by Wayne Ramsey

Created on: April 07, 2007   Last Updated: January 08, 2008

For some reason, regardless of how much you hear about it on television and read about it, there are still many people, especially those in the lower class that believe that just because you are poor you aren't able to go to school. But the reality is that there are more opportunities these days to go to college for the less fortunate than there are for the middle class and higher. This is because of the numerous federal grants that are available for single parents, lower income, and disabled individuals.

If you are in a lower income household and you are looking to go to college, the first step that you need to take is applying for the college. By doing this, you are giving yourself an open door to talk to a financial aid counselor for free. These people are amazing at helping you to find every method possible for funding your education without you having to pay anything out of pocket immediately, if you have to even pay anything out of pocket at all.

The first thing that they are going to make you do is fill out the FAFSA, which is the Free Education for Federal Student Aid. Essentially this is a form that is supported by the Federal government through the department of Education. This form essentially lets you apply for free money from the government and makes you eligible for federally backed student loans. This is a relatively easy process and essentially just requires the tax information for everyone that you are applying with for last and current tax years. This means that if you are applying alone, which is the method that I generally recommend, especially if you are lower income by yourself, then you would just include your own documents. However, if you decide that you want to apply with your parents, you are going to need their documentation as well. To fill out this form, you can simply go to fafsa.edu and you'll be able to find the appropriate information to get started on the application.

Generally the FAFSA process takes about a week before you'll hear back the results. When you get the results, it's going to tell you how much you are eligible for from the federal government. First they are going to tell you how much grant money you are approved for. If you are lower class, you are probably going to get quite a bit. I myself as a single military parent, receive about $7500/semester in federal grants. This is a lot of free money that I will never have to pay back. It goes to cover a great deal of my education.

Next you are going to see the Perkins

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>