Finding Financial Aid

The help you need to pay for school

Let's face it; going to school is really expensive. And it's even more so when you have extra costs, like books and transportation. Many students rely on financial aid, and obtaining it can be tough, especially if you don't meet a lot of the requirements for scholarships or loans. Instead of relying on the bank, you can utilize some of these tips to get money and get school paid for so that you can start to learn.

Start with the following:
• Going to different websites, government-funded, to find scholarships, bursaries, fellowships and grants that you can get to fund your education. A good place to start is FinAid, a site that lists all sorts of financial aid options for students. You can find many scholarships, including merit scholarships, athletic scholarships, minority/ethnic scholarships, and more. You may be required to volunteer or to write an essay. Scholarship conditions will vary. Make sure to do your research and get the applications in on time!

• Checking your chosen school for entrance scholarships or other bursaries that you can obtain. Many will have financial aid that you can get – lots of people donate to colleges for the explicit reason of helping needy students.

• Seeing if your school has a payment plan. Often, you won't be required to pay all the tuition right upfront. If your school allows you to pay it monthly, see how much your payments will be and incorporate that into your school budget.

• Where you can, buy things second-hand. Books and course packs can often be purchased from students in upper years, looking for money. You can also buy them second-hand from your college bookstore.

• As a last resort, you can go to the bank and talk to them about financial aid geared towards students. Often, these have lower interest rates or special conditions that will help you pay back the loan or stay within your credit lines. However, trying for a scholarship is a better idea, because this is money that you don't have to pay back.

Financial aid is readily available for those that are willing to work for it. If you don't have a lot of money to go to school, following some of these tips may just allow you to focus on school and not worry about money.