The prospect of paying for college can be overwhelming—how do you get financial aid money, and where should you even start? We’ve laid it all out for you.
This guide lists 8 major sources of financial aid in order of how you should prioritize them. Start with number 1 and work your way down to 8. With any luck, your tuition will get completely taken care of along the way.
1. Federal grants through FAFSA
A lot of people think that submitting their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) only qualifies them for student loans, but that’s not the case at all. Filling out FAFSA also makes you eligible for federal grants, which you don't have to pay back.
Federal grants are like scholarships, but instead of applying for them by writing an essay, you apply through your FAFSA. Then, the government decides how much money you win based on you or your family’s finances.
Every year, 56% of undergraduates get federal grants—for example, the Pell grant is worth up to $7,395 a year.
Even if you don’t think you’ll qualify for federal grants, it's really, really worthwhile to apply (and apply early, since you can get more money if you do). The odds you’ll get something are probably higher than you think. Plus, filling out FAFSA makes it possible to get even more grants from your state and your school down the road.
2. State grants and scholarships
Once you’ve accepted your federal grants, it’s time to check your state’s financial aid programs. The average state aid award is $4,116.
The application process looks different from state to state; some places just need you to do your FAFSA, but others have their own separate steps.
To find your state’s financial aid programs, check out the National Association on Student Financial Aid Administrators’ interactive state aid map.
3. Grants and scholarships from your college
Your financial aid package doesn’t just include the money you get in federal and state aid. It also includes any grants or scholarships you’ve won from the college itself. This money is called institutional aid.
Some colleges only need your FAFSA to give you institutional aid, but others might have their own applications or ask you to create a College Scholarship Service (CSS) Profile.
Check your school’s website for instructions on how to apply to their institutional grants and scholarships.
4. Even more money from your college
Here’s something a lot of people don’t know: if you ask your college for more financial aid, there’s a solid chance they’ll say yes.
Your college wants you to choose them over other schools (if you’re a high school senior) and then to graduate (if you’re already enrolled). To make that happen, they set aside money for students that have any sort of trouble paying their tuition.
Once you get awarded your institutional grants and scholarships, get in touch with your financial aid office and ask them to increase your financial aid.
A lot of the time, students feel nervous or embarrassed about asking for more money—but pushing through that discomfort can win you thousands of dollars that would have gone totally unused otherwise. Keep in mind, the people who work in your financial aid office actively want to help you out. It’s their whole job! You’re not bothering them by asking, and you have absolutely nothing to lose.
We’ve written about this before in way more detail: learn how to get more financial aid from your college.
5. Private scholarships
Once you get everything you qualify for from the federal government, your state, and your school, it’s time to apply for scholarships!
Unlike grants, which are usually based on need, scholarships are mostly based on merit. Merit is your ability to do something, like get good grades or play a sport. There are thousands of scholarships out there, and it’ll save you a lot of time to focus on the opportunities that are specifically relevant to you.
Start out by checking your nearest community foundation’s scholarship opportunities. Out of all the different types of private scholarship organizations, you usually have the highest odds of winning awards from your community foundation. Their scholarship deadlines tend to fall around March—to get a head start, start your search in October.
To find your community foundation, use the Council on Foundations’ interactive map.
You can find tons of other private scholarships all around the year. Form a regular habit of applying to opportunities that speak to your unique background, abilities, and interests.
6. Work-study
Your aid offer might also give you the option to get a work-study position. That’s a job you do for up to 20 hours a week whose paycheck goes directly toward your tuition. It’s a fairly common option: 20% of students earn work-study income at some point.
Usually, the job is on campus, but you could also get work off-campus for a non-profit or civic organization.
If you accept the work-study option you’ve still got to apply to the job yourself—the offer doesn’t automatically hire you anywhere or guarantee you a position.
You can also deduct what you earn from your work-study job from the income you report on your FAFSA, so it won’t negatively affect the rest of your financial aid.
7. Government loans
In addition to the grants and scholarships you don’t have to pay back, your financial aid offer lets you know your federal loan options.
If you can pay your tuition with your grants, scholarships, and your own money, accept the no-repayment-needed financial aid and reject the loans. The ideal situation is to avoid debt entirely.
Often, however, that’s not a feasible option for students: over half of undergrads take out federal loans at some point before they graduate.
There are four types of federal student loan:
Subsidized: The interest on this loan doesn’t build while you’re in school.
Unsubsidized: The interest on this loan does build while you’re in school. You’ll owe more money on this kind of loan than on a subsidized loan.
Direct PLUS: Unlike other federal loans, you need to pass a credit check to take out these loans.
Consolidation: These let you combine multiple student loans into one, with a single interest rate and a single monthly payment. Doing this could save you money and make it easier to keep track of your debt.
When you’re thinking about whether to take out a loan, look closely at the:
Interest rate: The amount of money you have to pay back on top of the amount you borrow.
Repayment term: How long you have to pay the loan back.
Monthly payment: This amount depends on the interest rate and repayment term. Higher interest rates and shorter repayment terms usually mean higher monthly payments. While a long repayment term might have lower monthly payments, it can end up being much more expensive than a short one.
Your state might also give out loans—for more information, check your state aid website.
For more factors to consider, check out the Federal Student Aid site’s chart that compares federal and private loans.
You can also read our more detailed guide to student loans here.
8. Private loans
Private loans come from organizations like banks, credit unions, and lenders instead of the government, and they’re not uncommon—a little over 7% of students take out private loans for their education.
Your financial aid offer usually won’t give you specific private loan options like how they do with federal loans, so you have to check what’s out there.
If you want a good place to start, Mos is a partner and affiliate of these highly-trusted private loan providers:
Sallie Mae: The country’s #1 private student loan lender. They work with over 3,000 schools, give you your credit results in as little as 10 minutes, and let you choose the repayment plan that works best for you. (1)
Ascent: An award-winning organization that offers an autopay discount (2) and 1% Cash Back when you graduate. (3)
Credible: Finds offers from highly-rated lenders and makes it easy to compare their rates, fees, and terms so that you can make the best choice for your personal situation.
Conclusion:
Still overwhelmed? Mos is here to help! With the Mos app, scholarship and grant applications are fast and stress-free.
Plus, Mos Premium pairs you with a personal financial aid advisor to guide you through every step of the financial aid process and make sure you get all the money you qualify for.
Disclaimers:
(1) Borrow responsibly. We encourage students and families to start with savings, grants, scholarships, and federal student loans to pay for college. Evaluate all anticipated monthly loan payments, and how much the student expects to earn in the future, before considering a private student loan. This blog contains an advertisem*nt or solicitation. Applications are subject to a requested minimum loan amount of $1,000. Current credit and other eligibility criteria apply. Click here for additional eligibility information about each product. FAFSA is a registered service mark of U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid.Mos is not the creditor for these loans and is compensated by Sallie Mae for the referral of Sallie Mae loan customers. These loans are made by Sallie Mae Bank. SALLIE MAE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO MODIFY OR DISCONTINUE PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND BENEFITS AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. Sallie Mae, the Sallie Mae logo, and other Sallie Mae names and logos are service marks or registered service marks of Sallie Mae Bank. All other names and logos used are the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
(2) Automatic Payment Discount of 0.25% available for Credit-Based Loans and an Automatic Payment Discount of 1.00% available for Undergraduate Outcomes-Based Loans. Learn more at AscentFunding.com/Ts&Cs.
(3) 1% Cash Back Graduation Reward subject to terms and conditions, click here for details. Eligible students must request the graduation reward from Ascent.
