DegreeGo Blog

Financial aid is available in several different forms, including scholarships, grants, and loans. Military students also benefit from the Post 9/11 GI Bill. The following is a quick guide to the financial aid options available.

Scholarships

Scholarships may be provided by the school or by a third party. They typically involve the student meeting certain criteria (grade point average, ethnicity, type of major, hobbies, etc.) and writing an essay. Essays are judged and then the scholarships are divvied to the students that show the most need and academic potential. Scholarships do not need to be paid back.

College enrollment costs are just the beginning of your college bill. Once classes are paid for, college students have to deal with other expenditures like lab fees, textbooks, and–I know it seems silly to say it, but it’s true–food. When you’re running from that class that gets out at 6:45 pm to that class that starts at 7:00 pm and you haven’t had a bite to eat since that break you had between 11:15 and 1:00, chances are you’re living off of snacks, and that can start to add up really quickly.

Here’s some ways you can start saving money this semester because, let’s face it, the recession is still a real killer to our bank accounts.

The Post 9/11 GI Bill allows active duty members to transfer benefits to their dependents as part of a military retention program. The rules surrounding transfer to dependents is simple, normally: the active duty member must have been serving for a minimum of six years and agree to serve an additional four years. The dependent, child or spouse, may use the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits the same way the active duty member would.

Things are more complicated than they seem, however. Due to military members that were scheduled for retirement and could not offer an additional four years of service, several additives were made to the family transfer program to assure these members would still be given the benefits of Post 9/11 GI Bill family transferability.

The U.S. Department of Education estimates approximately 1.5 million students that qualify for Pell Grants fail to receive their financial aid due the length and complication of the FAFSA. The FAFSA is considered so daunting by applicants, in fact, that many hire a professional to fill them out, just like their tax forms!

Graduates for the past couple of years have been stiffed on entry-level earnings. A bachelor’s degree used to be the guaranteed ticket to a well-paying job, but now it has transformed into a much-needed resume perk, and the master’s degree has taken the spotlight of “I grant thy student a job” status.

The Post 9/11 GI Bill has had some exciting things happen this last month. Here’s five June 2009 highlights for the Post 9/11 GI Bill:

1. The Yellow Ribbon Program List of Participating Schools. Military-friendly schools have agreed to participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program. The Yellow Ribbon Program allows students to attend universities that would otherwise not be covered by the tuition expenses offered by the Post 9/11 GI Bill by splitting the additional costs of tuition between the participating college and the VA.