This last week the lottery called Mega Millions hit over 600 million! I actually saw a guy at the mini-mart buying over $100 dollars in lotto numbers. Say what? Money makes people CRAZY and it can make you crazy too when it comes to paying for college. Like all things college, you need to tame your money. The best way to tame the Money Beast is to break it down into small steps and take it one step at a time. There's an old saying that goes, "How do you eat an elephant?" Answer: "One bite at a time." The same is true when tackling the cost of college. There IS money to help you. You just have to be willing to take the steps to get it.
One of the first things to learn about is this obnoxious acronym that no one knows how to say. It's called the FAFSA. Trust me. No one knows how to say this. But the important thing is to learn about it. FAFSA stands for Free Application for Federal Student Aid. One of the first things you might notice is the word "Free". This means you don't have to pay to fill out the FAFSA. I have heard that there are people that are paid to help with this but I have never met anyone who paid a FAFSA preparer. There is enough free help right there on the website to get you through it and lots of people at your high school or college who can help you too. For FREE.
The second thing you might notice is the word "Federal". Federal simply means the United States government. The confusing thing for some students is that they assume that the FAFSA is just for students who are going to get federal grants or loans. The truth is that many other scholarship agencies use the FAFSA to assess your financial need as well. So make sure you fill this out and fill it out on time.
Don't be afraid of FAFSA. It's kind of like having a big dog. He might not be pretty, but he's on your side.
www.fafsa.ed.gov
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