Student Resources

Financial Aid for Students

Financial aid helps many students across the nation pay for college and trade or career school.

There are two basic assistance categories of aid:

• Financial need-based
• Need-based aid is financial aid you can receive if you have financial need and meet other eligibility criteria.
• Remember that students and their parents are responsible for paying what they can — financial aid is a supplement, not a substitute, for family resources.
• Non need-based
• Factors include academic excellence, ethnic background, or organization membership. Corporations may also offer assistance to employees and children.

Loans are the most common federal aid and must be repaid when you graduate or leave college. There are several different types of loans:

• Direct Subsidized Loans and Direct Unsubsidized Loans
• Direct Subsidized Loans — have slightly better terms to help out students with financial need. The Department of Education pays the interest on Direct Subsidized Loan.
• Direct Unsubsidized Loans — there is no requirement to demonstrate financial need. However, you are responsible for paying the interest on a Direct Unsubsidized Loan during all periods.
  
• Federal PLUS Loans
• The Department of Education makes Direct PLUS Loans to eligible parents and graduate or professional students through schools participating in the Direct Loan Program.
• The maximum PLUS loan amount you can receive is the cost of attendance (determined by the school) minus any other financial aid received.
• Perkins Loans
• Perkins Loans are low-interest federal student loans for undergraduate and graduate students with exceptional financial need.