The Feminist Financial Handbook. Brynne Conroy
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full Pell Grant recipient would only need to drum up an additional $4,050 to cover the cost of attendance. And that’s totally possible without digging into your own wallet.
FSEOG Grants
FSEOG grants are issued only to those in dire financial straits. However, if you do qualify, you can currently get anywhere between $100 and $4,000 depending on your financial need. These grants do routinely run out of funding, which is a major reason why it’s so important to file your FAFSA as close to October 1 as possible.
TEACH Grants
If you are planning on majoring in K-12 education, you may be eligible for a TEACH grant. TEACH grants are unique in that they come with a service obligation. In order to qualify, your college and your specific program must be associated with the TEACH program. You’ll also have to keep your grades up.
When you accept this grant, you’re agreeing that for at least four of your first eight years out of college, you’ll teach a subject in a high-need field at a low-income school or educational service agency. You can learn more about current high-need fields at StudentAid.gov/TEACH.
If you fail to meet this service requirement, you’ll have to repay the money plus interest.
If you meet all of these requirements, though, you can receive up to $4,000 in grant money every year.
Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant
If your parent or guardian died after 9/11 as the result of military service in Iraq or Afghanistan, you’re eligible for this grant. The maximum award is the same as the Pell Grant. But this one isn’t refundable. That means if you have financial aid in excess of your tuition, the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant will be reduced, and you won’t be able to pocket any of the money for other expenses like food and shelter.
Federal Work-Study
You may be eligible for a job facilitated by your school. The job may be on or off campus, and in most positions you can decide whether you want your paycheck to go straight towards your tuition or if you’d like it to be deposited into your bank account.
Federal Student Loans
There are several types of federal student loans, and those will be offered to you on the FAFSA as well. These loans are almost always preferable to private student loans from your bank or other financial institution.
But we’re going to try to get you through school without debt, so we’re not going to spend a lot of time here.
State Grants
After you complete your FAFSA application, you will likely be prompted to complete a financial aid application with your state. In my home state of Pennsylvania, income-based grants can be in excess of $3,000. That’s another three grand for school that you don’t have to pay back, or depending on your situation, another three grand you can keep for your living expenses.
If you’re not immediately redirected to your state’s financial aid application, search for your state’s department of higher education. Call them directly to make sure you have everything you need to apply, but the application will most likely be online.
Institutional Aid
You must fill out your FAFSA to even be considered for any financial aid from your college. If you qualify, you may be issued need-based grants. You may also be offered scholarships, which are another type of funding you don’t have to pay back. Scholarships are typically merit-based but are sometimes included as a part of your financial aid package.
It’s important to note that at some schools, your institutional aid will be reduced if you bring in money in excess of your tuition. For example, if you got a full Pell Grant plus a state grant of $3,000, you’d have $8,920 towards your tuition. The average state school costs $9,970. That means the maximum amount of institutional aid the school would offer you would be $1,050.
Let’s say they offered you $1,050 and then you brought in an outside scholarship worth $1,000. The school would then reduce your institutional aid to $50. That means you can’t pocket any of the money to help with your books or living expenses.
This is not an ideal situation, especially as a nontraditional student. You can find out if your school will allow you to keep money in excess of your tuition or if the school will reduce institutional aid by contacting the financial aid office before making your final decision about which college you want to attend.
Scholarships
If you’re not immediately offered a scholarship right out of the gate, all is not lost. There are a ton of ways to get your hands on scholarship money. If the stipulations of the scholarship allow you to use the money for expenses outside of tuition, this can be a great source of money to help fund day-to-day expenses like rent and food while you’re a student.
Where to Find Scholarships
Ashley Hill, a scholarship search strategist located outside of Atlanta, Georgia, says you should start your search at the hyperlocal level.
First, she says nontraditional students should check local colleges and universities—even if they don’t plan on going to school locally. Some of the scholarships they offer may be exclusively for their students, but others—known as external or private scholarships—do not have an attendance requirement. Hill says that typically, the primary factor in eligibility is local residency.
Hill’s next line of attack is your city or locality. She recommends checking your city government, nonprofits, and local chapters of any industry association linked to your desired major for any scholarship opportunities they may provide.
The third sphere Hill says you should check is your county. Your county government or organizations that serve your entire county may offer scholarship opportunities if you’re willing to look for them.
Finally, check with your state. Just as many states offer grants, some may also offer scholarship opportunities. It’s also a good idea to check with statewide organizations.
Besides scholarships based on your geographic location, Hill encourages nontraditional students to look to their employers for any scholarship opportunities that may exist. She says some employers also extend tuition reduction programs to their employees, saving students anywhere from 20 percent to 30 percent.
Do You Have What It Takes?
Before you apply for a scholarship, it’s helpful to know what the committee is looking for.
“At the heart of the essay, scholarship judges are looking for evidence of leadership experience, either through working or serving the community,” says Hill, who judges scholarship competitions herself.
She notes that if you’re a nontraditional student, you might not have the same amount of time on your hands as a teenager does to get out in the community and work on service projects. That doesn’t mean you’re an inferior candidate. Instead, you can draw upon your experiences in the workforce to demonstrate your leadership capabilities.
“Simply having a job and being on a team, working towards completing a project—it requires some leadership skills,” says Hill. “You don’t have to be the manager or the president or the CEO to be a leader. You can lead right where you are.”
Writing Your Essay
The pièce de résistance of most scholarship applications is the essay. What is asked for will vary from application to application, but remember that what you need to showcase is those leadership skills and how you will use them to serve the community through your work in the future.
While you do want to use your essay to feature those skills, Hill cautions that it should not turn into a “brag list.” You will be asked about your past academic performance and any awards you may have received on the scholarship application, so unless they are relevant to the story you’re telling, they shouldn’t appear in the essay.
She says that as you’re writing the essay, you want to keep the prompt for the essay in mind. But you also want to be sure you’re telling the panel a story that features your leadership