Scholarships & Financial Aid
Scholarships & Financial Aid
The financial aid process is an important part of many students’ college planning. College costs include a number of things: tuition, room, board, fees, transportation, books and incidentals such as clothing, telephone, social life, etc. Most families need help in meeting these costs.
“Need” is the basic consideration in colleges awarding financial aid. To determine the need of a candidate, colleges rely on the “Needs Analysis” determined from information submitted by you and your family on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid – FAFSA, College Scholarship Service Profile (CSS - not every college utilizes this form). This is a complicated formula which determines the amount that the student and parents can be expected to pay toward college costs (Estimated Family Contribution, EFC). The difference (Demonstrated Need), or the amount of money needed to meet the total cost, may then be awarded by the college in the form of grants, loans, and work/study programs and scholarships.
To get an idea of your family EFC you can visit:
EFC Estimation Form-
To request a PIN and/or to file a FAFSA online:
FAFSA on the WEB/On-line Application – Http://www.fafsa.ed.gov
In addition to the FAFSA, some schools require students also file the PROFILE – http://www.collegeboard....
Some other helpful sites:
The Smart Student Guide to Financial Aid – Http://www.finaid.org
U.S. Office of the Department of Education – Http://www.ed.gov/topics...
Scholarships
Gardiner Area High School Guidance Office maintains scholarship information for state, national, and local scholarship sponsors. Students will receive a list of state and national scholarships in October and a booklet of local scholarships in December. Students must keep track of the deadlines of the individual scholarships.
In addition, the Guidance Office continually receives notices from various organizations, clubs, government agencies, schools and colleges regarding various college scholarship programs. Any information received after publication of the above mentioned booklets will be posted in the Daily Bulletin. Students should check the Daily Bulletin on a regular basis.
We also encourage students to explore scholarship opportunities through:
Fast WEB- http://www.fastweb.com/
Finance Authority of Maine/Maine Education Assistance Division- http://www.famemaine.com/
Be careful of Scholarship scams! Many places offer to research scholarships for a fee. In Fact, these companies research the same databases that you can access for free.