Financial Aid Search: 18 Cool Programs and Places to Look

Interested in college but need money? Your financial aid search will need some basic terms to keep you from confusing your FAFSA with your SAR. The list only seems long, but will just take a few minutes to read through. Take a look and move your search forward.

Financial Aid Search Terms

3. Student Aid Report, or SAR. After you have filled out your FAFSA, you will receive a student aid report. It will indicate how much federal student aid you can receive in what types, meaning student loans and grants.

The above terms just set the stage. Knowing the terms will help whenever you talk to your school’s financial aid office. From here on out we go right into the programs themselves starting with the ones that offer free money for college, or nearly free.

Grants and Scholarships

5. State grant programs: nearly every state has a grant program to offer more aid to their residents. You can find these through the state website, usually the department of higher education. Most of these require a FAFSA to determine need. Take a look at my page about forgotten grant programs to learn about some of these great programs. Or, download my Grants ebook for even more information.

6. Scholarships: the subject of scholarships fills pages and pages of books. Why? Because everyone is different, and most only give an award to 1 to 5 people. Essentially, you get a scholarship for demonstrating talent or skill in a certain area, such as music, academic achievement (grades), sports, and so on. Once you have a scholarship, you may be able to renew it. You can find hundreds of scholarships from every organization you can think of, some right in your own neighborhood. Be careful of consultants that offer to find you a scholarship if you’ll pay them. Usually a FAFSA isn’t part of this, but could be if you are applying for a state or federal scholarship.

You can search high and low for scholarships looking for financial aid. Keep in mind that by filling out a FAFSA, you apply to several programs at once, and you can still apply for all the scholarships you want.

College Savings Plans, Tax Credits, and More

7. 529 Plans, which come in four varieties. First, your state can offer prepaid tuition. You lock in your college tuition cost with this one when you open the account. In the second alternative, you can save toward state tuition and get a tax deduction. Third and fourth, you can do both of the above for independent universities as well as with state run schools. You’ll want to start on this one young. Not exactly financial aid for today, but can help some people. You have 5 to 10 years to set this up, right? FAFSA not required.

Although I don't recommend it, you can access your 401k at times for tuition and other education related expenses. You can learn more on my 401k hardship rule tuition withdrawal page for some pointers on this if you really need to use retirement money. Otherwise, stick to others on this page.

8. Education IRA’s are not the same as 529 plans. With the educational IRA, you save tax free, then you withdraw for educational expenses and hope you have made enough to offset taxes. But, like a 529, you need to start ahead of time to let the money grow. You wouldn’t consider this a typical financial aid program to search for, but it does let you invest for your kids or your own future, and you can self direct. Self direction means you can buy other investments than just bond funds or stock funds. You could invest in rental houses or buy mortgage notes, for example. You'll need a company that offers self directed accounts.

9. HOPE scholarship and Lifetime Learning tax credits actually aren’t a scholarship…sorry. These are tax credit programs. You can use tuition and fees from your family members that you support (think dependents) as tax credits when figuring your taxes. HOPE only applies to the first two years. The Lifetime Learning tax credit you can use over and over again. It phases out as your income goes up. Not financial aid like a grant, where someone gives you a check, but may it apply to you. Talk to a tax pro for more in this one.

10. Tuition waiver programs usually come from states, and offer some students either free or greatly reduced tuition. Typically applies to state schools, but some programs include private colleges and universities. When you are looking for financial aid, finding free tuition is good.

11. Loan forgiveness programs offer to pay your loans in exchange for your work in a specific field. For example, work as a school teacher and you can get some of your loans paid or forgiven. This program also goes by the name tuition forgiveness. Note that this doesn’t happen until you go to school, graduate, and get a job that offers this type of aid. Still, borrow and someone else pays it back is a nice package.

12. Tuition Assistance programs or Tuition Reimbursement may sound familiar if you have a job. Many companies offer a program like this to employees, and generally few ever apply to use it. I have worked for a company that offered reimbursement, where you pay, take the class, then fill out a form and get some or all of your money back. And I have also worked for a company that paid the tuition up front for me. Both programs can offset much of the tuition for your schooling. No FAFSA involved.

If you have a job, you should consider talking to your company about this type of financial aid. See my page on College Tuition Assistance for more information. Your financial aid search is getting better.

Student Loans: Federal and Private

14. Emergency or short term tuition loans come from some schools. I used this student loan to help me pay tuition one semester, and had to pay it back in 6 months. For me, this worked well the one time I used it.

15. Stafford loans you will probably recognize as the biggest federal student loan program. By the way, this program used to be called a guaranteed student loan, or GSL. You can get a Stafford that has subsidized or unsubsidized interest. Subsidized means the government pays the interest until you finish school and start making payments. Also, you can borrow from anybody who makes these loans. Your school, a credit union, a bank may all offer this type of financial aid. Your school will have a list, usually. And often your check will come to the school, not you personally. The Stafford relies on the FAFSA to determine eligibility, and yes, you have to stay under the limit, both each year and the lifetime limit.

16. Computer loans can make you think you have borrowed just for a computer. Here’s the deal: you can add the cost of a computer to your estimated expenses once, typically, in a 4 year degree. When you do this, your expenses increase, and you qualify for more financial aid. Because this happens, you will have to turn in your receipt for the computer to show you really bought it. And the financial aid office may call it a computer loan. Truth is, it’s just a loan. If it came as a Stafford or Perkins loan, it will also come under the annual financial aid loan limits. FAFSA necessary.

17. The Parent Loan for Undergraduate Student, or PLUS loan used to be just for parents, but has been expanded. Now graduate students can borrow in this way as well, and the new name is the Grad PLUS loan. The payments start after you finish. You can really get into trouble with this type of financial aid, since you have no annual limit to your loans. You can borrow as much as you need. Be Careful! You do have to file a FAFSA, but you don’t borrow based on being low income or substantial need like a federal grant.

18. Private Student loans and a whole bunch more acronyms can add up to a whole lot more debt. A private student loan usually comes from a bank, and banks have some great programs, each one with its own acronym. You can borrow as much as you need with this type of program, and it’s just between you and the bank, no FAFSA required. Watch out! Only borrow what you really need - you will have to pay it back.

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