Financial Aid will Help to Pay Your School Expenses! Financial Aid will Release Student’s Financial Stress
Most college students attend college because of their dream, bright future, family, etc.; however, they also have worried about they may not have enough money for schooling because they need to pay the tuition fees and school expenses that are high. According to a new national survey, “Seven out of 10 college students feel stressed about their personal finances” (Grabmeier 2015). The students have stress about the payment, and unfortunately, some students have given up attending or continuing college or university due to their financial problems. This problem can be seen in many students now than in the past because of this pandemic.
How can they release the stress to continue to attend college? Will they get financial help from parents or relatives? Crowdfunding? Attending college after funds are saved? Probably those are worked for them. However, the best solution is different—the best solution to this problem is applying for financial aid. Yes, it is a straightforward solution but an effective solution.
Why the financial aid is the best solution to release students' financial anxiety?
				The criteria for applying the financial aid are so comprehensive, and most colleges provide aids which are federal or state. For example, they have provided assistance for low-family income students, fee waivers for the first two years of college students (California College Promise Grant), student loans for high-income students, etc. Most of the aid, such as grants and fee waivers, does not need to pay back, and the student loans that are a low-interest rate will be paid back after they get a degree or graduate college. The amount of financial aid can cover the most tuition fees and other school expenses.
You may already know financial aid is helpful; however, many students who haven't applied it have thought it is too late to apply or not meet the criteria to receive the benefits. However, even if a semester is already started or their past household income was too high, all students still have a chance to receive financial aid. Suppose students plan to quit college because of their financial problems. In that case, they should decide to stop or drop college after applying for financial assistance and checking they can receive the benefit or not.
When students apply for financial aid, they have a chance to receive the following benefits:
				ü Federal Pell Grant – It is called Pell Grant. The amount is based on the student’s EFC (Estimated Family Contribution) and active units each semester. ü State Grant – Each state has unique grants. (i.g. Cal Grant in California, UH Opportunity Grant in Hawaii, etc.) ü Student loans – Department of Education provides Subsidized (non-interest rate) and Unsubsidized (low-interest rate) loans. Each college and state have different type of financial aid. You should visit the financial aid office website or contact them to get more information.
How to receive Financial Aid? Each college has different process, but most flow chart is as follows:
- The image is FAFSA Application Website
Step 1:	Fill up and submit financial aid application FAFSA or state financial aid application if applicable.
Step 2:	Keep checking your financial aid status with your school’s financial aid office Even if you receive a message or letter from the office about you cannot received financial aid because your income is high, you still have a chance to received different benefits. Don’t hesitate to contact the office and get more information.
Step 3:	Submit requirement documents if necessary The requirement documents is depended on the student’s information that they provide to the application. It may be verification documents or appeal documents, such as Satisfactory Academic Appeals, Income change appeals, dependency override, etc.
Step 4	Set up fund preference if necessary Some college will send a financial funds check by US mail, direct deposit to personal account, or sent a debit card.
Step 5		Receive your financial aid funds! You can use the money for your school expenses!
Helpful Links
If you didn’t apply financial aid yet, you can fill up and submit the federal financial aid application* from here.					If you want to see more details about Financial aid, please visit the website.
FAFSA Application					“How Financial Aid Works”
*If you cannot create the FSA ID which is the login account the FAFSA because you cannot provide some information, you should contact your college’s financial aid office. They may provide the information about states’ financial aid application.
Yumiko Suzuki takes full responsibility for the information posted. The information on this page represents that of Yumiko Suzuki and not that of California State University, Sacramento.