About FAFSA, Affordable College. Financial Aid Is Available .

The reason for this hub is simple.College for all is a reality,and financial aid is available.I have two sons attending college right now.And would like to share my personal experience with all and anyone who has children and would like for them to attend college and obtain a degree as a means to a more prosper future.What prompted me to write about the subject is a radio commercial which said that a young man wanted to pursue a career and the only way he was able to was to join the army.I am all for young men and women joining the armed forces in any branch if they feel that is their calling,but the notion that the only way for poor and middle class kids to achieve a college degree or a career is to join the armed forces is false.I don't know how it was in the past, maybe that was the case before and the tale simply perpetuated over time,maybe financial aid wasn't available as it is today and college for all was only a utopia.But I can assure you that a college education today is within the possibility of anyone in the United States regardless of their economic situation.

While my kids were in elementary school my wife and I always knew we wanted our kids to go to college,that was always our goal,however we had no idea how that would ever be possible since between the two of us we managed to provide for all the necessities of our family,so we didn't have any less than what we needed , but not more either.(For that we have been and always are grateful,since God has always blessed us with enough,and as my grandmother used to say "God doesn't abandon his creatures"and "Squeezes but doesn't strangle" ) As our oldest approached high school graduation I started gathering information on ways to pay for college and the different financial aid possibilities available,thinking in the best of cases we would have to make enormous economic sacrifices affecting our very basic needs and incur in great amounts of debt.So when we were sent an invitation to a Financial Aid seminar at our sons' high school we were eager to attend.That's where we started.

At the seminar they explained of the importance in today's economy of having a college education,showed with numbers that an investment in a college degree always pays ,and demonstrated that the many myths and tales about how it is almost impossible for poor and middle class families to send their kids to college are just false.The backbone of college for all and financial aid is the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)You must fill out the FAFSA form,even if you think you don't qualify for financial aid ,because you are probably wrong,most people qualify for some form of financial aid,the fact that you may not qualify for a federal grant doesn't mean you won't benefit from any number of different programs designed to make a college education accessible to all high school graduates.Beware of all the sites that try to impersonate FAFSA and charge for their services there is no benefit to obtain by paying for their services,I assure you they will not get you more financial aid than what you can qualify for yourself.

Besides the federal student aid there is also State financial student aid ,which can be just as important,so make sure you fill out the form for state financial aid as well.All colleges from the most expensive to the local community colleges offer some kind of financial aid ,and when all is said and done a college you thought would be beyond your possibilities may very well end up costing you the same as another you thought would be more in accordance to your economic possibilities.Because State financial aid and colleges' in state tuition programs are so important in making college education affordable it always makes sense to attend a college in the state you reside in.

When you fill out your FAFSA they will take into consideration all the costs of college ,not only tuition so that will include books,food, commuting,housing,whether on or off campus,and health insurance.So if your son or daughter is going to live at home while in college that will have a great impact in the overall cost of college education.The overall out of pocket expense of a college degree will be reduced by about 25 to 30 percent.This is huge if you consider that of the remaining balance you will receive about 20 to 30 percent between federal, state ,and college financial aid.So by the time your son or daughter graduates the total debt of their education will be about half or less of the total cost of their college education,and this will be about half in subsidized loans in which the interest rate is extremely low and unsubsidized loans in which the interest rate is still very low compared to the interest rates of credit cards for example.

Despite all the talk about how it doesn't pay to go to college ,that students graduate with high amount of debt and end up taking low paying jobs,or can't find a job altogether,a college education is a great investment,and the talk against it is mainly anecdotal evidence and the exceptions that confirm the rules. If you think about it, a college graduate will earn at an entry level job what it would take a non college graduate worker between five and ten years seniority.I am fifty one years old and have been working now for thirty three years,I am very grateful that I have an excellent job working for a very good company but what for me is the ceiling of my earning potential as a non college educated worker would only be the starting point in the earning potential of someone who graduated college.