Did you say... Grants?

Hello Students!

This post is going to keep talking about what the last Scholarship post touched on, and that is Grants.  Grants are another form of money you students can use to pay for your College education, and it is money you do not have to pay back!



What are Grants?

I explained what Grants were a little in the last post about Scholarships, but here I will go into more detail about what they are.

Grants are another form of "free money" that does not have to be paid back to where it was received from.  Rather than being specifically used to pay for education, a lot of organizations will issue Grant money to be used for research, for starting up a business, or for personal tragedies or loss.  This does NOT mean that students cannot apply for them to pay for their education!

According to www.exforsys.com, there are millions in dollars out there in Grant money for students to apply for.

How do I apply for these Grants?

The most common source of Grants are that of the government.  The U.S. government issues a variety of Grants to collegiate students, such as the Pell Grant, the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and the Federal TEACH Grant.

At least my experience with the Federal Pell Grant is that you are determined how eligible you are for the Pell Grant by filling out your FAFSA.  Your FAFSA will provide a score to the schools you choose to receive the scores and those schools will decide what you students will earn.

The Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, or the FSEOG, is a Grant that is "campus based".  This means that, again, your specific school determines students' financial need, and will asses whether or not students are eligible for the award.  I have never before heard of this Grant, and I wish that I had.  Unlike the Federal Pell Grant, the FSEOG is a first come first serve type of award.

This means, that you should go and speak with your school's Financial Aid Office about the award.  The Federal Pell Grant is a fund that has its monies set aside for each student, where the FSEOG only has so much money.  This basically means once the school issues all of its FSEOG's, it will not issue anymore.  SO GET THERE FAST!!!

The Federal TEACH Grant is specifically for those students who are interested in teaching.  This may not appeal to all of you students, but it may be one to consider as most Colleges and Universities offer teaching credential courses.

Other Non-Government Grants

After government Grants have been awarded, do not stop looking for more!  There are other options available!  Businesses and corporations will offer Grants to students whose degree or career path follows closely with what kind of work that the businesses do.  Again, I do not have much experience with these, but I wish I would have known about them sooner.

I found a very good website for you students to use that can help you locate more Grant opportunities.  The College Grants Database categorizes Grant options by major, gender, student status, and other factors that contribute to students earning more awards.  This is a site I wish I would have found a few years ago for my own Education!!!

Well Students, I hope you have learned a little more about Grants, and moreover, have learned about your options.  I was not informed of all the possible opportunities that are out there, so hopefully you students can go out and earn more aid.  Tune in to the next post for the third option of paying for college, the dreaded Student Loans.

Thanks for reading!