There is no dearth of need based financial aid. To become eligible for the education aid, both parents and students need to be well informed. By knowing the strategies, candidates can maximize their aid eligibility manifolds. There are multiple common mistakes that parents and students can make during the process. However, if you adopt proper strategies, you can really avoid making these common mistakes and become a deserving candidate for need-based financial aid. Much of these strategies is simple financial planning. Strategies given below are those that financial aid advisors will tell you. Even when you get in touch with financial aid consultants, you should be capable of completing financial aid applications yourself.
If you want to take help from books, there are many of them to help you maximize your aid eligibility. Some of the most popular books you can read include the following.
Kalman A. Chany and Geoff Martz, The Princeton Review: Paying for College Without Going Broke, 2005. ISBN 0-37576-421-6 ($20.00). [Contains 352 pages.]
Anna Leider and Robert Leider, Don't Miss Out: The Ambitious Student's Guide to Financial Aid, 21st edition, Octameron Associates, Alexandria, Virginia, October 2004. ISBN 1-57509-096-1 ($12.00). [Contains 207 pages.]
Pat Ordovensky, USA Today - Financial Aid for College: A Quick Guide to Everything You Need to Know, With the New 1996 Forms, Peterson's Guides, Princeton, New Jersey, 1995. ISBN 1-56079-377-5 ($8.95). [Contains 154 pages.]
Only demonstrating your financial need will not get you education scholarships and grants. Given below are some important points you need to keep in mind while applying for need based financial aid programs.
Honesty is the Best Policy
Whatever strategies you develop must be based on truth. In desperation, parents and students should not indulge in unethical and illegal practices. Speaking out the truth on financial aid application may hurt a little, lying on the application may result into getting severe penalties. Whenever there is a case of fraud, the financial aid administrators send notifications to the US Department of Education.
Strategies to Follow
There are multiple strategies that you can adopt to increase your chances of receiving need based scholarships. Some of the most important ones include -
Remember to save money in parent's name rather than in the child's name. There are many saving options where your saving can be treated as a parent asset. The 529 college savings plan is a good example of that. Prepaid tuition plan and Coverdell Education Savings Account are the other saving option you can use.
Another important strategy to follow is parents can go back to advance their educational qualification along with the children. Or else, you can also have multiple children attending college at one time. The greater the number of family members in college at one time is, the bigger the chances are of receiving more education financial aid.
You may have several necessary expenses. Fulfill those necessities to reduce the amount of money available in cash. Therefore, if there is an urgent need to buy a car or a computer, buy them before you actually file the FAFSA.
Try to minimize capital gains and maximize your contributions towards the retirement fund. If you plan to pay some college education expenses, remember not to pay the amount from your retirement fund. Instead, you should use the cash money present in your bank accounts. Also reduce your educational debt. You should be well informed that a 529 college savings plan has the least possible impact on the student financial aid.
If you have credit card debts and loan balances to repay, pay them off first. Pay off your mortgage as well. Even when you file the FAFSA, you need to select the date wisely. The assets you possess and the marital status of the student will be taken into consideration as per the date of the application.
Both parents and students need to adopt these strategies so as to maximize their chances of receiving the free college money. By following these strategies and keeping these points in mind, you will be able to make well informed decision and become a deserving candidate for scholarship provided on the ground of your financial need.
