The new year has begun, and that means members of the Class of 2014 need to start thinking about financial aid. A big part of that process is completing the FAFSA ( Free Application for Federal Student Aid). This article from the U.S. Dept. of Education gives some guidance regarding the completion of the application, but seniors are encouraged to talk to Mr. Zender regarding any other financial aid questions.
Remember - every dollar you earn in grant or scholarship money is a dollar you don't have to start paying back (plus interest) approximately six months after you graduate from college. I encourage you to work hard to earn any money which is available through grants and scholarships. Your future bank account will be glad you did!
To reinforce how important it is to try to limit the amount of money you have to borrow, check out this article from the New York Times.
As a matter of fact, I'm sitting at my desk starring at a pile of scholarships, each about six pages. I am well aware of the financial benefits of the scholarships, it's just hard finding the time and motivation to actually start completing them. The same is also true about FAFSA. My parents and I have the majority of it completed, they just find it frustrating with waiting for the tax information. Basically, I wish these things would be a slight bit easier to fill out and understand. I just need to deal with it and know it's only going to benefit me, and my parents savings accounts, in the future.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to sound like a diva, but I find FAFSA completely unnecessary (for me, at least). Having an older sister who has already gone through the stress and frustration of filling out FAFSA only to receive a minuscule amount of aid from the government, I am dreading filling this thing out. I find it inconvenient and completely absurd that I still have to go through the process of completing it just so that I can receive OTHER scholarships. Who cares how much money my parents make? Shouldn't the amount of time, effort, and focus I have put into my academic achievement, writing skills, and bettering myself as a person and learner be enough to qualify me for financial help? I understand that without FAFSA many students wouldn't be able to attend college, but for the 4.0 students like myself, I think that either it should be optional (doesn't need to be filled out to receive other scholarships) or they should take into account other aspects of the individual instead of just money.
ReplyDeleteI strongly dislike the current process for financial aid and scholarships, which gives me very little motivation to actually finish filling out my FAFSA. It's nearly impossible to understand financial situations just by looking at bank statements and W-2s, so why should students have money held from them just because their parents make a certain amount of money? This wouldn't be a significant problem if financial aid would actually keep up with the rising cost of tuition, but according to research by College Board, this is not the case. Federal aid has decreased nearly 10% since the end of the recession.
ReplyDeleteFAFSA isn't necessarily a bad thing, but is entirely designed for people who would be unable to afford college without receiving substantial financial aid. That in itself is a great thing, but it leaves many families left out. For those left in the middle, where their parents won't be able to pay for college but still make enough money to be left out of consideration for grants, it leaves many people in difficult situations. FAFSA can still be a good thing, but financial aid itself could use some changes in order to help as many people as possible.
Everyone is sick of the FAFSA, and scholarships, and while I understand the stress and frustration that comes with it, I also understand the need for it, I hate to say. While I agree with Zach that college is absurdly expensive and that the FAFSA could use some revision, I see it as something with a positive goal. It helps the government to understand where they need to offer additional support, and for families who have a fluctuating income from year-to-year (something I've grown up with since my dad farms) the FAFSA is important. Could it be made easier, or revised to be more beneficial to more students? Yes. But I also believe it is a positive thing.
ReplyDeleteMadi made the comment that scholarships should be based off of hard work and not off of how much money your parents make; I think these attributes are accounted for in other scholarship competitions. But for the students who try, but maybe can't achieve as high of grades as their peers, and cannot afford college on their own, the FAFSA could be a God-send. That's why I generally support it.
I really understand both points of view about this horrid FAFSA. There is nothing for the people stuck in the middle, and I wish there was a different process for the ones stuck there. I really like Madi's idea of having it based on other aspects of the student's life because many of us work very hard to do well in school. Unfortunately, the government does not see it that way, and many people out there need the FAFSA to attend college at all. It's a situation where I wish it could be changed, but I don't have any idea how to go about doing it. I think that if parents have filled out the FAFSA once for the first child and nothing has changed financially by the time the second child is ready for college, they shouldn't have to fill it out again. Hopefully filling out the dreaded FAFSA will have great effects in the long run for the next steps in our lives.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Kelly how the "middle man" is left out. It seems unfair that people that are in a good financial standing should be viewed as a less of a need when it comes to paying for college. Shouldn't the student's achievements be worth more than that? College is a stressful thing for both the parents and students and the current system is not as efficient as it should be. Yes, money is important, but when did it stop being about getting an education and more about who can pay the most?
DeleteI too lie somewhere in the middle. I am in a rather unique and blessed situation where my family saved for my college long ago and their financial foresight allows me not to lose sleep over tuition. However, I don't wan't to take advantage of this situation and would like to receive scholarships to offset the ridiculous cost of tuition to attend a prestigious institution. I'm quickly approaching a point where I will need to discuss with my Mom what path to take. Either way I see hard work as an inevitability I will have to face sometime here soon.
ReplyDeleteFAFSA is great for students from lower income families, but I know my sister filled out the forms and got nothing. My parents work hard at their jobs and my dad works two jobs. It seems crazy to think that your child can be financially punished for parents working hard for a living. Yes, my sister did get scholarship money for her good grades and participation in many activities from other scholarship opportunities, but the amount of money is not close to what others got through FAFSA. I am not going to college, so I cannot comment on how much work it is to fill out scholarship forms and FAFSA, but I do remember when my sister was doing it that it took a lot of time. I do recommend for all of you attending college to continue trying out for scholarships while in college. She continued being very active in college and getting good grades, which led to her getting scholarship money ever year she was in school. Just remember, if you go to college and get a good job someday when your child tries to get FAFSA money the answer will probably be "no".
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