Need major help? Don't understand 'grants'

Paying for College
1

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>My son is getting offers to play Football at a Baptist university in Arkansas.</p>

<p>They are offering him 1/2 scholarship for the first year.</p>

<p>However, I have been told I can apply for grants to possibly cover the remaining balance.</p>

<p>Problem is: I have zero clue on how to go about applying for these unused grants I keep hearing about? Any specific website that I need to focus on?
Can I apply for many grants? What is the main qualification for grants?</p>

<p>Just don’t know what I’m doing?? Confused FOOTBALL MOTHER desperately wanting to get her son in College!</p>

<p>Any feedback would be great–no matter how simple you think it might be…please send it! I need it.</p>

2

<p>Footballmom, the first thing you need to do is fill out the FAFSA, if you have not done so already. </p>

<p>Then, you need to check over here… </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.arkansashighered.com/financial.html[/url]”>http://www.arkansashighered.com/financial.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>…and see what all grants, asides from the Pell Grant, that are offered in the state of Arkansas. </p>

<p>Please note that if you are a resident of a county which borders certain areas of Arkansas, you might not have to pay out of state tuition. For example, there are some folks in the tri state area who do not have to pay out of state tuition to such a school as the University of Memphis. So, Footballmom, if you live in Memphis or Mississippi, you might desire to double check a thing or two. Those out of state tuition waivers are called Border County Out of State Tuition Waivers. Sorry, I forgot what they were called earlier, so I had to edit my posting. They are worth looking into, because you never know. </p>

<p>You have yourself a nice day and I hope your child enjoys playing football for a nice private University.</p>

3

<p>Mildred–many thanks in advance!
Quicky thing:

  1. We are from Dallas, Tx
  2. What is a fafsa?
  3. If we live in Texas…are we limited to just grants in Arkansas? Or are we able to pursue grants anywhere? Makes sense that it would be Arkansas only…I would think?
  4. Also…I believe we are getting a PELL GRANT? At least that is what the coach told us.??</p>

<p>Any chance I can bug you again real quick Mildred on the above! ??</p>

4

<p>A Pell grant is Federal money given to low income kids for any school they go to. If you qualify you can use it anywhere.</p>

<p>Go the the FAFSA website (just google it) and read up. This is the form you must fill out to qualify for financial aid from the government. Many schools also use it to determine aid from their institution. You can put your information into the FAFSA calculator and it will give you a dollar amount that you will need to pay any school as your family’scontribution to college. The lower your income, the lower that number will be. Beware, most people think their FAFSA is high because it is not based on current income alone. It assumes you’ve saved some money for college and also includes the kid working summers.</p>

<p>In addition to Federal money, there will be an aid package from the college which will include grants from them, loans and work study. The more they want your son for the team the lower the loans should be and the higher the grants–money you don’t have to pay back.</p>

<p>Many schools offer football scholarships. If your son is good, there might be schools that will cover all costs, not just half tuition. Remember, there’s still room and board, so half tuition may not be that much.</p>

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<p>Thanks SUZE! Great info. My son is very good athletically…our challenge has always been grade point average. He would have been accepted to some very esteemed colleges had his grade point average been better. Problem is…we were limited to the smaller colleges.
At least that’s what we are finding out in this process.
Just a side note: The college did offer a full scholarship the last 3 years as the seniors are gradutating that are in his position.
So…we are hoping there will be one year of ‘having to cover 1/2 the costs’.
It’s so hard to know for sure when we are riding on ground we’ve never been.
Many thanks in advance!</p>

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<p>Oh mercy. Are your taxes done? If they are, then please go right here…</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/[/url]”>http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Now, you can do the worksheet and stuff in order to get an idea as to what it is you will have to do. I state that because you need to obtain a PIN. The PIN is no different than the PIN one has for their ATM card, it is a little code you receive which you enter into the web site for the FAFSA. On the hyper link I provided, the PIN sign up area is right here…</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.pin.ed.gov/PINWebApp/pinindex.jsp[/url]”>http://www.pin.ed.gov/PINWebApp/pinindex.jsp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I personally do not know the means by which a parent fills out a FAFSA for a child under the age of 24. I do not know of that, because I am a blessed orphan and am considered an independent for really sad reasons I would not wish on anyone. </p>

<p>So, that being said…I know for certain that one needs to make sure their taxes and any documentation on such things as their outside investments and the like are perfectly organized (you might want to make a copy of all of that). Then, you need to sign up for one of those PIN’S ASAP. In the interim you can use the worksheet which is found on the FAFSA web site in order to get an idea of a thing or two. </p>

<p>Now, Monday is a Holiday in most places, so you kinda have Monday to go online here and stuff and learn even more things. That is not too bad. </p>

<p>Here is a pretty darned fair web site on what all fin aid is…</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.finaid.org/[/url]”>http://www.finaid.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Arkansas, to the best of my knowledge, only gives its grants which are funded by the Arkansas Higher Ed folks to students who are from Arkansas or one of the little border counties over in Memphis or Miss. However, if you work real hard, then you might have a Pell Grant coming your child’s way. You can get a rough estimate of a thing or two by going here…</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml[/url]”>http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>^ This calculator will show you the EFC (Estimated Financial Contribution), the online calculators show an estimate. After you organise everything, obtain your PIN, get some good practice in with the worksheet, you can run your figures through the EFC Calculator to get an idea of any out of pocket expenses you will have for your child. Then, you can fill out the FAFSA and go from there. I am stating things like that, for right now, because of how Monday is a holiday. I do not know what all one will be able to do on Monday. And, the FAFSA web site is down for a while most every other Sunday, as near as I can reckon. So, I am trying to be nice, so you can at least work on something today and tommorrow. </p>

<p>Here is another nice web site you can study over…</p>

<p><a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp[/url]”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp&lt;/a&gt; </p>

<p>^ It has a lot of information about funding your schooling beyond high school. And, you do not have to sign up for their account option unless you want to. </p>

<p>Ultimately, I reckon your child will be alright. Arkansas, on the whole, has a rather low economic standard of living. But, the test scores and things pertaining to the high schoolers keep on rising and rising. So, your child is going to University at a rather good time.</p>

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<p>Big thanks MILDRED!!</p>

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<p>I don’t know why the wouldn’t give you the money the first year. What if he gets hurt and can’t play? Sonds like you’re guaranteed nothing.</p>

<p>There are several parents on the parent’s board who can be helpful to you in terms of athletic recruiting, try posting there are searching that forum for athletic scholarships.</p>

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<p>Suze, where do I find the athletic recruiting forum? I don’t see it here?
Thx again!</p>