Your Checklist for Financial Aid

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How to Determine Your Costs:

Decide on which schools will best meet your future educational and career goals. Consider all options including the military academies and service opportunities.
Write to those schools for catalogs, admissions applications, financial aid opportunities, etc.
Using these materials (and any other cost information obtained from Admissions Offices), develop budgets for each school. Include all living expenses.
Check with athletic coaches and other department officials about available sources of college funds.

Filling Out Forms and Deadlines

Check admission deadlines.
Check financial aid deadlines for all sources to which you will be applying.
Decide which need analysis form to file: most colleges accept the CSS Profile (formerly known as the Financial Aid Form or FAF) processed by the College Scholarship Service, and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) processed by the U.S. Department of Education and the American College Testing Program.
Carefully fill out and complete all portions of the need analysis form.
Make copies of everything you submit in regard to admissions and financial aid.
Send all important forms and documents by certified mail.
Apply for federal student financial aid (Pell Grant by checking the appropriate box on the CSS Profile or FFS form or you can use the Federal AFSA form).
Check with guidance counselor or financial aid officer regarding a state scholarship or grant application and which additional forms, if any, are necessary to submit for state aid.
Keep all correspondence received from need analysis services and financial aid offices. Read acknowledgments thoroughly to make sure all forms have been accepted and are being processed
If additional information is requested, provide this information as soon as possible so that processing of your application will not be delayed, interrupted or canceled.
Forward copies of Student Aid Report to colleges to which you are applying.

Financial Aid Package and Award Letter

The award letters) will state amount of grant aid offered by the school, loan aid offered and work/study aid. Carefully read your award letter(s) and review all parts of your financial aid package including:
If there is a loan portion included in your package, review terms of payment, conditions of funding, requirements, etc. Apply for loans after you have accepted admission to school.
Amount of work-study aid.
Grant Aid offered.
Choose the school you want to attend on the combined basis of economic feasibility and career/educational goals.
Notify the school of your formal acceptance of their offer for admission and let the other schools know about your decision not to attend so that financial aid funds reserved for you can be released.

Researching and Applying for Private Scholarships

Check your high school library and local library for additional sources of financial aid. There are many detailed books, reports, and pamphlets describing private scholarship and grant programs.
Ask your high school guidance counselor about any sources of private scholarship or loan aid he/she knows of.
Research all personal avenues and possibilities of aid through your parents' affiliations, memberships, community organizations, veterans benefits, Social Security benefits, minority opportunities, academic, leadership, and special talent opportunities.

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