Eligibility for College Scholarships

Making the decision to apply for scholarships can be an exciting one but it can also be a stressful one. That is because each and every scholarship that you come across is going to have a guideline related to applying and what will make you eligible. Therefore, you will not be eligible for every scholarship that you find and it may be difficult to find a scholarship that you are eligible for. With that being said, let us look at some of the eligibility requirements that you may need to meet.

If you are interested in an academic scholarship then you will need to make sure that you have a certain grade point average. Most of the time, this will be a requirement that must be met if you want one of these scholarships. But, if you are the type of person that is really strong in their faith and that does a great deal of community service through their church then you might be eligible for a religious scholarship. Now, when it comes to these types of scholarships you will need to prove your community service and in many cases you are going to be required to have the pastor or other church members write letters of recommendation for you that you will need to submit with your application.

Ethnic students may now be available for scholarships because of their heritage. For example, Hispanic advocacy groups have really started to raise awareness and this has created a great deal of scholarships for this population as well. Be careful and make sure that you are really reading through these types of scholarships because you may need to be majoring in a certain area in order to be eligible but that is not always the case.

Maybe you have struggled with cancer in the past. This is a terrible ordeal for anyone to go through but you may have survived and you are feeling better than ever. Now you are ready to go to college. Then you may be able to get a cancer scholarship. As you can imagine, in order to be eligible you will have to prove that you battled cancer at some point in your life.

Youth that have family members that are veterans and that fought for our county may be eligible for different scholarships as well. Again, you will have to prove that and in many cases your family member may have had to be on active duty during war time or they may have found in a certain war. That is why you should always read through the guidelines of the grant to find out what requirements have been established
to make you eligible. In many cases you are going to be able to tell by the name of the grant but in other situations you will need to read it.

Hobbies may qualify you for scholarships. For example, do you like to dance? Have you been in dance for a long time? Are you good at it? Then you may want to apply for different dance scholarships. Some of these will be for individuals that live in a certain area or for those dance students that are considering going to a certain school.

If you are really interested in returning to college and you are not sure how you are going to pay for it. This should be very educational information and it should be very enlightening for you. Most individuals do not know that there are this many scholarships out there. However, when you stop and think about it you will find that each and every one of them will require certain eligibility requirements be met. You must read through the grants fully to see if you are able to qualify or not. Try to get creative and find a way to make yourself fit. Creativity can be seen as a benefit. Also, find out what you must do in order to keep the scholarship that you have won. You do not want to lose it and end up with educational bills that you are not able to pay for. These scholarships will not need to be repaid so it is like having free money. You just need to be willing to apply for it and work hard to keep it.

"College Scholarships for Students" is a free online resource for students who want to have finance assistance for the college. In my website, you can find information about Scholarships, Grants and Loans for Students. Visit "College Scholarships for Students" at http://collegescholarshipsforstudents.org/

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How Savings Bonds Could Impact College Financial Aid Eligibility

U.S. savings bonds and notes come in several varieties and denominations. With regard to college funding, Financial Aid Officer (FAO)s view these as assets. Just as important is the FAO's perception of the interest that accrues on your assets, Kalman Chaney, best selling author of "Paying for College Without Going Broke" says "nothing prompts a "validation" (financial aid jargon for an audit) faster than listing interest and dividend income without listing the assets it came from."

This is not to say that interest is not good. Au contraire, do not stuff your money in the mattress. This interest is your only hope of keeping up with inflation and rapidly rising college costs.

So what is a parent to do? I always stress competent planning. When dealing with Series E and EE U.S. Savings Bonds, the investor has two options: he can report interest on the bond as its earned each year, or it can be reported in one lump sum the year he cashes the bond.

The second option allows the investor to hold the bond while accruing interest for years. He'll never pay interest until the year he finally cashes in. In terms of college planning, that had better not be a base income year. That would definitely raise your EFC.

There are exceptions made for certain Series EE bonds bought after 1989. The government give tax breaks to low and middle income parents who purchased the bond specifically for college funding purposes. As of 2011 tax rates, this benefit applied fully to single parents making up to $71,000 and couples making up to $106,650; partially to any single parent making under $86,100 or couple making less than $136,650.

We still recommend that families cash these bonds after the student's final base income year (after Jan 1 of the Junior year). Taxed or untaxed, the FAOs still consider the interest as income and assess it with the same methodology as your income.

Typically the investor has options to avoid cashing bonds in a base income year. E and EE bonds can sometimes be rolled over into H or HH bonds. No law says bonds must be cashed upon maturation. In many cases, the bond will be held and accrue interest beyond its face value.

In any case the scenario should be discussed with a qualified college funding counselor. Only professionals can assess holistically which move makes the most sense in any given situation.

To take savvy steps to increase your chances of receiving aid regardless of income, while implementing long and short term strategies to lower college costs or comparing and negotiating aid offers as well as to avoid costly but routine mistakes, visit http://eapen.com/, a network of critically acclaimed experts in college admissions and financial planning.

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