Information on Financial Aid

The most common scholarships may be classified as:

• Merit-based: These awards are based on a student's academic, artistic, athletic or other abilities, and often factor in an applicant's extracurricular activities and community service record. The most common merit-based scholarships, awarded by either private organizations or directly by a student's intended college, recognize academic achievement or high scores on standardized tests. Most such merit-based scholarships are paid directly by the institution the student attends, rather than issued directly to the student.
• Need-based: In the United States, these awards are based on the student and family's financial record and require applicants to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to qualify if the scholarship is a federal award. Private need-based scholarships also often require the results of a FAFSA, which calculates a student's financial need through a formula that looks at the expected family contribution and cost of attendance at the intended college.
• Student-specific: These are scholarships for which applicants must initially qualify based upon gender, race, religion, family and medical history, or many other student-specific factors. Minority scholarships are the most common awards in this category. For example, students in Canada may qualify for a number of aboriginal scholarships, whether they study at home or abroad. The Gates Millennium Scholars program is another minority scholarship funded by Bill and Melinda Gates for excellent African American, American Indian, Asian Pacific Islander American and Latino students who enroll in college.
• Career-specific: These are scholarships a college or university awards to students who plan to pursue a specific field of study. Often, the most generous awards to students who pursue careers in high-need areas such as education or nursing. Many schools in the United States give future nurses full scholarships to enter the field, especially if the student intends to work in a high-need community.
• College-specific: College-specific scholarships are offered by individual colleges and universities to highly qualified applicants. These scholarships, given on the basis of academic and personal achievement, usually result in either a full-ride to the college, or for a reduced rate of tuition.

Some scholarships have a "bond" requirement. Recipients may be required to work for a particular employer for a specified period of time or to work in rural or remote areas; otherwise they may be required to repay the value of the support they received from the scholarship. This is particularly the case with education and nursing scholarships for people prepared to work in rural and remote areas. The programs offered by the military forces of the USA (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration commissioned corps, and Public Health Service Commissioned Corps) sometimes resemble such scholarships.

It is never too early to start preparing for your future. There are many websites available with excellent information, but for now let's start with the basics.

When someone says "college" they are referring to any education or training after high school. This can be a traditional 2 or 4 year college or a trade school; there are several different options right here in St. George including Dixie ATC and Dixie State University. When you think of college, think "One, Two, Four or More!" Meaning that college programs will take one year, two years, four years or more.

While it is never a good idea to go into too much debt, there are funds available for you to attend schools like these to help you get the job you want and support yourself and your family. Some simple math is required to figure out how much you will need for college:

The Cost of Attendance (COA) minus Expected Family Contribution (EFC) will equal your Estimated Financial Need:

COA-EFC=EFN

Here is a great tool provided by StepUp to Higher Education to help you figure out your estimated need and how much you might have to come up with or borrow.

When you borrow money, YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY IT BACK, so the less you borrow the less your monthly payments will be. For example, lets say you get through college with just $20,000 debt; you will have monthly payments of around $100 for 20 years. But lets say you go all out and end up borrowing $100,000; you are going to have to pay close to $600 every single month for 20 years! That's as much as some house payments!!

Here is how you can start preparing now so that you don't have so much debt after college:

1. Work hard in school now! There are literally tens of thousands of scholarships out there and you will be surprised how many scholarships are available for students without perfect grades (but the better the grades the better the deal!). For example, Dixie State's Presidential Scholarship will pay for all your tuition and fees for 4 years (that's around $21,000)!! In order to qualify for this you must be close to a 4.0 student and have a great ACT score, but Dixie also has several other scholarships available for students who have not performed as well. Our district keeps a current list of several local and national scholarships here: Scholarships by Month

2. Keep track of leadership and volunteer activities you do in school and in the community. These activities are even more important than grades for many scholarships.

3. Start a savings account and set a goal to save 20% or more of your money. Any money you save now will help you later in life.

4. Figure out early what you like to do and what jobs interest you. This can save you time; and time is money!

Anytime is a good time to ask Mr. Hansen or Mr Jones to help you discover your interests and for other ideas on how you can prepare for your future!