Financial Aid Under Fire

The Republican leadership in Congress recently proposed deep cuts in the Pell Grant program.

Sadly, it is the Pell Grants that make it possible for low income students of all ages to attend college.

At a time when unemployment is extremely high for those without a college degree...more than twice as high as it is for college graduates, shouldn't we be doing everything possible to educate our workforce?

If you agree that institutional scholarships are not enough, and that federal financial aid should be readily available to students with financial aid, this would be a good time to contact your representatives.

Winning the College Admissions Game; 10 Quick Tips

Here are ten steps to take to maximize your chances of winding up at a college or university where you will be happy and successful.

1. Be sure to take the most challenging high school courses you can handle. Don’t take the easy way out (as many students do, especially in their senior year). Strong academic preparation makes you a better candidate for admission and greatly improves your chances for success in college.

2. Take either the ACT or SAT as a high school sophomore, if only to practice, get on some college mailing lists, and determine your relative strengths and weaknesses as compared with students throughout the country; students against whom you will be competing for college admission. Take both the ACT and SAT, after preparing diligently for them, in your junior and senior years.

3. Before making a list of colleges to consider, spend some time putting together a list of the criteria most important to you (location, size, academic programs, campus environment, co-curricular activities, etc.). If you are thoughtful and thorough in this phase of the process, it will be much easier for you to create your “colleges to explore” list, your next step.

4. When you begin putting together your “colleges to explore” list, consider both your college choice criteria and the academic profiles of students most likely to be admitted to each. Keep in mind that you do not have to be within all the listed ranges in the admitted student profiles…that’s the good news. The bad news is that being within the ranges is no guarantee of admission, particularly at the very most selective institutions. Hey, who said this would be easy. On the other hand, don’t panic…most colleges admit more students than they deny, and there really is a college for (almost) everybody.

5. Do not eliminate colleges from your “colleges to explore” list because of “list price”, as financial aid (available in many forms) may greatly reduce your actual cost of attendance. More on this later.

6. Do not count on activities to get you into college. They may be a “tip” factor in your favor, but unless you have exceptional talent in athletics, music, etc., they will not “save the day” for you. Strength of preparation (coursework), grades, and standardized (ACT or SAT) scores carry far more weight. And, understand that colleges are generally more impressed by real commitment to a few co-curricular activities than limited participation in many.

7. Do not rule out colleges whose names you do not recognize. Attend college fairs, meet with college representatives visiting your school, read the literature you receive in the mail, and use the many great resources available online. Explore lots of options…seek information aggressively. If you snooze, you lose.

8. When you make your “colleges to apply to” list, don’t be afraid to include a few “reach” schools, but be realistic about your chances. And, include at least two very carefully chosen “safety” schools. “Safety” or “fall back” schools are colleges you are confident will admit you, institutions you will be able to afford without hardship, and (most of all) colleges you would be happy to attend. Take great care to choose your safety schools well…if you do you’ll be “bullet proof”.

9. Visit as many colleges as possible, ask lots of questions, spend as much time as possible at each institution, and, if possible, have your family accompany you. Your family knows you better than anyone else, thus their observations and opinions may prove very helpful to you (even if you agree on nothing else).

10. Never attend a college or university you have not visited. In fact, experienced educators often say this is rule #1. Rule #2, by the way, is that there are no exceptions to rule #1. There are countless stories about students whose visits saved them from bad decisions and, unfortunately, numerous stories about folks who made bad decisions after choosing to attend institutions they failed to visit.For a list of colleges by state, with links to their websites, their email addresses and phone numbers, and links to their online applications, visit <http://www. college-scholarships.com>. The site also has links to free scholarship searches, ACT and SAT prep help, and much, much more.

Winning the College Scholarship Game

OK, you don't have a 4.0 GPA, you're not the senior class president, you can't throw a football fifty yards, and your SAT scores aren't generating letters or phone calls from Harvard, Yale or Princeton.

So, you'll never qualify for a college scholarship, right? Wrong! There are lots of scholarships and other kinds of financial aid for which you might qualify. Some colleges will offer you academic grants with a GPA of less than a 3.0 and SAT scores below 1000. Many church affiliated colleges, for instance, offer grants to students who are members of their religious denomination.

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette offers a scholarship (called an out-of-state fee waiver) which allows qualified students from all states to attend the university at the in-state tuition rate (currently less than $1,700 a semester). You can find the criteria for this scholarship at
<http://admissions.louisiana.edu/scholarships/out_of_state.shtml>.

If you are the son or daughter of a military veteran, if either of your parents work for a major corporation, if your mother or father is a member of a fraternal or civic organization, or if you are preparing for a career in a particular profession, there may be substantial scholarships for which you can apply, even if you're not a top student or a student leader.

Are you good at writing essays? If you are, your writing skills may be the ticket to a scholarship.

You may even be able to apply for a scholarship because of where you live, your last name, your ethnic heritage or race, or a disease or handicapping condition you may have. Get the idea yet?

There are all kinds of scholarships, grants, and financial aid programs out there. Some require economic need or have other restrictions, others do not. At <http://www.guaranteed-scholarships.com> you can find a list of scholarships guaranteed by individual colleges to all students meeting the listed criteria. And, at <http://www.college-scholarships.com/free_scholarship_searches.htm> you'll find links to nearly 30 free, online scholarship searches.

Don't forget your school counselor, as he or she can be a great source of information about local scholarship sources.

Want to improve your chances of qualifying for scholarships? Here are a few final tips.

First, take the most challenging classes available to you, work hard, and get involved in co-curricular, community, charitable and/or public service activities; the more you have to offer the more you're likely to be offered a scholarship.

Second, research, research, research. The more time you spend investigating scholarship opportunities, the more likely you are to find scholarships for which you may be eligible.
Don't let anyone discourage you. There are lots of people "out there", including some educators, who are inadvertently spreading misconceptions about who may qualify for financial aid and what is required to do so.

And, most important of all, do not fail to investigate or apply to a college you like because you think it is too expensive . . you never know what kinds of scholarships and/or financial aid you might receive. However, just like you should have "fall back" or "safety" colleges in case you are not admitted to your first choice institution(s), you should choose and apply to colleges that will be affordable if you do not receive the financial assistance for which you hope.

Finally, pay attention to details and deadlines when applying for scholarships. Complete the FAFSA financial aid form <http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/> as soon as possible.

"Typed" doesn't mean handwritten, "double spaced" means "double spaced", and essay word minimums/maximums and deadlines are not suggestions. Read and adhere to all directions and deadlines.

Very few students go to college "free", but scholarships, loans, work-study programs, and other forms of aid make it possible for almost anyone to finance the cost of higher education.

Accreditation of Online Degrees

Online degree programs are becoming more and more popular as adults seeking additional education choose degree programs they can complete in their homes, at times most convenient for them. In fact, reputable colleges and universities are now offering more online degree programs than ever before.

Unfortunately, there are also a number of online degree programs which are of little or no worth. And, institutions offering essentially worthless (and/or fraudulent) degrees advertise on the internet, send unsolicited email, and even advertise in mainstream publications. "USA Today", for instance, currently carries advertising for institutions which claim to be accredited, although their "accreditation" comes from organizations not recognized by the U.S. government.

In fact, some of the organizations which "accredit" institutions require only payment from those institutions. Some are even owned and/or operated by the owners of the institutions offering worthless or fraudulent degrees.

Thus, don't be fooled simply because an institution claims to be accredited. Determine the name of the accrediting body and go to the U.S. Department of Education website at <http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/accreditation_pg4.html> to be sure the accrediting agency is recognized.

Most (but not all) reputable institutions are accredited by the so-called regional accrediting agencies listed at <http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/accreditation_pg5.html>.

Other legitimate accrediting agencies can be found at <http://www.ed.gov/admins/finaid/accred/accreditation_pg8.html>.