Financial aid help:the process?

Paying for College
1

Ok so I’m pretty sure I qualify for financial aid. Here’s some background info. I am a 17 year old Hispanic male about to graduate from highschool. I have 2 parents and my mother is the only working one. She makes 28,000 a year. I have 3 other siblings one is 12 the other is 7 and the last and smallest is a year and change. I wanna know based on the information I gave if I would qualify? Then what is the process? Thanks I’m advanced

2

Everyone who fills out the FAFSA qualifies for Financial Aid. For most people that amounts to a $5500 loan as a freshman and something under $6K for a Pell Grant (which you should qualify for with that income). What is your home state? Some states have grants available for low income students as well.

3

And what school(s) do you want to attend? Will you live at home?

4
  1. Run the Net Price Calculator (NPC) for your colleges. Some aren't able to offer much. You may need to find others that do.
  2. Read their financial aid pages, what forms and info they need to see from you, and when. Also to learn if there are any special monies you qualify for,
  3. The process boils down to: they expect standard info (via the Fafsa and sometimes the CSS Profile,) which then they run through their own formulas. Some of the info comes from tax forms and some is other detail.

How much aid you can get, against all costs, depends on the college and- as said, some states have grants. See if your state has a Higher Ed commission that offers financial aid advice. Your GC should know what it is.

And yes, sometimes, if you live at home, you can use grants and a student loan to cover tuition and fees, books, some misc costs. But get started with the basic look-see.

5

See https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/eligibility

6

I am in California and I plan for sdsu so yes in state sorry for the late reply I was at practice

7

Thanks for the link very helpful

8

Ok, are you going to get a cal grant? You should qualify. Make sure your school submits grades to CSAC, most automatically do. Then you just need to file fafsa by March 2 2016. Cal grant will cover tuition and fees. You should qualify for cal grant b which will also give you an extra 1,656 for other expenses. You will also get your Pell grant, likely for 5,770. Now, are you in the local area for sdsu? Will you be commuting?

9

I’m fairly close to sdsu maybe a 10 or max 15 min drive what is commuting

10

Commuting to college generally means living at home with your parents for free instead of in a dorm or apartment on campus.