As students finish college applications many of them will be moving straight into a new set of applications for scholarships and financial aid. Here are some tips and resources to make finding and be awarded financial aid a little easier.
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If you’re completely lost, or even if you already know what you need, be sure to attend the Financial Aid Night on 11/20 at 7:00pm in the Monarch High School auditorium. It’s being held by the Monarch counseling staff and a representative from CU Boulder so there will be plenty of helpful information and opportunities to ask questions as well.
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As always the counselors are available for individualized help by appointment and there are also literary resources in the post grad center that can help you find possible financial aid sources.
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If you intend to seek financial aid to assist with the cost of college the best place to start is with the colleges you are applying to. Most colleges have a financial aid page and offer aid in “financial aid packages” that consist of grants, loans, and loans. Explore what the colleges you applied to offer and be sure to check research if any of the schools offer other specialized scholarships that you can apply for.
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Many schools also require that you fill out the FAFSA and CSS Profile as part of financial aid applications. FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and can be filled out at: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/. The CSS Profile is filled out through the College Board and can be found at: http://student.collegeboard.org/css-financial-aid-profile. Be sure to have your parents do these with you as you will need information about taxes and your families financial status.
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For independant scholarships visit the Monarch Counseling post secondary page and look on the left hand side at the scholarship resources. Fastweb is another scholarship search engine that, according to Monarch counselor Alexandra Cyr, “will give you more scholarships than you could ever apply for.”
