Federal Aid For College For Unemployed

It's a good idea to start thinking about financial aid as early as possible in your last year of high school if you're considering college or career school after you graduate. While most of us probably think first of an academic scholarship to fund a college degree, it pays not to overlook another possibility: Federal financial aid.

According to studentaid.ed.gov, a student aid portal run by the U.S. Department of Education, the Federal government remains the single biggest source of student aid in America. The three main student aid programs - grants, work-study programs and loans - pay out more than 80 billion dollars each year in aid to high school grads who are willing to learn first in order to earn more later.

Having a good grasp of the trio of aid options available from the Federal government is an essential prerequisite for completing the FAFSA, also called the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. All high school grads must complete and submit their FAFSA application as part of the qualifying process for Federal student financial aid.

Student aid from the Federal government comes in three basic forms: grants, work-study programs, and loans. The different types of financial assistance differ in the dollar value of the aid you receive and whether or not the financial aid has to be repaid. Grants do not require repayment, nor do work-study programs, which pay a wage or salary for work performed. Loans, however, must be repaid, just like a car loan or home mortgage, over a period that ranges from 10 to 25 years.

There are several types of grant and loan programs within this general three-tiered framework of Federal financial aid. Many people have heard of a specific type of grant, the Federal Pell Grant, which is generally regarded as the foundation of the Federal student aid program. Other less familiar grants include the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG), and the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant, a long name that is usually shortened to the National SMART Grant.

There are different loan formats, too. The direct Stafford loan, in which the lender is the Department of Education, is probably the best-known example of this type of Federal student aid. Depending on the amount of their loan and the payment plan they select, recipients of a direct Stafford loan have between ten and twenty-five years to repay the government.

With only a pair of exceptions, the amount of Federal student aid you can receive is determined by your financial need. The amount is determined by subtracting your Expected Family Contribution, or EFC, from the cost of attendance at a college or career school. Using factors you supply on your FAFSA i¿½ including family income, family assets and benefits like unemployment and Social Security i¿½ your EFC is calculated according to a formula laid down in Federal law. The Department of Education notifies you of your EFC on your Student Aid Report, or SAR. You'll receive your SAR after the government has completed its review of your FAFSA application.

If all this sounds confusing, the government has a number of extremely useful resources to help you cut through the clutter. One exceptional resource is the website mentioned at the beginning of this article, studentaid.ed.gov. Another is "Funding Education Beyond High School", a free 60-page document available in PDF format at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Be sure to delve into these resources as early as possible during your senior year of high school to have the best possible chance of receiving Federal student aid.

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