Financial Aid Guide

Issues: Education

Guides students through the process of locating and applying for financial aid. Prepared by the Congressional Research Service for Members of Congress, updated September 2009.

The basics: getting started

  • 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
  • Student Aid on the Web (U.S. Department of Education)
  • Other Internet sites (search terms student financial aid OR assistance)

Ask questions: counselors may know if you have exceptional circumstances that affect your eligilbility.

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.

Good overviews:

Beware of scholarship scams -- don’t pay for free information!

Student aid and where it comes from

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:
  • Loans are the most common federal aid and must be repaid when you graduate or leave college.
  • 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".
  • "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
  • 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, call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243.

States offer residents a variety of scholarships, loans, and tuition exemptions.

Colleges and universities provide some 20% of aid, most need-based. Check university web sites and the institution’s financial aid office when you apply for admission.

Private foundations, corporations, and organizations offer scholarships or grants:

Targeted aid for special groups

Interested in public service?

Federal assistance programs seek to encourage people to work in geographic areas or professions where there’s a particular need (such as doctors in underserved areas); encourage underrepresented groups to enter a particular profession; and provide aid in exchange for services provided (such as military service).

Volunteers who complete one year of service receive an education award for current higher education expenses or to repay student loans.

Additional benefits for Army personnel.

Scholarships, grants, fellowships, internships, and cooperative education with federal agencies.

Scholarships for American Indian/Alaskan Native health profession students and loan repayment for persons working in IHS facilities.

Military academies:

Scholarships and loan repayment for health profession students who agree to work in underserved areas

Offered in exchange for two years of

Service in areas with critical nursing shortages.

  • Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC)

For students who want to be commissioned as officers after graduating from college.

Aid for private K-12 education: No direct federal assistance, check with schools themselves:

Repaying your loans

After college, the federal government has ways to help you repay your loans.

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