Higher Education Financing

Plan to attend a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Workshop at Saint Louis University in January or February. All workshops are on Sunday afternoons and each explains the scholarship and financial aid process so that you can complete the FAFSA with minimal hassle.

2012 SLU FAFSA Workshops:

Jan. 16
Jan. 23
Jan. 30
Feb. 6
Feb. 13

Time:  2 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Location:

Busch Student Center
20 N. Grand Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 6310

College.gov. This site is being built by the U.S. Department of Education in collaboration with students to help students going into higher education reach your dream. This site is intended to be the go-to source for information and resources about planning, preparing and paying for postsecondary education (such as 2- or 4-year colleges and universities, and vocational or career schools). You can:

• See how education creates more opportunities.
• Learn how you can make your college dream a reality.
• Learn how it might be easier than you think.

Try it at http://www.college.gov

General information on student financial aid with links to useful financial aid web sites - http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/ 

Find other scholarship search results at MappingYourFuture.org

The SchoolSoup.com website is new but their experience in college and scholarship research is not. They began accumulating college and scholarship information in 1988 and developed one of the first computerized scholarship search programs. They currently have a team of research specialists that add new scholarships to their database every day. They claim that over the past 18 years their college and scholarship data has been licensed to several Fortune 500 companies on an exclusive basis. For the first time ever their scholarship information is available to the general public free of charge. They claim to have the world’s largest scholarship database—nearly $33 billion dollars. They confidently make that claim because we have been collecting scholarship information long before most other internet scholarship search companies were created. Link: http//:SchoolSoup.com. 

SCHOLARSHIPS-DOT-COM: The mission of Scholarships.com is to assist students in obtaining scholarships for college and to help them explore the many financial aid opportunities available not only to students, but to parents as well. The web site provides an online resource that delivers the information and tools required to understand financial aid and make well-informed choices–all at no charge. The regularly updated proprietary database allows users to search 2.7 million scholarship and grant awards worth over $19 billion in aid. Students and parents find a way to make college not only attainable, but affordable as well. At http://www.scholarships.com

FindTuition.com is a total resource for college money. Finding money for college can be a real challenge. At FindTuition.com, provides a platform to help you find the money you need from all available funding sources. From one of the largest scholarship search engines on the web to our student loan options, FindTuition.com is the place to get the money you need for your education. You will need to register and have an e-mail address. http://www.findtuition.com
Read carefully the Terms and Privacy Policy before registering.

FAFSA Forecaster: If you want to begin exploring your financial aid options and get an early start on the financial aid process, FAFSA4caster is for you! By using FAFSA4caster, you and your family will receive an early estimate of eligibility for federal student aid. This Web site provides you with an opportunity to increase your knowledge of the financial aid process; become familiar with the various types of federal student aid that are available; and investigate other sources of aid, such as grants and scholarships. The web address is:
http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/

FinAid – FinAid was established in the fall of 1994 as a public service. This award-winning site has grown into the most comprehensive annotated collection of information about student financial aid on the web. Access to FinAid is free for all users and there is no charge to link to the site.http://www.finaid.org/

The Student Guide to Federal Financial Aid – The Student Guide is a comprehensive resource on student financial aid from the U.S. Department of Education. Grants, loans, and work-study are the three major forms of aid available through the Department’s Federal Student Aid office. Updated each award year, The Student Guide tells you about the programs and how to apply for them. From the U.S. Department of Education.

http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/student_guide/index.html.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid – also called the FAFSA – is the gateway document for accessing Federal and many State student financial aid programs. These financial aid programs are called “need-based,” and the FAFSA helps determine the level of need based on the student’s and family’s income and what the family can contribute toward a student’s higher education costs. These aid packages may include grants (free money for post-secondary education), loans and student work-study on a campus. Find it athttp://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

Register for a Personal Identification Number (PIN) – If you decide you want to complete the FAFSA electronically over the Internet, the student and a parent both need to obtain a FAFSA-specific PIN. This way, you will not need to sign a paper signature page and have it sent in separately, delaying processing. The site used for obtaining a PIN: http://http://www.pin.ed.gov/.

ACT’s Financial Aid Need Estimator – This free service can help you plan more effectively to meet college costs. The Financial Aid Need Estimator allows you to calculate both your family contribution and costs at specific institutions by taking you through two steps. Find athttp://www.act.org/fane/index.html.

FastWeb.com – Do a free scholarship search through FastWebs 600,000 searchable scholarships in their database. The scholarships are worth over $1 billion. A student must register and add his profile. The student can receive automatic 3-mail updates.
http://www.fastweb.com

Student Scholarship Search – Find scholarships and other financial aid resources here. If you know of a scholarship that would be a great addition, login/register and add it to our directory! Hunt for scholarships and submit links to ones you’ve found on your own.
http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com/

NEED A LIFT? College Financial Aid Handbook. For many years the American Legion has published this scholarship resource handbook and delivered free it to every secondary school in the United States. Now you can find it online at,

http://www.legion.org/needalift