My friends with older kids are deep in the trenches of figuring out how to pay for college and fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the form used by colleges to determine how much need-based financial aid you’re eligible to receive. Although my daughter is just in eighth grade, I’ve been researching college costs and financial aid in case there’s something I can do now that will help get more aid down the road. I’m planning on writing several blog posts on this topic based on what I’ve been learning, so let’s start with the basics. There are three primary categories of financial aid:

Need-Based Aid

Need-based aid is awarded based on a student’s financial need, which is determined from the FAFSA (and also potentially the CSS Profile, an additional form used by very competitive schools, mostly private). The FAFSA and CSS Profile ask for information on your income and assets, then schools use that information to determine how much and what type of need-based aid to give you. The aid can come from the government and/or the school in these forms:

• Grants (money which you DO NOT need to pay back, the best type of aid to receive)
• Loans (money which you DO need to pay back)
• Work-study funds (paying job that the student is given at school)

What is a Net Price Calculator?
You can get an idea of how much need-based aid you might get from a school by filling out their online financial aid calculator, also called a net price calculator. All schools have one on their website, and it will ask you for info on your income and assets then calculate how much aid they *might* give you and your estimated net price to attend. The numbers generated by these calculators are not binding, so you won’t know for sure how much a school will cost you until after you complete the FAFSA (which asks for more detail than the calculator) and they send you a financial aid package. Here are direct links to the financial aid calculators for the schools that receive the most applications in the US:

• University of California schools (since the state and the schools do not give aid to non residents, non residents are directed to complete the Federal Student Aid Estimator to see what aid they could receive from the federal government)
• New York University
• Penn State (applicants are directed to first complete the College Board’s Student Financial Aid quiz)
• University of Michigan

Merit-Based Aid

Merit-based aid is awarded based on academic, athletic, musical or some other merit or special circumstance. Some merit-based scholarships have a condition, like maintaining a certain GPA, in order to renew the aid. Ivy League schools and some other selective schools do not provide merit-based aid, but are known for being generous with need-based aid.

At some schools, you need to apply for their merit scholarships separately, while others don’t require a separate application. A few colleges offer scholarships to students who have lost a parent, for example:

• Ohio University awards the Rodney D. Hanson Scholarship to Education/Pre-Law students who have lost a parent. Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.0, show financial need, and reside in Belmont County.
• The University of Iowa awards the Arnold Trust Fund Award to students who are orphans not over the age of 25 and who are residents of Linn County, Iowa.

Private Aid or Scholarships

Finally, there are private scholarships which are awarded by non profits and private organizations based on academic merit, talent, an area of study or specific circumstance. You have to apply for these separately from the college application process and generally need to reapply every year. Some require that you first fill out the FAFSA. A good source to find these scholarships is an online scholarship database like Fastweb or Going Merry. I have also compiled a list of college scholarships for students who have lost a parent.

Be aware that some schools will reduce the need-based aid they planned to give you if you receive an outside scholarship. This is called “scholarship displacement,” and at least six states have laws limiting or banning this practice: California, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Washington. If you are applying for an outside scholarship, ask the school(s) you are considering how they treat outside scholarships. Another option is to see if the outside scholarship provider can send the funding directly to you, rather than to the school.

To learn more about college financial aid, read my other blog posts:

• What Widowed Parents Need to Know About College Financial Aid: The FAFSA & CSS Profile
• Ten Tips for Widowed Parents to Get More College Financial Aid
• Five Tips for Widowed Parents to Reduce College Costs

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in college financial aid and am merely passing along information based on my understanding of it.