College Savings Resources

  • What's the Price Tag for A College Education?

    Where to find Financial Aid Information:

    • A guide to college scholarships
    • FAFSA -- The first step in finding money for college should be applying to see if you qualify for federal aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) -- FAFSA Overview video -- click here.
    • ACT Financial Aid Information
    • FAFSA4Caster -- will help you understand your options for paying for college.
    • 7 Easy Steps to the FAFSA -- Student's guide to Free Application for Federal Student Aid
    • Financial Aid Shopping Sheet -- is a consumer tool that participating institutions will use to notify students about their financial aid package. It is a standardized form that is designed to simplify the information that prospective students receive about costs and financial aid so that they can easily compare institutions and make informed decisions about where to attend school. The Shopping Sheet will be available for use beginning in the 2013-2014 award year.
    • Federal Student Aid -- This provides tons of resources in how to locate funding for your post-secondary education.  View the video here.
    • FinAid -- The SmartStudent Guide to Financial Aid
    • GAcollege411 on Financial Aid
    • Texas Financial Aid Information Center

    Where to find Federal Grants:

    Where to find Scholarships?

    • Resources for Undocumented Students
    • The Financial Aid office at a college or career school
    • A high school or TRIO counselor
    • The U.S. Department of Labor's Free Scholarship Search Tool
    • Federal Agencies
    • Your State Grant Agency
    • Your library's reference section
    • Foundations, religious or community organizations, local businesses, or civic groups
    • Organizations (including professional associations) related to your field of interest
    • Ethnicity-based organizations
    • Your employer or your parent's employer
    • 200 Free Scholarships for Minorities
    • AnyCollege.com Scholarship
    • CollegeNET -- A profile search looks for scholarships that match your personal profile.  Provide as little or as much information as you want to find the scholarships that you are most qualified to receive.
    • CollegeScholarships.com -- Scholarships are available for high school, undergraduate, graduate and international students attending a college or technical school.
    • College Scholarships.org -- Provides an A–Z list of subject-specific scholarships that act as a guide through the general fields of academic Study, and lead you to hundreds of career specific scholarship programs designed to help you realize your educational and professional goals.
    • Discover Business- 900 MBA and Graduate Scholarships
    • FastAid -- The world's largest and oldest Private-Sector Scholarships, Graduate Scholarships, Worldwide Scholarships, Fellowships, Grants and Free Undergraduate College Scholarship database. 30+ years of College Scholarship Research, Scholarships Constantly updated.
    • Fastweb -- is the premier online resource when it comes to paying for and preparing for school. They have scholarships for every type of student from the high school freshmen to the returning adult.
    • Free-4U.com -- National database of 10 billion in scholarships.
    • HighFiveScholarships -- A website created to help you find free money for college. We are a scholarship matching service and we will find hundreds of scholarships that match your personal characteristics, goals, and interests, free of charge.
    • Hispanic Scholarship Fund
    • Imagine America Scholarship --This site provides scholarships for high school students, college students, and adult students.
    • March2Success -- provides a series of videos to simply the admissions and financial aid process.  They also provide full-length practice tests for the SAT and ACT.
    • MyCollegeOptions Scholarship Search -- select from a list of over 60,000 scholarships.
    • My Dollars Facebook App -- The College Board has partnered with MTV and Get Schooled to launch “My College Dollars,” a Facebook application that utilizes information from a user’s Facebook profile — including age, gender and state — to connect students with targeted financial aid opportunities. A few of the top features of My College Dollars:  Connects students with nearly $6 billion in available scholarship aid and $45 billion in federal and state grants; features video tutorials from talent and other influential experts on how to get the financial aid students need; connects students to existing social networks for support, guidance, and sharing and tracking each other's progress; integrates a calendar to help students track important dates and milestones; and features a dynamic "Ask the Experts" FAQ, in which selected user questions will be answered by a panel of experts on a regular basis.
    • National Academy of American Scholars -- Their scholarship programs are designed to help students, moms, mothers, women, and all adults interested in pursuing a higher education reach their educational goals. They update their resources and scholarship programs on a daily basis. National Academy of American Scholars sponsors over $1 million worth of scholarship programs each and every year. Their scholarship programs include grants, loans, and all types of financial-aid products.  They encourage you to explore their numerous scholarship programs, as well as their federal grants, scholarships, and financial-aid scholarship programs that they have available.
    • NerdScholar -- is committed to empowering students and parents to make the best decisions about their higher education. From choosing the best school, to finding the best ways to pay for college, NerdScholar serves any student looking to improve their financial literacy.
    • QuestBridge -- currently provides the College Prep Scholarship for high school juniors, the National College Match for high school seniors, and the Quest for Excellence awards twice a year (spring of the junior year and fall of the senior year).  All of their programs are designed to connect bright, motivated low-income students with top educational, professional, scholarship and life opportunities.
    • Scholarships4Students -- tons of scholarships available for everyone going to any postsecondary institution.
    • ScholarshipExperts.com
    • StudentScholarships.org -- Their staff spends countless hours searching both online and offline sources to find new and exciting scholarships for students to apply for. Their database is considered the largest and most comprehensive source for finding scholarships online and is 100% free for students to use.
    • The CollegeExpo.org -- provides numerous scholarships and access to scholarships.
    • The Scholarship Coach -- Get expert advice from Scholarship America bloggers.
    • The Scholarship Workshop -- Whether you are in high school, returning to or currently enrolled in college, or planning to attend graduate school, The Scholarship Workshop web site and the resources referenced such asWinning Scholarships for College and 10 Steps for Using the Internet in Your Scholarship Search will show you the path to scholarship success. As you explore our site, you`ll see that rigorous research efforts, involvement in extracurricular activities, leadership potential, special talents and hobbies, and geographic location all combine to determine your chances of getting college scholarships.
    • WiredScholar -- Use the FREE Sallie Mae Scholarship Search to browse through more than 3 million scholarships worth $16 billion available nationwide.  It also provides information on saving for college, planning for college, paying for college, and managing student loans.  

    Federal Student Loan Information:

    • College Answer from Sallie Mae -- Sallie Mae has helped thousands achieve their dreams of higher education by providing funds for educational loans, primarily federally guaranteed student loans originated under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). This free site allows students and parents to learn about ways to pay for college, guides them through loan, scholarship, and financial aid applications, and offers instruction in managing their debt afterwards.
    • Income Based Repayment -- is designed to reduce monthly payments to assist with making your student loan debt manageable. If you need to make lower monthly payments, this plan may be for you.
    • Pay As You Earn -- helps keep your monthly student loan payments affordable, and usually has the lowest monthly payment amount of the repayment plans that are based on your income. If you need to make lower monthly payments, this plan may be for you. 
    • Public Service Loan Forgiveness -- In 2007, Congress created the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program to encourage individuals to enter and continue to work full-time in public service jobs. Under this program, borrowers may qualify for forgiveness of the remaining balance due on their eligible federal student loans after they have made 120 payments on those loans under certain repayment plans while employed full time by certain public service employers.
    • Ultimate Guide to Student Loan Resource--A comprehensive list of informational websites that give you the most in-depth information on taking and repaying student loans to help finance your college education.  
    • Federal Work Study Jobs Program -- provides jobs for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need, allowing them to earn money to help pay education expenses. The program encourages community service work and work related to the course of study.