Looking for scholarship money?
What does it take to win those college scholarships? Scholarship
Prep assists you in preparing your student to be the best
scholarship candidate he or she can be.
Whether you seek scholarships at the state university, or
you wish to seek large figures at private colleges, our outline
provides a detailed blueprint for parents to get their student
ready.
Assisting in how to be ready for the ACT test, the SAT
test, getting good grades, and increasing that GPA score.
Let us show you how to prepare your student to be ready
for college interviews, scholarship essays, and the all-important
scholarship competition. Get the information first on how
to become eligible for the scholarship competition, and
then how to win scholarship money on Scholarship Competition
Day.
There is a lot of scholarship money to be had - get your
student ready to win
the college money!
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How to Pay for College:
An Overview
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Are you concerned about how you're going to pay for college
for your teen? If you are looking at the cost of college for
one (or more!) teens in the next couple years, I would guess
that the answer is Yes! and you are wondering how you are
going to pay for tuition.
The best way to pay for college is to get it free (of course).
There are three ways to get your tuition for free: One way
is to receive a full tuition scholarship (from the college
itself). A second way is to get a full tuition scholarship
from a scholarship contest or lottery (also called outside
scholarships). Finally, if you are very poor, you might be
able to get the government to grant you the money for college.
Although most scholarships do not offer the entire cost of
tuition, full tuition scholarships do exist at several institutions.
If you can't get full tuition, perhaps you'll be able to snag
another scholarship with big figures. Even 50-75% off the
cost of tuition is a great deal. And for those who want a
private education (which comes with smaller classes, greater
attention to the student, and/or specific programs of study),
a 50% reduction in tuition at a private college can bring
the cost in line with the public university.
So how do you get these scholarships?
College-sponsored scholarships are usually based on merit.
You have to have good grades. Or you have to be an excellent
athlete for the sport the college is looking for. Or you have
to demonstrate talent in music, drama, or art and be prepared
to perform or display your talent as a student of that college.
By the way, these merit scholarships are often the most lucrative
college scholarships you're going to find. Many offer full
tuition. Some even supply room and board and cost for books
and a laptop computer. If you want to compete for these scholarships,
you must find which colleges offer the best awards. This takes
a lot of research. But your competition will be limited to
just those students who also apply at that specific educational
institution.
Scholarship contests are often national contests for which
you have to write an essay or demonstrate your potential in
some manner. Competition is severe, because you are competing
nationally with all students graduating your same year who
wish to attend college anywhere in the nation. These scholarships
are good for nearly any college in the land, and thus have
significant numbers competing for the grand prize.
Scholarship lotteries offer free money simply for entering
one's name in the lottery. No need to have the excellent grades
here. No need to be good at a sport or at music or any specific
talent. You just enter your name. How wonderful is that! The
downside is that your competition is tremendous. Now you're
competing with every other student graduating your same year
in the entire nation who can type his name into the web form.
Conclusion: If you want to get the large college scholarships,
then make yourself desirable to the colleges somehow. Then
you can apply for those excellent academic scholarships or
the athletic scholarship or the talent scholarship.
The third way to get free money is from the government. To
qualify for large grant monies, you have to be pitifully unable
to pay for tuition yourself. Neither you nor your parent can
have much savings (although your home equity does not count
against you). Neither you nor your parent can be making much
money. And the amount you can get is usually below what it
costs to attend a state university. It may help at the community
college level, simply because community colleges often charge
much less for tuition than universities do. But expect to
pay for your own room and board. Or live at home.
That's the simple scoop on getting money for college freely
given, without having to pay it back.
Next are the loans you can get. It seems every bank and his
brother is happy to loan you money for college. There are
four types of loans.
First are government subsidized student loans. These monies
are lent to you by the Federal Department of Education. The
Department sends the money directly to your college. The loan
carries interest, but the government pays that interest for
you as long as you are in school. After you get out, then
you take over the loan (and the interest). There are limits
on how much aid you can get. The limit is fairly low for your
first year of college, but goes up each year after that. (The
government assumes you are a better risk, the more you've
proven you can make it in college.)
You can get these loans only by filling out the Free Application
for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Those who make too much money
cannot get these loans. Those whose parents make too much
money cannot get these loans.
The second type of loan is the UNsubsidized student loan.
Also lent by the government, and also sent directly to your
college, and also limit-determined by filling out the FAFSA.
The "great" part about these loans is the low interest
rate. But these are not subsidized - meaning, you do have
to pay the interest on these loans. No worry, though. They
are set up so that you do not have to make payments until
after you graduate (or stop attending school). Interest continues
to accrue, however, during the time the loan is sitting there
waiting for you to get out.
The third type of loan is called the parent PLUS loan. This
one also requires the federal government to say that you have
little enough money. This is a loan a parent may take to cover
the cost of tuition (and room and board). The best thing about
this loan is that the parent need not have collateral, but
may get the loan simply on the government's saying the parent
may take that amount.
The downside? Interest is not low. (Interest on a plus loan
is actually quite higher than current mortgage rates.) Payments
begin immediately. (Parents are still working, supposedly,
and can therefore start making payments right away.) One must
have a good credit history to get this loan. (As with most
loans, the borrower must be a good credit risk.) One more
downside: One's parent must be willing to undertake this responsibility.
When parents are borrowing every year for the four years a
student is in school (plus maybe a second or third child?),
payments can quickly be as costly as one's mortgage.
Finally, one can get a standard bank loan. But one must first
convince the bank that one can pay it back.
Going the loan route doesn't look much fun, does it? College
is costly, and many students are graduating college with huge
debts and dismal outlook for getting a good job to pay back
the loans.
If you ask me, getting scholarships is the very best way
to go. And if you plan ahead and make yourself look good to
the scholarship judges, you increase your chances tremendously.
Fewer competitors.
Thousands of dollars.
Renewable, continuing funds.
Yes, you can coach your ordinary student into becoming
an extraordinary winner. We did it with ours! Get
started early with yours.
Click
here for more information.
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