Financial Aid Tips and Resources

Federal Student Aid is money that helps a student pay for their education.

Families may file a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) starting October 1st of the student's senior year. FAFSA application is located at http://www.fafsa.gov.

A full overview of the FASFA financial aid process (video also below)

Find Financial Aid estimates - With this tool, students can find out how much federal student aid they may be eligible for

Types of Aid:

• Grants: money you don't have to pay back
• Loans: money loaned must be repaid with interest
• Work-study: money earned by student through a job on campus while attending the school

Check out Oakland University's Financial Aid workshops. You don't have to be a prospective student, it's for any families interested in learning about the financial aid process.

Click on this link for more details and to register.

Setting aside time to explore scholarship opportunities is necessary if one is interested in scholarship money. 50% of scholarships are available to students already in college. So scholarship searches and exploration does NOT end after senior year.

1. Explore Scholarships through the colleges and universities you are considering.

Join their mailing list, check their financial aid and scholarship webpages, ask about scholarships on your campus visit, talk to the admission reps and financial aid officers. Also, explore potential scholarship opportunities that may exist at organizations and companies you are already associate with- parents work company, a camp you attended, church, student's employer, community organize where you volunteer, etc.)

2. Use a FREE search engine. Some scholarship search engines will ask for information to help filter scholarships that may be specific to you. There are so many scholarships available, it takes time to research and sort through. It is advised to NEVER pay for a scholarship search engine.

• www.cappex.com
• www.scholarships.com
• https://www.goingmerry.com
• www.fastweb.com
  
• www.finaid.org
  
• www.meritaid.com
  
• www.fastaid.com
  
• https://scholarshipowl.com
• https://myredkite.com/
  
• http://collegescholarships.com/
  
• https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college
  
• https://www.salliemae.com/plan-for-college/