What income is poor enough for college financial aid?
Hi, next year I’ll be applying to Georgetown (my dream school), but i noticed that they dont give out any merit based scholarships except for sports (which dosent apply to me). However, Georgetown does offer financial aid. How poor does one have to be to qualify for financial aid?
My dad is a cabinet maker and my mom is a nurse, and together they earn about 0,000 before taxes. I have a brother and a sister that also need to go to college in 2-3 years. We have no college savings, but we do have A LOT of credit card debt.
I know I’m not poor, its just that we can in no way afford Georgetown! If accepted, is it likely that I will get financial aid?
One Response
dawncs
13 Nov 2009
Mos competitive colleges like Georgetown do not offer merrit scholarships due to its application base. It is not a matter of being poor per say to qualify for financial aid but the individual circumstances of the person applying for it. The financial aid award is based on a percentage of your income and savings (at a higher rate than your parents) along with your parents’ income and savings. It also takes into consideration how many are in your family size, mortgage size, and how many are attending college at the time. There is a more detailed worksheet for a fee which can help bring more help. In addition, I recommend applying for any outside scholarship no matter the amount because it will add up. I will include some free resources to locate tuition money to attend Georgetown.
First, I still recommend completing the FAFSA form even with your parents’ income. It can also bring the work study program (spending money), need based scholarships from Georgetown’s scholarship endowment fund, and student loans. One good thing about schools like Georgetown is that they have a big endowment fund but is dependent on the individual school itself.
Second, check with your high school guidance office if you are a high school senior. They have a list of local scholarships for its students. You have the best chance of getting a scholarship this way.
Third, the public library has a scholarship book listing various scholarships with some not even listed on the web.
Finally, I recommend joining several free membership scholarship search engines. They offer a customized search based on a survey you complete. There is a scholarship for almost anything out there including wearing duct tape to the prom.
Good luck!