Scholarships, student loans, financial aid????

[rayk1021]

Hello all,

I am kind of new to this site,(only a couple of months)and I have a few questions about how best to pay for school. I'm starting school in january, and I'm not sure what is the best way to finance this. Is there really any such thing as a grant? How does one go about finding and applying for one?

What qualifies a person for a scholarship? I have been out of school for nearly 19 years, so I don't think my H.S. GPA will matter.

How do I apply for a student loan without using a bank? Don't want to deal with the credit checks or high interest rates.

Of these three options, which seems to be the best, or most realistic option? Please don't think I being lazy about this. I will probably be online all day tomorrow researching these things. Just thought I would throw it out there to see what you may have experienced. thanks in advance for any help.

[jlrevis]

first fill out a fsfa on their website and let them tell you if you can get any federal funds. Then I would go to sallie mae online or citibank and apply for a private loan. There is so many ways! good Luck!

[pharmgirl]

OK, the fafsa is your first step. Fill out that form first, usually schools require you to do that before anything else anyway. Once you have filled that out, go to your financial aid counselor at school and talk to her about student loans. All I had to do to get a student loan was sign a piece of paper with her (after fafsa of course). Was all very easy and the FA counselor should handle most of it.

Secondly, scholarships are a little tougher. I didn't get any scholarships the first year. Despite filling out hours and hours of applications through fastweb scholarship I didnt get so much as an acknowledgement. After my first year, and a 4.0 gpa later, I received a scholarship from my college. Again ask your FA counselor if your school offers scholarships. My second year I received a scholarship from the hospital I work as an LPN prn. You will need to do some digging for scholarships and might have to wait til you have a year under your belt. Go to area businesses and ask if they offer scholarships. Go to your bank and ask them if they offer any. Most businesses will have applications online. Do you or your family have any memberships? like with The Elks Club or the UAW or American Legion etc.,etc.,

Good Luck to you but first things first, get that fafsa done.

[mestiza25]

I agree with the previous posts, you will have to talk to your school's financial aid office to get an idea on what you qualify for.

You might also check out a local Workforce Incentive Assistance office because some of my classmates actually got a pretty substantial amount (the program actually paid for their uniforms,books and tuition) after they applied and set-up an appt. with the counselor.

Good luck!