My Home School News!

You’ve decided to continue your education. Congratulations! With jobs becoming more and more competitive, advancing one’s education is a great way to enhance your prospects.

Yet there’s the matter of paying for it all. The news is loaded with stories about escalating tuition and the cost of living increases while going to school. Don’t let the media fool you, where there’s a will, there’s a way to finance your personal advancement. Some diligent spade work can unearth an incredible wealth of financial assistance. Here are five tips to help you achieve a better education.

First, there are the Pell Grants. This is money provided by the Federal government. You must fill out a Free Application for Free Student Aid (FAFSA Grant) to determine one’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC). If qualified, and the Pell is based primarily on need, the applicant can get just short of $5,000. Not enough to pay all the costs, but a good start.

Second comes University Grants. A lot of schools have very generous trust funds. They are set up specifically to provide financial aid. Harvard is so cash rich it bases its tuition as much on need as merit. The best thing to do in this situation is to consult your university and just plain ask. You’d be surprised how quickly they’ll point you to the money. After all, they don’t get paid from the student tuition, not the grant that enabled the tuition.

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. 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.

The important point is no one needs to go deep into debt in order to improve one’s position in life. People obtaining even a two-year degree via online programs have better shots of earning more than those who just barely got out of high school. A little homework and a bit of time, and one can be well on their way to a better standard of living, with the extra help of financial aid and online education.