Program: college campus jobs
- Student Educational Employment: jobs with the federal government
- For questions not covered by the Department of Education Web site,