Financial Aid Terminology

Financial aid is money for education expenses for college or trade school.

Grants do not have to be repaid (they are often called “gift aid”).

Work-study is money earned by the student at a job (often on campus) that helps the student pay his or her education expenses. This money does not have to be repaid and is not taken into account in assessing a student’s eligibility for financial aid the following year.

Loans have to be repaid with interest.

Scholarships are funds that do not have to be repaid. Scholarships are usually based on academic merit but can be based on a student’s interests, hobbies, religion, ethnicity, and/or financial need.