Basic Requirements For Student Financial Aid Eligibility

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Carey Sammie

Every business needs to be protected from certain risks to stay away from financial loss. To do this, businesses need a particular type of insurance depending on the kind of business environment they’re in. A hotel insurance, for instance, is a kind of insurance that’s purposely designed for hotels to meet their needs. Normally, it is written as a bundle or package policy, wherein a single policy encompasses numerous separate coverages. These individual coverages within a policy are frequently tailored for a specific situation of a hotel.

Businesses and entrepreneurs have a lot of options in terms of insuring their business as well as in securing funds to promote, improve, or expand their business. This is different for individuals who are still in school, especially students headed for college since getting a college education and getting through it could be very pricey.

Why Consider Financial Aid?

Most often, when parents and students think about college, they might feel a great deal of stress and pressure particularly on how to come up or where to get the needed money to afford tuition, lodging and accommodation, books, school supplies, as well as other school-related fees. It is known that college could be incredibly expensive, which is why increasingly more students rely on financial aid to somehow fill in the space between what they could manage to pay for and the price of college.

The procedure for applying for a financial aid isn’t that confusing so long as you are correctly educated about it and have all the basic requirements. Moreover, there are numerous funding alternatives that could make meeting the expense of a college education possible for just about any student and their parents.

The most usual available kinds of financial aids are grants, scholarships, and student loans. Grants and scholarships don’t have to be paid back. Loans, on the other hand, have to be paid back, typically after they’ve completed college. Each type of aid require different kinds of requirement so make sure you read up on this.

Basic Requirements For Federal Student Aid Eligibility

The basic requirement for federal student aid are on citizenship and requirements connected to the capacity of the student to benefit from a college education:

Must be citizen of the United States, a permanent resident or a qualified non-citizen
Should have an unexpired Social Security number, excluding students who are from the Freely Associated States
Should have a diploma in high school, an acknowledged equivalent of a diploma in high school such as a GED certificate, or have finished a curriculum in high school for home schooled students
Must be enrolled, or accepted to be enrolled, as a student in an qualified course or certificate program at a university or college eligible for a federal student aid.

FAFSA Filing Season is Now Open – The Importance of Filing as Early as Possible

Posted on October 17, 2019 by Ned Trisha

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA filing season for the 2020-2021 school year, opened last October 01, 2019. Those intending to apply for financial aid to pay for college education should complete and submit their
FAFSA as early as possible.

Although the FAFSA filing cycle goes on for a period of 18 months from the October 01 starting date, completing an application sooner than the June 30, 2019 deadline is the best way to increase one’s chances of securing financial assistance.

First off, it should be clear that financial aid is college education money that does not have to be repaid. Although nearly all FAFSA applicants qualify for some form of financial help, most need-based aid and grants are awarded by states on a first-come-first-serve basis.

According to a recent report from Sallie Mae (SML Corp.), the private lending company that handles loans availed by college students, around eight (8) in every ten (10) American families seek for financial aid through scholarships and grants. Yet more than half of those families were constrained to take out student loans. This suggests that most need-based applicants had missed out on free financial aid offered by the federal government, by the state and/ or by different private sectors.

It is also important to know every state reserves the right to set a deadline that may be earlier than the federally prescribed end of the 18-month FAFSA season.

FAFSA State Deadlines for School Year 2020 – 2021

In some states like Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico,Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming, seekers of college education financial aid must first check with their state’s Federal Student Aid Administrator, as the deadline may be dependent on some other documents required by the state government.

Other states give advice for applicants to submit as early as possible after October 01, because the available financial grants are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis until depleted. The list includes Alaska, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont and Washington.

Some U.S. regions specifically set a FAFSA deadline for priority considerations. This denotes that those who submitted after the deadline and after the priority applicants have been served, can still apply until the end of the FAFSA season. States that maintain deadlines for priority listing include Connecticut, District of Columbia, Idaho, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Texas

States with Specific FAFSA Deadlines:

California — March 02, 2020 for most state financial aid programs:

Delaware — April 15, 2020, by midnight CT.

Florida — May 15, 2020 (date processed).

Iowa — July 1, 2020, by midnight CT.

Louisiana — July 1, 2021 (recommended).

Maine – May 1, 2020, by midnight CT.

Maryland – March 1, 2020, by midnight CT.

Michigan – March 1, 2020, by midnight CT.

Minnesota – 30 days after term starts, by midnight CT.

Mississippi – June 1, 2020, by midnight CT.

New Jersey – April 15, 2020, by midnight CT

New York – June 30, 2021, by midnight CT. Additional forms might be required.

Ohio – Oct. 1, 2020, by midnight CT.

Pennsylvania – Aug. 1, 2020, by midnight CT

Tennessee – Feb. 1, 2020.

West Virginia – March 1, 2020.

Senior Citizens Going Back to College, Consider Grants for Non-Traditional Students

Posted on October 7, 2019 by Ned Trisha

About a decade ago, going back to college was a popular feature of senior citizen retirement plans. In 2007, the National Center for Education Statistics had tracked a steady increase in the number of older adults ranging in ages between 50 and 64, who went back to higher educational institutions to pursue a degree. About 625,000 seniors went back to college in 2007, which peaked to as many as 8.9 million by the year 2010.

However, the years thereafter saw the numbers started going on a continuous decline.

Presumably, the effects of the 2008-2009 Great Recession took a toll on the economic resources of older adults; making it impossible for the next wave of retirement-eligible seniors to include going back to college as a future plan.

Due to this, higher education authorities saw the need to focus on the needs of older college students. In the Hechinger Report published by a non-profit news organization that gives attention to inequality in education, Mark Kantrowitz, SVP and publisher of Edvisors.com said

”Most older adults assume that just because they are no longer 17 years old, or are not working, they do not qualify for financial aid,”

Financial Aid Available to Older Adults Seeking to Continue and Complete Higher Education

Senior citizens planning to go back to college should know that there are several financial aid packages available to them. Be it federal, state, or private grants, older adults should explore financial aid under the non-traditional students category.

Federal Grants – Information about federal grants can be accessed by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is the initial step to determining the federal grant that best suits one’s financial need.

State Grants – All state governments receive federal funding in the form of block grants, or grant-in-aid in specific amounts. State and local authorities allocate them as grants for various programs; including providing support to both traditional and non-traditional students needing financial assistance.

Private Grants – Public and private colleges and universities are likewise important sources of financial aid available to older adults. Most of which are endowments coming from private individuals or foundations. Seniors can find out about current non-traditional educational grants by inquiring from the institution’s Financial Aid office.

Cashing Out the Equity Value of an Owned-Property as an Additional Source of Funding

Although educational grants can help older adults pay for college tuition, pursuing a degree gives rise to other expenses that could eat away money allotted for basic needs.

One way by which senior citizens can augment their economic resources is by cashing in on the value of their property. This can be done by taking out a loan against an owned-home, but without being burdened with monthly payments to settle the obligation.

An equity release though is available to older adults aged 55 or above who currently live in an owned-home. That is because the financing scheme works on the principle that a real estate usually appreciates in value.

The total amount due as payment for the cash borrowed can be deferred upon the sale of the property held as collateral. Selling transpires once the senior borrower passes away; or has entered an assisted living facility.

However senior citizens should take note of the costs they have to shoulder before they can close an equity release deal. As the expenditures include various fees such as legal, valuation, processing, consultation and/or completion fees, as well as building insurance, it would be best to get a hold of an equity release calculator cost determinator, before agreeing to a lender’s offer.