Paying for College During COVID
With nationwide shutdowns and changes in employment, the pandemic has impacted many families financially — including their ability to pay for college. If you find you are short on funds to pay for your student’s education, use these tactics before you decide to take out loans.
BY SUZANNE SHAFFER
Your first stop in securing additional funding is the college financial aid office. If your family situation has changed (loss of income due to COVID-19), your EFC (Expected Family Contribution) will change as well. That simply means that the college may be able to offer you additional funding (a grant, or perhaps your student now qualifies for work study) to supplement your current financial aid package. The office will require documentation to initiate a change, so be prepared to provide it.
Contact the College
When contacting the college, be sure also to ask about any scholarships or grants offered from specific departments or majors on campus. Your student can contact professors within their major area of study to ask if they know of any grants or scholarships available to current students.
Search for Outside Scholarships Students should always be searching and applying for outside scholarships! There are scholarships available for current students based on specific majors, areas of interest, ethnicity and more. Given that it’s almost summer, your student can start by doing a Google search for “scholarships with extended deadlines” — insert your city or state as well. They can also search using specific criteria such as scholarships for science majors or scholarships for college sophomores. Did you know the federal government provides a searchable list of scholarships? The Department of Labor’s CareerOneStop website features more than 8,000! Your student can highlight results according to their degree level and the location of their home and school. Here are a few more websites to explore: Scholarships.com, CollegeScholarships.org, Cappex.com and Unigo.com. And don’t forget to search locally. Ask family and friends. Listen to the news. Pay attention to local bulletin boards and businesses.
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Spring 2021
