Many college scholarships are available to help you. There are
college scholarships tailored towards particular fields of study,
based on your grade point average, your ACT and/or SAT scores,
and even awarded to children and or siblings of Alumnus or current
students.
But the thing to note is that you don't have to be an academic
genius or have a 4.0 GPA to qualify for many scholarships, in
fact some even estimate that is a majority of scholarships. Of
course there are scholarships for academic achievement where a
high GPA is a requirement, but gone are the days when only high
GPA students or the outstanding jocks or the musical geniuses
were eligible for scholarships,
The cost of attending college can vary greatly, depending on
the school, geographical location, or just name recognition. State
institutions of higher learning are generally less expensive than
private institutions. State colleges have lower tuition for in
state students, and the tuition for out of state students can
be more than double. Even as an in-state resident at a state university,
tuition for a year will likely be more than $5000, and at private
schools, easily twice that. Then you have books, where those can
cost another $500 per semester, and lodging, even in the dorm
or college housing, will be about $7500 per year or more. The
particular college you have chosen may be a bit more or less,
but those figures get you in the ballpark.
Federal Stafford Loans: Stafford college student loans are low-interest
loans available to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled
at least half-time, without regard to financial need. Students
are allowed to borrow money for educational expenses directly
from commercial lenders such as banks, credit unions, savings
and loan associations, and other lending institutions, or, for
colleges participating in the Federal Direct Student Loan Program,
from the U.S. government.
Federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students Loans: This college
student loan program allows parents of undergraduate students
to borrow up to the full cost of their children's education, less
any other financial aid for which the student is eligible.
Federal Perkins Loans : Another low-interest fixed rate college
student loan for undergraduate and graduate students with exceptional
financial need. These loans also offer generous repayment conditions.
One doesn't have to start repaying the loan, or interest on the
loan, until schooling is finished or dropped below half-time status.
A 9-month grace period is also given before the start of repayments.
Fortunately, there are a lot of colleges which offer college student
loans to help out these individuals. College student loans are
loans offered to students to assist in payment of the costs of
professional education. Unlike scholarships, a college student
loan is a form of financial aid that must be repaid, with interest,
but usually has lower interest rates than other loans and are
also usually issued by the government.
A good example of a government issued college student loan is
the Canadian Student Loan. Canadian students are normally eligible
for loans provided by the federal government, in addition to loans
provided by their province of residence. But in this case, canadian
college student loans are normally interest-free until one graduates,
and are sometimes supplemented with grants, depending on need.
Students who wish to apply for the Canadian and provincial college
student loans must do so through their province of residence.
The province of residence is normally the province where you lived
before you were a student.
The Canada Student Loan (CSL) provides for a maximum of $165
per week of full-time study, and more money from their province
of residence. All Canadian students may also be eligible for the
Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation Bursary (CMS Grant),
and other grants provided by their province of residence.
