A Guide To Higher Education Fund Raising

By Larry Reed


If everyone used expense as an excuse for not going through college, no one would graduate. Everyone would survive on a high school education. What would the world look like without so much knowledge and ability to read? For this reason, there are many higher education fund raising options made available for scholars. Part-time jobs will only cover a portion of the living expenses and not the tuition or even study expenses like books and materials.

The most obvious option is a college loan. This is simple to get. Not too many complications. One can spread the payments over years and only pay a small portion every month or year. The interest rate is not exactly stifling. It is easy. But then, when one is starting out their career there is just too much going on. This alone might warrant a look into other options besides or in addition to the loan.

Grants are mostly given by the government or not for profit organizations. These may be based on a variation of things. It may be ethnicity or gender. It may also be because one is disabled. Or, just simply due to membership to a certain group. One of such opportunities is the well known is the Pell Grant. There are, however, about 200 more federal grants to choose from. This money is not paid back unlike the college loan.

Scholarships are also quite common. One may receive a scholarship based on academic merit. The sponsoring party looks at the capabilities of the applicant. Like the GPA among other scores. One may also receive a scholarship on the basis f need. Very smart and capable person but no financial capacity to get the necessary academic qualifications. There are also sports scholarships and other sorts of extracurricular scholarships.

One may also choose to go with the stipend option. This is whereby one works at the institution as a teaching assistant or in a research capacity and they are given a stipend. They also receive tuition waivers and breaks. This is not called a salary, as the stipend would not exactly match what a member of staff in the same capacity would be getting.

A bursary is a lot like a scholarship but will often be put towards a specific area of study especially in the advanced academic levels. Some institutions allow a tuition waiver for staff, their spouses, and dependants. The waiver will only cover tuition and then one will be expected to take care of their own living expenses. The same may also apply to active members of the defense forces and their dependents.

The best place to start the search for the best option is the office of your aid adviser at the institution. Some, actually most, of these options are not aggressively advertised. However, the institutions and most specifically the aid advisers are kept in the loop. They always know of the different ways one can get through school.

The same aid adviser will help one match their qualities to the requirements. One will be adequately directed to the option for which they are most eligible. No sweat, something will work out.




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