Get Financial Aid For College
National Public Radio recently broadcasted a story about one young student, Ken Ilgunas. In order to afford going to Duke University, Ilgunas lives in a beat-up Econovan. He lives on a diet primarily of oatmeal, peanut butter and pasta. It’s a quarter mile hike if he has to relieve himself. It makes one wonder how much research he did on financial aid. There’s a lot more than most people know.
After all, paying for one’s grants for college is something that must be addressed sooner or later. Ilgunas went $38,000 in debt when obtaining his Bachelors. So he has some reason for living in a van while obtaining his Masters. At the same time, there are five different areas he could ease his burden. Here’s the rundown:
Parents! You don’t have to put your house and retirement savings on the block in order to finance your kids hire education. Likewise, kids! You don’t have to wind up defaulting on your college loan, if take a loan at all.
University Grants – A lot of schools have very generous trust funds. They are set up specifically to provide student graduate school scholarships. The best thing to do in this situation is to consult your target institute of education and just plain ask. You’d be surprised how quickly they’ll point you to the money. After all, they don’t get it unless the student does.
Corporate Grants – There are a number of companies out there who have also set up their own trust funds. They figure taking the financial burden off a higher education is a good way to recruit a higher quality work force. A good place to start sourcing these grants is Scholarship America. It’s best known for two particular programs, Dollars for Scholars and the Scholarship Management Services. You’d also be surprised who coughs up the money. For instance, Disney finances the California Institute of the Arts, which in turn has become a great source for their animators.
Then there are always the Armed Forces. How effective is this program? The U.S Department of Defense reports 56% of all soldiers/officers in the Army, Navy and Air Force graduate from their respective Reserve Office Training Corps (ROTC). After graduation, applicants are obligated to military service, but that also looks quite good on a resume.
The Private Sector – Simply go to Google and type in “scholarship programs.” The engine will spit out nearly 2.5 million different entries for grant for online college. That’s a virtual ton of educational programs, and will no doubt involve some sort of advance searching to refine that 2.5 million to your specific needs. Still, with a clear objective in mind and some time, one can no doubt come up with more than a few private organizations that will be glad to help.
So, the picture most definitely isn’t as bleak as some might lead you to believe. Again, a little time, a clear objective, and educational assistance can be yours.
Incoming search terms for the article:
- Powered by Article Dashboard american public radio
- Powered by Article Dashboard school of the arts