Financial Aid
Our articles will provide you with the tools and resources needed to make sure you are qualifying for all the financial aid available, as well as maintaining your aid throughout your college career. Get the latest news on student loan interest rates, learn what to do when your financial aid is late, and explore all of your financial aid options.
View the most popular articles in Financial Aid:
- Potential Reforms Impacting Your Community College Tuition Funding
- How Financial Aid Under President Obama Will Impact You
- Immigrants and Community College Tuition Costs: What?s Fair?
- Federal Student Loans – Unavailable at 20% of Community Colleges
- While Community Colleges Struggle, More Federal Subsidies Pour into For-Profits
Although a community college education is inexpensive when compared to tuition and fees at a four-year institution, some students still need financial assistance to pay their education bills. Yet, some community colleges don’t participate in the federal student loan program, putting some students in a financial bind.
Community colleges offer a cost-effective means for students to obtain a degree or certificate or complete the first half of studies required for a bachelor’s degree. Because they are so affordable – annual tuition and fees average just under $3,500 – many students do not need to take out student loans in order to pay for their expenses. Some students live at home or take public transit to further lessen costs, while others attend part-time and work so they can avoid taking out loans and instead pay for their schooling out-of-pocket as they go.
However, some students don’t have the luxury of depending on mom and dad for free room and board, money for textbooks, or gas money to get to campus. For those students, the additional costs of attending a community college can add up: When all fees, room and board, and textbooks and supplies are added in, the average annual community college expenses rise to $15,000. Federal student loans provide a lifeline for many students who would not otherwise be able to afford these expenses, minority and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations among them. But for a million students nationwide, federal student loans are not an option because their community college does not participate in the federal student loan program.
Opting Out
At first glance, it may seem counterproductive for a community college not to participate in the federal student loan program. After all, more available financial aid means more students are able to enroll in courses, thus helping that institution’s
. . .read more
We report on the recent increases in Stafford Loan Rates, which have led to some community colleges across the country discontinuing this option for financial aid.
The announcement of a significant increase in Stafford loan rates could pose a problem for some community college students. Despite reassurances from Congress that a deal is coming, those looking for ways to pay for their postsecondary education continue to be left in a bind at this point. On the other hand, many community colleges have done away with the Safford loan option for other reasons, and students are finding alternative methods for footing their tuition bills. Check out how community colleges are dealing with the issues involving Stafford loans and finding other ways to help their students financially.
Stafford Loan Rates Doubling?
MPN Now reports that the failure by Congress to address student loan rates has resulted in a doubling of the rates for Stafford loans. Without intercession by lawmakers, students could see rates of 6.8% on loans taken out for the upcoming school year. Last year, those rates were just 3.4%.
The rate hike applies to subsidized Stafford loans, which are those in which the government pays the interest while the student is still attending college. Subsidized Stafford loans make up about one-quarter of all Stafford loans issued. Unfortunately, they are also the loans that typically go to the neediest students.
Susan Romano, director of financial aid at Finger Lakes Community College in New York, told MPN Now that the changes may prompt students to look for other ways to pay for their college education.
“I think it’s going to make families think twice about loans, especially here at
. . .read more
Community colleges may offer lower tuition costs than four-year schools, but the bills can still be steep for some students. Find out how you can get financial aid to complete your community college degree.
Choosing a college is an important step that can directly impact a student’s success. Once a college is chosen , the reality of paying for higher education begins to creep into the picture. By selecting a community college, students have already made a frugal choice for their future. However, even community college is far from free. Check out these 10 financial aid tips that will help you pay your way through community college.
Earn Credits before College
You can begin paying for college long before you even apply. How? By earning college credits while you are still in high school. Many community colleges now work with neighboring high schools to allow students to dual-enroll in both college and high school classes simultaneously. Many of these programs do not charge tuition to the students taking college classes, but offer credit for the courses just the same.
Determine Your Needs
Before you begin filling out financial aid forms, ABC Chicago recommends you get a rough idea of how much money you will actually need. Take the total cost of tuition at the college you will be attending and add on living expenses if you will be living on your own, books and
. . .read more
New developments in Arizona and Florida are forcing schools and lawmakers to examine the issue of tuition rates for students with parents who are in the U.S. illegally.
Arizona is fighting an immigration battle that has become more than a little murky in recent months. With undocumented immigrants now able to apply for deferred action to continue to work legally in the U.S., the question has naturally turned to the issue of in-state tuition. Recently, those immigrants were required to pay out-of-state tuition rates, even at the schools in the states where they lived and worked. However, the introduction of the deferred action program has some schools rethinking their tuition policies, and some actually changing the rules on what undocumented immigrants must pay to get a college education in the U.S.
This video explains DACA and what it is.
New Action Plan Overridden by Arizona Governor
In August, shortly after President Obama’s new deferred action program was introduced, the governor of Arizona, Jan Brewer, made her own announcement. Governor Brewer signed an executive order for her state that mandated state agencies were not to issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants in Arizona, even if they received deferred action to work in the United States. The order also stated that these individuals were to be denied all public benefits by the state, according to a report at the Tucson Citizen.
“As the [DHS – Department of Homeland Security] has said repeatedly…these individuals do not have lawful status,” Matthew Benson, a spokesman for the governor’s office, told the Citizen. “They are able to remain in the country and not be deported and not be prosecuted,
. . .read more
What's happening to financial aid for students at community colleges? Students at for-profit colleges are now getting a bigger piece of the federal student aid pie.
The United States is facing a debt crisis of epic proportions, but it may not be in the area consumers would suspect. Huffington Post cites statistics from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that show student debt has now surpassed credit card debt in this country. It is no wonder that media is literally littered with reports of student debt defaults today. To make matters worse, the source of student debt is no longer community colleges and four-year public institutions. Instead, that debt is going directly to for-profit schools that charge students plenty in tuition rates but deliver little in return.
The numbers are concerning, considering that community colleges – the schools that President Obama has touted as the training grounds for our future workforce – are scrambling to try to make ends meet. As more people head to these public institutions in hopes of getting applicable training for recession-proof, lucrative careers, the schools are finding themselves without the necessary resources to teach everyone who wants to be educated. Services and programs have been cut, and waitlists for popular courses are becoming longer and longer. State and federal funding are slim at these schools today.
This video outlines financial aid for community college students.
For-Profits Enjoy Prosperity
This is not the case with for-profit colleges. Institutions like the University of Phoenix and ITT Technical Institute are enjoying significant prosperity these days, as they take a bigger piece of the federal
. . .read more
Recent Articles
Community colleges usually admit every applicant – but some may just reject you if you are too young. Learn about the controversy that surrounds community colleges and younger students.
College is expensive. There is no way around it. But you can save money by attending community college as long as you avoid these top six financial aid mistakes.
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the 2019-20 school year for over 14 million college students. Read on to learn the impact of COVID-19 on current students and how colleges around the country are reacting.
