States will pay out $3.7 billion in student aid. * Almost 50 percent of all college students receive some form of economic assistance (public or private)today.

COLLEGE COST ESTIMATOR

One of the most misunderstood beliefs about scholarships is that the money awarded from them can be as good as money in your pocket. This is not true. While it is true that a scholarship can help pay your college bill, or

replace a loan or a work opportunity in your financial aid package, it will not change either parent's or student's expected contribution. Those amounts have been set by the need analysis formula and remain constant.

For example, if the total family contribution has been determined to be $5,000 and the college costs $8,000, there is a remaining $3,000 that needs to be met. A $1,000 scholarship will reduce that need to $2,000. That leaves less money that the financial aid officer will have to come up with in grants, work/study, loans or other aid alternatives. The family still needs to contribute $5,000 toward these total costs.

The only exception we have found where a scholarship directly affects the family contribution is where a "no need" scholarship is awarded to a student who has been found to have no need according to his need analysis. In this case the money goes directly to the student or the family. .An example of this is where the family contribution at a college that costs $6,000 has been set at $6,000. There is no "remaining need" as far as the financial aid determination is concerned. The family pays the entire bill at this college. Along comes a $2,500 scholarship. This award shrinks the family contribution to $3,500.

There is also the common belief that there are thousands of one-of-a-kind scholarships that go unclaimed each year. It is true that many scholarships do remain unclaimed. However the main reason is that they are either so

obscure or have such specialized requirements, that only a few students could qualify. Our advice is to search for your scholarships through traditional routes, rather than look for off-beat, one-of-a-kind "special" scholarships that have long lists of unusual, particular criteria making them nearly impossible to meet.

Scholarships are an important. source of free money and should not be overlooked. You do have a chance of receiving a special award if you make the effort to find these sources yourself. Here are some steps to help you begin your search:

* Check with financial aid officers and high school counselors.

* Check with your family about past job and service affiliations.

* Check with your community

* Check with the college admissions offices and college administrators where you are applying.

* Check with the national scholarship organizations.

* Check the books, directories, and newsletters at your library.

* Check with state scholarship commissions.

* Check with state departments of education.

How often have you seen those ads by companies claiming to be able to get you all the money you need for college within 90 days or they will refund 100 percent of your money? These computerized scholarship search firms "guarantee" to help students find private agency aid programs for which they might be eligible. We have found the value and costs of these services to vary considerably. Unless the service has a extraordinarily complete, up-to-date data base (which you have no way of checking), including all necessary information for application, eligibility requirements, and most important, deadlines, it probably won't be of any more use than your high school guidance counselor or the financial aid officers at the schools where you are applying. The reference sources at your local library can be a tremendous aid to tracking down scholarships and grants, as well as information on federal and state programs you are eligible for.