How to Find Financial Aid (ARA) - When dreams of higher education collide with the means to pay, the task of finding and applying for financial aid makes some students and parents feel like they are lost in the woods.   For many students, it can appear easier to do nothing at all. A 2006 study by the American Council on Education found that some 1.5 million kids who might have qualified for federal higher education grants didn’t even file financial aid forms.   But, as noted forest philosopher Winnie-the-Pooh once said, “You can't always sit in your corner of the forest and wait for people to come to you ... you have to go to them sometimes.” The first place to go, says Curt Trygstad, assistant vice president of national programs at Scholarship America, is the federal financial aid form, known as FAFSA. Families can file the form online or by mail; forms are available at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. Completing federal income tax forms makes filling out the FAFSA form a lot easier, and makes it less likely that you’ll have to provide more information later. A benefit to early birds: the earlier you apply, the more funds are available. “Many financial aid sources are ‘first come, first served’,” says Trygstad, who has helped students navigate the financial aid system for nearly 20 years at Scholarship America, a nonprofit organization that helps communities and businesses raise and manage scholarship programs. Trygstad tells students and parents there is a great deal of help out there, if you know where to look. He offers these often overlooked tips: * Get to know your guidance counselor. Guidance counselors receive a host of information about financial aid programs, scholarships, and deadlines, as well as information from schools. Some send out newsletters to parents and students; others keep it for those who step up and ask. * Look around your community.   Ask at work, your place of worship, the local Rotary Club, American Legion and businesses. Do you have a ‘Dollars for Scholars’ chapter? Many scholarships are available based on where you live, who you are and what you do. * Meet the school financial aid officer.   Trygstad points out that college and trade school financial aid officers have some discretion on financial aid packages and can adjust awards based on the information you provide and extenuating circumstances. * Verify student loans.   A June 2007 DistanceLearning.org article points out that parents and students often feel compelled to accept whatever student loan package is offered by their school. Students should research interest rates and payment schedules to get the best deal -- and to know what they are getting into. * Meet with university department heads. For students already in college, Trygstad advises they get to know the department head of their major. “Most students completely overlook this,” Trygstad says. “Many departments have dedicated financial aid and scholarship opportunities for deserving students. They also may have job opportunities within the department.” * Make your money last.   Have your eye on a new car? New clothes? Nintendo Wii? “Financial aid programs assume that you’ll live within your means. Unfortunately, many students learn the hard way that paying for what you need means waiting for what you want,” Trygstad says. * Research online. The Student Resources section on ScholarshipAmerica.org is a good place to start your search online, Trygstad says.  Some of the best links for students are: Federalstudentaid.ed.gov -- the gateway to obtaining federal financial assistance. FinAid.org -- a free source site for advice, scholarship searches and other forms of financial aid. Scholarships.com -- free scholarship search. The National Association of Financial Aid Administrators Web site at www.nasfaa.org.  Click on “Parents and Students” for a brochure called “Research, Remember, Repay” that educates parents and students on borrowing student loans. Sallie Mae -- the largest issuer of student loans; the site includes a host of resources for students and parents. “The process isn’t easy -- and it’s toughest on those who need the most help. But there are people and organizations out there who value education and can help kids succeed once they take that first step,” Trygstad says. Courtesy of ARAcontent

Eliminate College Loan Debt Where To Find Student Loan Forgiveness Programs Online To Help Repay Student Loans 'The Scholarship & Grant Guide' as it's called, is the ONLY Scholarship Finder in existence that allows users to Directly Access and Search the WORLD'S TOP 20 Scholarship Databases, containing MILLIONS of College Scholarships worth BILLIONS of dollars. And, incredibly, the search results are produced in SECONDS! Until now, the only option available was to locate and search through thousands of complex websites - a daunting task for anyone. Especially when they soon discover that many of the results they obtain are either out of date, duplicated, irrelevant, or totally unsuitable for their individual needs! The Scholarship & Grant Guide eliminates this problem at a stroke. Years of research, sweat and inspiration, has enabled their impressive team of qualified researchers and analysts to create a System that critically Examines, Tests, and Rates these sites. 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Now that you are finally out of college and your student loans are about to come due, hope on the horizon: student loan forgiveness programs. Few college graduates know that performing volunteer work, doing their teaching in certain school districts or within certain areas, or if they are providing legal and medical services within low-income communities, they can help trade the skills they learned by going to college and geting a degree to help pay down student loan debts. There are several programs and the information is constantly being updated on the Web. Programs for teachers: Some student loans can be cancelled or, as it's more commonly referred to, "forgiven," if the college degree leads to or complements a job in the teaching profession. There are specific guidelines to follow, but if you do qualify for this federally sponsored program, up to $17,500 of your student loan balance might be cancelled. The purpose of the program is quite simple: to encourage people to become and remain teachers and to reward those who choose to work in low-income schools. The following information is found on the Federal Student Aid website: http://www.fsahelp.ed.gov/cancellation.html. Here is a listing of teacher shortages by geographic area: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/pol/tsa.pdf Here is a compilation report of government programs in PDF format: http://www.senate.gov/~hutchison/RL32516.pdf Americorps. The domestic arm of the Peace Corps offers up to $7400 in living stipends and about $4725 in education awards to be awarded upon completion of a year's worth of successful service. The AmeriCorps Program allows participants to earn education awards— including money to repay student loans—in return for national service. For more information, contact the Corporation for National Service, which administers the AmeriCorps Program: Web site: http://www.americorps.org Nurses: Another type of repayment assistance (again, not a discharge) is available through the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program (NELRP) to registered nurses in exchange for service in eligible facilities located in areas experiencing a shortage of nurses. All NELRP participants must enter into a contract agreeing to provide full-time employment in an approved eligible health facility (EHF) for 2 or 3 years. In return, the NELRP will pay 60 percent of the participant’s total qualifying loan balance for 2 years or 85 percent of the participant’s total qualifying loan balance for 3 years. For more information, call NELRP, toll-free, at 1-866-813-3753. Web site: http://www.bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/loanrepay.htm Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA): Volunteer with private, non-profit groups that help eradicate hunger, homelessness, poverty and illiteracy. Provide 1700 hours of service and receive $4725. Call 1-800-942-2677 or 1-202-606-5000. Peace Corps: Volunteers that have outstanding Perkins Loans can receive a 15% cancellation on the debt owed for each year of their first two-year service term and a 20% loan cancellation for their third and fourth years of service. You can receive up to a 70% cancellation on your Perkins loans. The Peace Corps website has more details: www.peacecorps.org/volunteer/college/loans.html Military Service: To find military student loan forgiveness programs, read our updated page on how the armed forces helps military personnel repay student loans. Student Loan Relief for Active Duty Military Personnel: On August 18, 2003 , President Bush signed the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act (HEROES), legislation authored by Rep. John Kline (R-MN) that allows the U.S. Secretary of Education to excuse military personnel from their federal student loan obligations while they are on active duty. Legal and medical studies: Studying medicine or law can mean incurring thousands (and sometimes hundreds of thousands) of additional dollars of debt. Some law schools provide loan forgiveness to those students who serve in the public interest and or work for non-profit organizations. The National Association for Public Interest Law has an extensive site that provides the nitty gritty on the qualifications and conditions you must meet in order to receive the cancellations: www.napil.org For more information about student loan discharge, contact the Direct Loan Servicing Center at 1-800-848-0979 if you have a Direct Loan. Contact the lender or agency that holds your loan if you have a FFEL. If you borrowed using a Federal Perkins Loan, contact that particular school which made the loan. NEW! Our top 4 picks for college student loan books available online from Amazon.com: "Zero Debt For College Grads" "Paying For College Without Going Broke, 2008 Edition" "How To Go To College Almost For Free" "Free $$$'s For College For Dummies"