The average cost of a four-year private college jump and broke the average of $30,000 mark since year 2006. As they have for the past 11 years, average college costs rose faster than inflation, according the latest report from the College Board, a non-profit association of 4,500 schools, colleges and universities.
The rapidly increment of tuition fees have made parents face heavy load in their children education financing. Lucky, there are college grants and scholarships available to help students make up the different between what they can afford to pay and what the college charges in tuition and fees.
Scholarships are generally a merit based award. For instance, the most famous scholarship is probably the athletic scholarship where a student gets a full ride including tuition, room and board in exchange for playing on a school's sports team. But other scholarships exist as well for students who qualify to apply.
Students with high grades or test scores, significant community service or leadership, or certain artistic skills often have better advantages to be accepted as recipients of institutional scholarships. Scholarships are also granted by community organizations such as the Rotary Club, businesses, and foundations. While the requirements vary from award to award, they always feature some level of merit. Each scholarship has it own application requirement and the students need to be qualified to get review on their applications. Since, scholarship applicants are normally more than the scholarships offered, not applicants will successfully get a scholarship to support their college study. Those who failed need to apply for a student loan or source for other financial supports if they need financial aid to complete their education.
Grants are also free money. Unlike scholarships, the distinguishing feature of grants is that they are based on need. While there are general qualifications such as a minimum grade point average, grants are awarded to make up the difference between what the college charges and what the student can pay.
Sometimes the university itself steps in and helps the student with a grant. Other times, the state or federal government makes a grant. Perhaps the most famous grant is the Pell Grant which the federal government awards to students coming from the lowest quartile of the economic spectrum. These awards are for up to $4000.
College scholarships and grants are free money where students do have to pay it back. Another type of grant called work-study grants, are contingent on the student working a 10 to 20 hour a week job on campus. Universities prefer to hire students receiving work-study to fill their student assistant positions because the federal government foots much of the bill.