<p>Hello, I need to find a way to pay for college, but I don't know where to start. I would like to go to college to be a history teacher. I just graduated high school on may 29th. Unfortunately I didn't apply for any scholarships when I should have, so now I need to find some way of paying for college.</p>
<p>What should I do for scholarships/grants/or loans?</p>
<p>Did you file a FAFSA and a Profile, if your school is a Profile school? Did you receive any kind of financial aid award letter from your college? If not, the first thing you need to do is file a FAFSA online at [FAFSA</a> - Free Application for Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.fafsa.ed.gov%5DFAFSA”>http://www.fafsa.ed.gov) - until you do, you’re ineligible for Stafford loans, and any other kind of federal and state grants or loans. </p>
<p>There will be a question on FAFSA about the TEACH grant which is a $4K for people who intend to go into teaching. There are certain qualifications, so you can answer yes if you want one, but google TEACH grant to see if you’re likely to meet them.</p>
<p>Make sure you complete whatever additional steps your state requires for student aid too, if you haven’t missed their deadlines. And find out if your school is a direct lender for Stafford. If not, you’ll have to choose a lender for Stafford loans.</p>
<p>Finally, have a conversation with your school’s FA office after your FAFSA in filed. It’s unlikely they have any institutional aid left (unless they guarantee to meet need) for next year, but worth asking and making sure they know you’ve applied for aid. Ask them how long it will take to process your request so you know if you’ll have to pay the first semester up front.</p>
<p>Why so late doing this? Were you a summer acceptance?</p>
<p>And have a discussion with your parents. In most cases (unless your family has very limited income) your family will also be expected to help pay for college. You might want to run the numbers through a finaid calculator for an estimate of what the colleges might EXPECT your family to contribute. Then you need to find out what they WILL contribute.</p>
<p>To anyone else reading this thread…PLEASE…look at how you are going to pay for your college expenses BEFORE you accept enrollment at a school. Someone has to pay the bills before classes start or you won’t be able to attend anyway. In my opinion, the financing of college should be resolved BEFORE a student sends in the admissions acceptance and deposit. </p>
<p>AND if you need financial aid…you should be applying for it per the deadlines for your college. AND certainly know what it’s going to be BEFORE you accept enrollment at a college.</p>
<p>This question is being repeated again and again this year…and it makes me wonder how these students thought their college bills were going to be paid. It’s JULY…bills are being prepared and some have been sent. It’s getting a bit late to “form a plan”.</p>
<p>I thought we had free education in the US.</p>
<p>LOL oldfort. One has to wonder about the veracity of these threads…</p>
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<p>You’re confusing education with health coverage.</p>
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<p>Sadly, I believe them, jym! I actually know people who are just figuring out that their offspring should have applied to schools they can actually afford and that the kids really can’t take $25K in loans on their own for freshman year. Somehow this info didn’t sink in when I told them that nearly a year ago…beating head against wall time again. Blank stares occur when I ask what their plan to finance the following 3 years will be.</p>
<p>Community college and then transfer.</p>