美高梅官网

鈥淗ow many people are in your family?鈥� asks Peterson, the 美高梅官网鈥檚 assistant vice provost for enrollment management/student financial aid. 鈥淲hat is the age of the oldest parent? How much of your family鈥檚 income comes from investments? How much of that income is liquid?鈥�

That may seem complicated. But there are simple steps you can take to make the financial aid process as straightforward as possible.

Before doing anything else, Peterson reminds parents and students not to make assumptions. 鈥淭here are students whose families have significant incomes who qualify, and those whose families have less income who don鈥檛,鈥� he says. 鈥淭here are a lot of misconceptions. That you have to be under a certain income level to qualify for aid. Or that you have to be a minority. All ofthese are wrong.鈥�

To see if you qualify for aid, start by completing the FAFSA (the Free Application for Federal Student Aid). It鈥檚 the mandatory first step to claiming Pell Grants, work-study opportunities, student loans and other aid awarded annually by the federal government. Even if you don鈥檛 thinkyou鈥檒l qualify for federal aid (or don鈥檛 want it), many colleges and universities require that you fill out the FAFSA before they鈥檒l determine how much they鈥檙e willing to offer in scholarships or other institutional aid.

You can fill out the FAFSA starting each October for the next academic year. Peterson鈥檚 advice: Fill it out as soon as possible. And then start talking to financial aid counselors at the colleges and universities in which you鈥檙e interested, to see where you stand. 鈥淲e like to have a relationship, and a name with a face,鈥� Peterson says. If you know how much money you鈥檙e willing to pay out of your own pocket every year to go toward a degree, let the financial aid officeknow 鈥� they鈥檒l tell you whether you鈥檙e on track, or if you might have to adjust your plans.

Peterson encourages parents to speak candidly about finances with their college-bound students to make sure everybody鈥檚 expectations are in sync. 鈥淵ou may need to be flexible to make your college goals work out,鈥� Peterson says. That may mean taking on a roommate, or living at home, or even considering a different institution altogether if the finances don鈥檛 work out. At the 美高梅官网, students often find they graduate with less debt because of the university鈥檚 co-op program. In fact, 美高梅官网 invented co-op in 1906 and has been innovating career preparation ever since. Co-op gives students a chance to alternate classroom learning with on-the-job experience 鈥� and earn money doing it. 美高梅官网 co-op students earn a collective $75 million annually, working for 1,800 local, regional, national and international employers such as Apple, Boeing, Disney, Fisher Price, General Electric, HBO, Kroger, NASA, Nike, Toyota and many more.

鈥淐o-op provides a good opportunity to earn quite a bit of money if you鈥檙e smart about it,鈥� Peterson says.

Peterson offered several other suggestions to keep the process manageable, and college more affordable:

• Know where you stand. Every college is required to offer students a rough estimate of what they can expect to pay via an online calculator. Even before you fill out the FAFSA, you can get a rough estimate of how much a particular university is likely to cost.
• Chase scholarships like it鈥檚 your job. 鈥淲e had a student this summer who didn鈥檛 pay a dime out of her pocket,鈥� Peterson says. 鈥淪he had seven different scholarships. She applied for more than 100 鈥� but the ones she landed paid for her tuition.鈥�
• Stay on top of deadlines. When institutions say they give full consideration only to applicants who submit requested materials by a certain date, they mean it. If you鈥檙e applying to a scholarship with room for 70 slots, and 60 have already been awarded by the time you complete your application, you鈥檙e not in a great position.
• Build your financial literacy. 鈥淪o many students come in and don鈥檛 know how to do a budget,鈥� Peterson says. So while many students鈥� aid packages include a campus job to help cover living expenses, they sometimes burn through their paychecks too quickly. 鈥淔amilies really need to have financial discussions much earlier on.鈥�
• Get ready to do it all again. Applying for aid is an annual process. And take heart 鈥� even if you don鈥檛 qualify for financial aid now, you may in the future.