Federal College Work Study Program

This program works basically like a part time job with the check coming from the Federal Government. Your eligibility is determined by your financial need and the availability of positions. Every college receives a certain allotment of funds that are budgeted out to deserving students. Typically the way it works, is that faculty and staff around campus will request to have positions filled. Then the work study coordinator will work to fill positions based on eligible students.

The pay is not excellent, only about $7.50-$9.50 per hour, but the best part about it is that you have the opportunity to get placed into a job within your field of study. This will give you some real world experience that will be very beneficial to your career once you begin.

As promised, here is the next installment on Federal Student Aid programs.

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)

This program is also a grant program, meaning if you receive it, you do not have to repay it! This award is intended for undergraduate students with exceptional financial need. In most instances Pell Grant recipients take priority over all other students. The awards can range any where from $100-$4000 over the course of one year.

The biggest point to remember with this grant is that there are limited funds available. Unlike the Pell grant, where all eligible students are guaranteed funds, the FSEOG grant is given out by individual schools on a first come first serve basis. I posted recently about the time sensitive nature of many awards and this is chief among those. At my school, we are given an amount each year (say $250,000). We will begin to award that money out to students who qualify for the grant and who have completed their FAFSA application. We simply line the eligible students up based on when their application was completed, and award until the money is gone!

With that being said, many schools have much larger amounts to award than $250,000. But still APPLY EARLY!

Academic Competitiveness Grant

Once again, a grant that does not have to be repaid. This is a grant based solely on your academics coming out of high school and being eligible for the Pell Grant. The rule states that you must have completed a “rigorous” program of study while attending high school. “Rigorous” is left up to the school’s discretion, but it is based on the classes you take and your GPA in those classes. The first year award is up to $750 and the second year, the award jumps up to $1300.

If you have any questions about whether your academic program would meet the “rigorous” standards for the ACG Grant, simple contact your target schools and see what they require.

Tomorrow: More Federal grants!!!

Over the next few days I would like to explore the different types of Federal Student Aid. With 10 different programs that offer assistance to students, it is easy to get lost in a cloud of numbers and unfamiliar terms. Hopefully, after we have gone through this journey of exploring every program in detail, you will have a better understanding of how you fit into the big picture, and most importantly, where you can go for your money!

Before we get into the individual programs, it is important to note HOW one would go about applying for this aid. GOOD NEWS! This is the most simple answer that I can give to you: The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). With one application you will be evaluated for all 10 FSA programs. Simply go to www.fafsa.gov and follow the steps to submit your application (Intimidated by the FAFSA?? More to come on that later so stay tuned!).

Now that you know how to apply for all these programs, let’s look a little closer at each one.

First: Federal Pell Grant

This is the most important Federal grant as it is the largest grant. Since it is a grant, it does not have to be repaid. The Pell Grant is available almost exclusively to undergraduate students and is determined by your financial need. Your financial need is used to determine how much of the Pell grant you will receive, if any.

For the 2009-2010 award year (which runs July 1st 2009- June 30th 2010), the maximum amount you can receive in Pell is $5350. Depending on which college you attend this could be enough to pay your entire tuition (eg. the school where I work is only $1746 for a full time student, per semester!) Or if it will not pay your entire tuition, the Pell grant will almost certainly make a significant dent in your college tuition bill.

Also, for part-time students, the Pell grant can be applied to your tuition through a scaling award system. Here is an example: If you receive the maximum Pell award of $5350, that breaks down to $2675 in Fall and $2675 in Spring (if you come full time). If you come part time, the Pell amount would be cut in half or $1338 each semester. Now keep in mind, your tuition should also be less, so Pell should cover roughly the same percentage of your tuition bill whether you take full or part-time classes.

Coming up next: Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity grant (FSEOG)

Many people make the mistake of waiting until they have completed their tax returns and miss out on valuable, time sensitive financial aid. [To complete the FAFSA without having filed your taxes, simply choose the “will file” option and then submit your tax information later]

Many schools have grant funding that is given out on a first come first serve basis. These grant pools sort through the applicants who qualify for the specific requirements, and then they are seeded in the order of submission. Then it is a simple process of awarding the money until it runs out. SO, in order to make sure that your name is at the top of these lists, file your FAFSA early!!