What "Kind" of People Get Student Financial Aid?

For many the thought of applying for or accepting financial aid is off limits. Many think that it's a sign of poverty or a government handout. When we traditionally think of financial aid for students, we think of grants and scholarships for the underprivileged. We think of poor farm kids whom the stork had dropped into the laps of lower-middle class Americans. We think of poor products of inner city blight. We think of students trapped in poverty, doing their best in run-down schools, whose only hope is a form of welfare so they can get an education.

We don't generally think of the students born into middle- or upper-middle class families. We don't think of students whose parents make above poverty level, who don't struggle to put food on the table. We don't think of families in communities with a good tax base so their kids go to schools with computers and new textbooks. We don't think about such families that have more than just a couple of kids so the income can be spread thin. We don't think of families who are well-provided for in the area of daily needs. But even middle-class families, families that many think don't struggle to get by, can have a hard time setting aside savings for college. So, what are they to do when their three, four, maybe five kids enter that season when they must decide whether to risk entering the job market with just a high school diploma? Or wonder whether the kids can successfully venture out on their own in hopes of struggling through four years of college and ten-plus years of debt?

Student financial aid is for virtually everyone, and for as many reasons as there are circumstances. There is nothing dishonorable about seeking student financial aid. There is nothing dishonorable about aiming for more, to make more of yourself, or to make yourself and your parents proud. No, in fact, it is honorable to seek to have a life better than your parents did. To pursue a life more abundant so you can provide better for your own kids one day.

But its not just the classic sense of student financial aid that is in play here. The truth is that almost every student and therefore almost every family gets some sort of education subsidy, whether they know it or not. Whether college education grants, student loans, education grants, or student employment, it's all intended to help students complete their goal of a college degree. And no college or university, whether private or public, exists apart from the necessary underwriting provided either by private donation, foundation giving , or state or federal tax subsidy.

So, if you look at it from that perspective, who receives financial aid? The answer becomes clear:

• Virtually every college student in America!

From rich to poor, almost every student at every institution of higher learning receives a subsidy toward their tuition and other fees granted by someone, whether by virtue of tax dollars or by the generosity of the most prestigious private donors. And a good thing, too! The cost of higher education would be even higher without it.

Now that you want to apply for financial aid, read the tips for applying we have given to help you through the process.