Free Grant Money for College

Every year, Congress allocates around $67 million on student aid. The money may be awarded in the form of loans, grants, gifts, or even scholarships, depending on a student’s qualifications and need.

However, out of the types of student aid offered by the United States Federal Government, both students and parents alike widely prefer grants. That’s because grant money is essentially “free money.” Unlike a student loan, free grant money for college doesn’t have to be paid back. It is based solely on need, which is calculated by putting your household, demographic, and financial data through a formula and then used as basis for determining your award.

But to get this kind of information from the student, you will have to submit the necessary data and apply for free grant money for college. That means you will need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The quickest way to do that is to apply online at FAFSA.ed.gov.

Another method is completing the CSS Profile Application. If you are an incoming freshman, the Profile is a must since most colleges require this form in addition to the FAFSA in order to qualify for free grant money for college.

The data received from your CSS Profile and your FAFSA are then used to compute the amount of free grant money for college you ought to receive. How is this accomplished? Just read on:

With the FAFSA form, there is a place called the CPS or the Central Processing System. This is where the data on your FAFSA is compiled before a formula is applied. The Department of Education, under which the FAFSA runs, is the prime federal agency that applies the formula – called Federal Methodology, using your EFC.

That’s why knowing your EFC is very important if you plan to apply for free grant money for college. In fact, this is a key factor is determining your need. Basically, the EFC is what the government is telling us how much you should be able to contribute toward education based on your state of residence, household size, number in college and student and parent income and asset information.

When you apply for the FAFSA free grant money for college, you will be asked to submit several documents; the data received become the basis of your EFC.

Next to your EFC is the COA or Cost of Attendance. It is the school you are planning to attend that establishes the figure. The COA is composed of tuition, room and board, fees and estimated expenses for miscellaneous costs, such as books, supplies, personal, etc.

After you have your COA and EFC, you will now be assessed to find out if you qualify for free grant money for college. Your financial need is calculated by subtracting the EFC from the COA. The formula is the standard guideline in determining how much need-based financial aid you may receive from the government.

The equation, simplified, looks like this:

COA – EFC = Financial Need

After getting the result, the aid office will then use their “need-based” resources available to try to meet your financial need.