Nathan Said:

Just a few FAFSA-related/scholarship questions...?

We Answered:

An EFC score is a financial aid index. It is used by the financial aid office at your school to compare your financial aid need with the need of all of the other financial aid applicants who attend there. Your school will use it to determine what forms of aid you are eligible for, but your actual aid offer will depend on considerations other than just your EFC score.

Your EFC score of zero indicates that you have demonstrated "exceptional need". That classification applies to about 1/3 of all of the financial aid applicants each year. Applicants who demonstrate exceptional need are eligible for the special "need-based" forms of financial aid. These include the government's educational grant programs (Pell, ACG, FSEOG and SMART), the federal work study program, the Perkins Loan and the subsidized Stafford.

Unfortunately, only one of those need-based programs is automatically guaranteed to you - that's the Pell Grant. The other programs are limited funds programs, which simply means that your school has received an annual allocation of money from the US Department of Education. Generally, this isn't sufficient to award these discretionary forms of assistance to all of the students who qualify - so your school must determine how to award those supplementary funds as equitably as possible. The chances that you will receive any of those funds are partially determined by the financial need of all of your other classmates.

Will you get "everything paid for?" Probably not. The EFC is NOT "how much you need to pay", regardless of what anyone else might tell you. You will be responsible for paying the difference between your school's Cost of Attendance, and the amount of financial aid that your school has available for you.

If your school is a low-cost institution, like a community college, or a moderately-priced state university, your federal student aid plus a Stafford loan might be sufficient to cover most of your costs. If you're attending an expensive out-of-state school, you may be responsible for tens of thousands of dollars of non-covered school expenses.

Anyone who tells you that your EFC determines how much you pay for school hasn't really thought this through very carefully. If that was the case, the taxpayers would be paying Johnny $50,000 a year so he could go to Pricey Out of State University, and Mary $3000 a year so that she could attend Down the Street Community College.

It would make NO sense for the government aid program to encourage students to choose the most expensive possible school options.

Your federal student aid eligibility is pretty much exactly the same, no matter where you choose to attend school. Pick a cheap school and that money will pay for it - pick an expensive school and that same amount of money is a drop in the ocean.

I hope that helped you understand your situation a little better. Good luck!

Jean Said:

Will my misdemeanor for marijuana possession show up on any scholarship searches?

We Answered:

It's correct that, your record is cleared when you are 18. But basically scholarships are based on G.P.A. and not personal choices etc. As far as grants and loans, you can only lose aid, if you are in possession of an illegal drug or selling it while on Financial Aid.

So since you are below 18 and have not yet received financial aid, just put no, on the worksheet for the question of drug offenses.

You'll be fine, the past is the past.

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/before013.htm

Kay Said:

What of the following should I choose to apply for a scholarship?

We Answered:

You can get info about such college scholarships and grants online here - education.mypressonline.com

Glen Said:

Finding Grants and Scholarships for Healthcare Student?

We Answered:

You can go to
http://www.all-about-scholarship.com
it's about scholarships/grants information.
Good luck

Barry Said:

Scholarship finder on demand service - does it exist?

We Answered:

Most of them are hoaxes...stick with your friendly financial aid office at your college and see if they have any available that you fit the criteria for.