College Grants and Financial Aid - It's Out There

College Grants and Financial Aid - It's Out There

By MICHELLE GEORGE
The Eagle-Gazette Staff

LANCASTER — Felicia Ward knows she doesn’t need a 4.0 GPA or a lot of money to pay for college next year. She just needs to be a little aggressive.
So when the Lancaster High School senior set her sights on earning a degree in middle childhood education, she focused on the best way to reach that goal — financial aid and lots of scholarships.
Felicia has applied for financial assistance and close to 40 scholarships this year so she can attend the Ohio University Lancaster Campus in the fall — and she’s confident she’ll get the help she needs through one or both of those avenues.
“My grandfather once told me, ‘Even if you were homeless, there are still ways out there for you to go to college,’ ” Felicia said. “You just have to find them.”

Felicia is one of many college-bound students looking for financial assistance to pay for a college education.

Financial aid, grants and scholarships are readily available for students who need help paying for college, said Sharon Weaver, a Lancaster High School guidance counselor.

But it’s an option, Weaver said, that some students don’t always consider or know how to find.

“Students eliminate themselves because they think: ‘I’m not a valedictorian. I’m not involved in community activities. I don’t have a chance at winning a scholarship,’ ” Weaver said. “But that’s not always the case.”

And Pat Fox, enrollment director at OU-L has noticed some students don’t bother to apply for financial aid because they believe they won’t be eligible.

“I’ve noticed the volume of students looking for financial aid has increased, but I think some people may have the misconception that filling out the FAFSA is a lot more complicated than it is,” Fox said. “And I think that is one of the biggest mistakes students make, not filling out the FAFSA.”

Fox and Ward said the majority of incoming college students are more eligible for financial assistance then they think.
Finding the funds
Weaver, who counsels students daily on financial assistance, offers the same piece of advice to each student looking into scholarships: Go local.
Weaver said students who apply for scholarships through their schools or an agency, such as The Fairfield Foundation, have a better chance of obtaining those much-needed funds.

“Students are just competing against students in Lancaster and Fairfield County, rather than competing against students throughout the state or the country,” Weaver said about applying for local dollars.



Fairfield Foundation Executive Director Amy Eyeman said its foundation offers more than 80 individual scholarships.

The organization received 1,500 applications last year and gave out 343 scholarships totaling $878,000.

Eyeman said the majority of the scholarships she sees aren’t necessarily for the students who have the best grades or are the most involved in school.

“If you think about it, the kids with the great grades are already getting a ton of money because the colleges put that carrot out there of, ‘we’ll give you this much if you come to our school,’ ” Eyeman said. “The scholarships are looking at tuition need and family income.”

She said some of the specific scholarships the foundation offers are focused more on where the student will go to school or their selected major.

The Stori Raver Scholarship, named in honor of a Fairfield Union basketball coach who died of carbon monoxide poisoning in 2008, is one such example. The scholarship is for Fairfield Union graduates who are special education students.And the Richard Shannon Family Scholarship is for students who want to attend Ohio University Lancaster or Ohio University Athens.

Fox said the scholarships offered through OU-L, about 100 in all, are based more upon the student’s life circumstances or desired career than their report card.
But there also are plenty of scholarships that don’t require much more than a desire to go to college, Eyeman said.

“There was one scholarship where, basically if you breathe, you can apply for it,” Felicia said. “There are some scholarships where they draw your name, some that aren’t based on grades at all.”

And Eyeman said scholarship forms typically don’t take very long to complete and only require a copy of student transcripts and three letters of recommendation.

“Most people are turned off about having to write an essay, but usually they ask for just a one or two page personal statement, typed or printed, on why you are going to college, what your long-range plans are and why you’re applying for scholarship,” Eyeman said.
Figuring out the FAFSA
Cathy Pate, 40, never had a chance to finish her degree after she got married.
When OU-L offered a free class in January for nontraditional, returning college students, Pate decided now was the time to major in history and get her degree.
But in order to continue with college, Pate knew she would have to apply for financial assistance — and she was a bit uncertain about how difficult the application process would be.

“I didn’t know how long it would take to get it, and I was absolutely on edge until I got the notice,” Pate said. “But it was worth it, and I actually got enough to pay for my classes.”

Fox said 80 percent of the students at OU-L are on some sort of financial aid.
But she believes there still are students who aren’t applying for financial aid often because they think they do not qualify.

“I think one of the biggest mistakes a student can make is not filling out the FAFSA,” Fox said. “I tell every student to do it, regardless of whether they think they will qualify.”

Fox said there isn’t an income cut-off when it comes to who is eligible and who isn’t for financial aid. She said financial aid used to be primarily for low-income people but has since “loosened up” to help middle-income people, too.

Felicia Ward’s mother, Candice, agreed that the FAFSA is not as long and as complicated as many might assume.

“If you have all your stuff, if you have your W-2s, it’s not very hard,” Candice Ward said. “The FAFSA made it easy.”
Taking the initiative
Felicia Ward believes many of her peers are missing out on available money that comes through financial aid and scholarships because they aren’t motivated to look for them or apply.

“I knew my parents would be able to help very little financially, but I also knew for a long time I wanted to go to college,” Ward said. “I don’t come from wealthy family, but I wanted to go so I found a way to go.”

High school counselor Weaver has worked closely with Felicia to help the senior find funding for her college education. She said it’s rare she encounters students as motivated to find money for school as Felicia has been.

“There are some local scholarships out there that kids just aren’t applying for and the money is there,” Weaver said.

But Eyeman, the Fairfield Foundation’s director, believes more students are turning to scholarships and financial aid again, especially with the tough economy.

“We have been very busy with kids dropping off applications, far more then we ever had before,” Eyeman said.

Eyeman thinks, in addition to more students applying for financial assistance, more are opting to stay close to home for college this year.

And staying local is Felicia’s plan.

“I looked at the fact that I’ll get the same education whether I go to Ohio University Lancaster or a state college, where I’m going to have to pay for room and board,” Ward said. “I’ll save myself about $1,500 a year.”

College Grants and Financial Aid - It's Out There