Financing Your Education

Its the start of a new year, and time to get serious about financing your education past high school. Whether you are planning to attend a junior college, university, or technical school, you should start applying for scholarships from several sources. First, start with your high school's guidance office. Many schools compile a list of community scholarships for seniors. This saves you the time and energy of hunting down local funding sources. Get a head start on the competition by talking to teachers and mentors about their willingness to write a recommendation letter for you. Too many students wait until the last week to ask a teacher, counselor, or other adult to write a recommendation letter. Second, check out the institutional scholarships from the school you plan to attend. Apply for as many of those that you qualify for. Third, search out private scholarships. Use your school's guidance center or the public library to find scholarship sources. Finally, be sure to fill out the FAFSA form early. More families will be filing a FAFSA this year, so don't delay completing this important task. You should have your PIN all ready so you can electronically file the form. Visit the last post to find out more about a PIN. Many bright, competent students miss out on scholarships and grants simply because they do not apply on time or have incomplete applications. Keeping track of scholarship deadlines is essential. Stay on track to meet your college and career goals.

POST your tips for finding and securing scholarships and grants.

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Start the New Year off One Step Ahead!

I hope that you have been able to have a relaxing and enjoyable holiday season with your friends and family. As we look forward to ringing in the New Year, I want to let you know that now would be a great time to complete a quick, but important task towards college planning and financing. Now is the time to apply for a Personal Identification Number (PIN) for filing your FAFSA form. You can apply for it at http://www.pin.ed.gov/PINWebApp/pinindex.jsp . You need this unique number to be able to electronically “sign” your FAFSA form. The website for filing a FAFSA is http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ . And your parents will need to apply for their own PIN in order to “sign” your FAFSA form if they are claiming you as a dependent. So gently remind them to get online and apply. Or better yet, help them do it right after you apply.
And have a HAPPY NEW YEAR!