10 Tips for Getting More Financial Aid
Schools are approving a record number of appeals and giving more aid
Don't:
- Lie or shade the truth. Most aid officers demand lots of corroborating evidence, and they scrutinize it. And the government can take back your aid, fine you, and even send you to prison for lying on the FAFSA.
- Let shame, embarrassment, or ego stop you from filing a legitimate appeal. You've got lots of company right now, notes Smith-Hammond. "It is your right. You are a taxpayer. You need help, and we are here to help you," she adds.
- Demand grants to replace student federally backed Stafford and Perkins loans or earnings from a work-study job. Although a handful of schools are promising enough grants to allow low-income students to graduate debt-free, the vast majority of schools can't afford to give out that much aid. "The basic premise of financial aid is that the student and family will do all they can first. Taking out loans is how the student does his or her part," McDaniel's Williams says.
- Expect a bankruptcy filing to guarantee you more aid. Since bankruptcy typically wipes out debts, colleges may conclude that you now have more money to spend on tuition, notes Eckerd's Watkins.
- Have your appeal filed by your accountant. Financial aid officers say the most persuasive appeals are filed by students themselves. Letters from parents also are often rewarded. If you can still afford to pay an accountant big bucks, aid officers may suspect you can afford more tuition, too.
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Reader Comments
WHERE WERE YOU DURING SLAVERY
America is 70% European descent. It is likely if you put your hand in the jar, that's what will come up. In order to be fair, specific efforts have to be made to ensure that those outside of the majority have a shot.
No one ever asks why are all the white kids sitting together in the cafeteria, or why most of the senior management positions in the company are European descent, nor why is my neighborhood heterogeneous. It is probabaly due to the numbers, but more likely due to "white privlege", that invisible centuries old handout.
I wish there were more voices objecting to preference decisions during slavery and the subsequent decades of overt discrimination against non Europeans descendants. Just think how level the playing field might be today.
When the descendants and friends of those who enslaved others are ready to acknowledge the benefits, profits and privleges they still enjoy as a result of that horrid institution, then perhaps the descendants of those oppressed might give up the idea of a hand up.
Re re aid is not about race
To all those attacking the woman whose son got the athletic scholarship I would like to point out that she wasn't trying to get money for that child but her other children who hadn't gotten a scholarship. The point of her comment was that it's hard for everyone to get scholarships no matter their color. I think that's something most of is can agree on.
Re: Race is not the issue
Times are hard for everyone. When I was standing in the Financial Aid line a few weeks ago there were just as many blacks as whites. This is not a race issue and how dare race be brought into the equation. Grow up and get over minor differences because everybodies suffering now.
To the parent of the child with the full scholarship: Ma'am I'm sorry that your son doesn't have spending money. What you should do is point out to him that since he does have a roof over his head and something to eat, along with a free education, he should probably not complain that he doesn't have spending money. We should all learn to be thankful for what we have and realize that things could be so much worse.
My thoughts constantly are how to keep going to school because I can't get financial aid. My husband and I both work and take care of our 3 kids. We come out of pocket to pay for my education because we are supposedly doing well if you let our government tell it. Stop looking for more hand outs when you're already getting one and that goes to everyone.
Also stop making this about RACE because I am BLACK!!!!!!!
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