The sticker price of a college is not the only thing you should consider when choosing a post-high school experience. Many students pick the college with the lowest tuition or the largest financial aid package. But, this does not factor in all of the costs of going to college.

How Long Does It Take to Graduate?

One of the things many students don’t consider is that some schools have very high 4 year graduation rates. They offer their courses in such a sequence that allows most students to get done with school in 4 years. A few programs even are designed so students can finish in 3 years.

The reality is that college is expensive. At a time when parents’ stock portfolios are shrinking and the values of their homes are dropping, many students wonder if they will be able to start or continue their college education. Yet, at the same time, we see that a college education is important. A person with a college education makes 75 percent more every year than the person with only a high school diploma.

So, the question is how to fund the college education.

Many people think that scholarships are only given to super-athletes and super-brains. But there are many different types of scholarships and almost everyone who is able to get into college is able to qualify for some kind of scholarship if they only put some effort into it. This article covers the different types of scholarships commonly awarded.

Any good high school athlete dreams of getting a Division 1 sports or athletic scholarship! Division I schools sports programs such as football, basketball, track, hockey and baseball all have recruiters who go after the top players in every sport..  

Unfortunately, the less well funded sports, especially women’s sports, even at major schools rarely have scouting teams. Additionally, Division II and III schools usually rely on high school coaches and the student athletes themselves, to bring their performances to their attention.  

Let’s suppose that you have a child who will be graduating soon from high school. Of course, you will feel happy, just like any proud parent who have their children graduating from high school. It is one of the challenges of life that you have successfully surpassed, despite of the financial instabilities that you have probably experienced. It is time to celebrate, for you have fulfilled your responsibility of giving your child a bright future.

But as many would say, a high school graduation is not the end. In fact, it is just the beginning of tougher challenges that awaits you and your child in the succeeding years-college education.

If you are a talented artist – in almost any virtually any aspect of ‘The arts’ – most colleges have scholarship money available for students gifted in theater, art, music, and dance.

In some cases, the college may have decided to specialize in a particular art, such as theater or dance, and has created a special fund to attract the best students in the discipline. While many of these scholarships are funded directly by the colleges, you will also find that many are funded by the school’s own Alumni groups.

Applying for grants is not as easy as many would like you to believe. The art and science of applying for grant programs is called grantsmanship, and is an actual career position at many large colleges and research entities! Grant applications, when done correctly take a great deal of time and effort, but the results can be well worth the effort.

If you  really want to go after grants, especially for business and be successful – you need to have the FULL package together – and that is a lot more than just filling out the grant application. It also means putting together a business plan, finding the right grant funder, getting the right supporting paperwork together and making sure that all of the myriad details are put together in the best way to increase your chances of success.

Ideally, you would hire a professional grant writer to do this for you – but most people looking for grants for their business or education don’t usually have a spare $3500 to $5000 to hire this kind of professional help.

Scholarship and loans are the biggest source of financial aid for students. Together these make up more than 50% of student financial aid. The most popular though is grant money for college – because you don’t have to pay the money back!

The qualifications for grant money for college are usually very strict. Unlike loans or scholarships where money is awarded based on your credit standing or merit, typically grant money for college is based almost solely on your financial need.