Financial Aid

If your parents will not or cannot help you pay for college, you still have options to cover the costs. First, fill out the FAFSA. Next, look for scholarships, places to work while in school, and private student loans.

The FAFSA takes around 1 hour to complete if you do it online or 3 hours if you do it by paper. It takes around 3 to 5 days to receive the results if you include an email or 7 to 10 days if you only included a physical address.

An ombudsman is someone appointed within the government or a private organization to investigate complaints against poor administration of programs. If you are having trouble with your student loans, there are two student loan ombudsman groups that you should know about: the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group and the CFPB Student Loan Ombudsman Group. Both exist

If you drop out of college before your school's deadline for dropping courses, you likely won't be refunded already-paid tuition. Furthermore, if you drop out after 120 days of federal student loans being disbursed, you will owe at least part of the loan back.

If you want to send your FAFSA information to more than 10 schools, you will need to wait until your receive your Student Aid Report and then have it sent to them by going online, calling, or sending paper mail to the Federal Student Aid Program.

Like it or not, however, your parents’ financial situation affects your ability to get financial aid for school. The federal government takes the position that if you want a college education, you and your parents (or other family members) should take the lion’s share of paying for it unless there is a compelling reason why […]

The amount of financial aid you may receive from the FAFSA is highly dependent on your and your parents' financial situation. Grants, work-study programs, and student loan amounts all vary based on the school you are attending and the information you submit in the FAFSA.

If you're a male, registering with Selective Service is mandatory if you want federal financial aid for school regardless of whether you want to serve in the military or not.

You’ll need to fill out the FAFSA once per year, every year that you’re attending school and want financial aid. Even if you don't need federal student loans or think you'll qualify for grants or scholarships, you should still fill it out just in case you do.

If you don't live with your parents, you may be considered an independent student in terms of the FAFSA. This will likely increase the amount of aid that you're eligible for.