Looking for Money

When it comes to college, everyone is looking for money, so here's a basic refresher course in how to go about it.

1.  The largest financial awards still typically come from the college itself, so make sure you carefully read the directions on each college website.  Not all college requirements are the same, so make sure you know what forms each school needs - the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), the CSS Profile, or their own institutional forms.  Just make sure you know what the deadlines are and then make sure you meet them

2.  If you are looking for outside scholarships, Fastweb (www.fastweb.com) is probably the most often recommended site.  You will need to register (it's free), and then it is up to you to keep up with the information they send you.  Warning: applying for scholarships can be hard work.  There are multiple essays to write, but if you need the money, it could be worth it.  You can also follow Fastweb on Twitter like I do (@PayingForSchool).  It's an easy way to learn about general scholarship opportunities.

In addition, you can follow the GPS College Office on Twitter @GPSCollege.  We will tweet scholarship information we receive, and we will retweet scholarship possibilities we read about somewhere else.

3.  Whenever we receive information about outside or independent scholarships - for example, the Better Business Bureau or Blood Assurance - we will post them on MyGPS.  Look for the scholarship folder under Topics.  We often don't get a lot of these until later in the year, but check it regularly to make sure you're not missing anything.

4.  Beware of scholarship scams!  If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.

5.  And finally, parents (especially parents of seniors) should attend our Financial Aid program on Monday, September 12.  Michael Morgan, the Director of Financial Aid at Rhodes College, will guide you through the FAFSA and Profile mazes.  And if you need additional FAFSA help, you can register to attend the College Goal Tennessee conference, Saturday, October 1 at UTC.  Financial administrators will be on hand to help parents with any FAFSA questions they have.  To register, go to http://www.pefchattanooga.org/register/ and click on College Goal Tennessee Conference 2016.

Finding money for college takes hard work, but if you're willing to put in the effort, it just might pay off...literally!