Financial Aid

Financial Aid Night 2025

View the presentation with the latest updates to state and federal financial aid here!

Seniors: Beware Of Scams

NEVER pay someone to help you complete applications for grants or scholarships! The applications will always be free. Also, credit card companies often stake out college campuses to prey on college freshman. It's a trap! Much like student loan debt, credit card debt is a crisis plaguing millions of Americans, and you can avoid that crisis by not going into debt. Choosing a school that you can afford, saving money for college, and paying your way through it will save your future income from high interest rates and predatory lenders.

Registering for the Selective Service

All male students 18 years of age must register for the Selective Service if they wish to apply for college admission or to be eligible for most types of financial aid. And, IT'S THE LAW!

Click the link below to register - it only takes a couple of minutes!

https://www.sss.gov/register/

Student Loan Forgiveness?

There has been a lot of political talk lately about student loan forgiveness. You may be thinking that you can borrow money for school without having to repay it. First, there are no guarantees that YOUR loans would be forgiven. Second, even if your loans were forgiven, you would still be required to pay taxes on that money. So if you can complete your degree without going into debt, do it. It takes time and effort, but it is worth it! There are loan forgiveness programs that already exist that you might be able to use. BUT do your research before you borrow as you must meet all of the qualifications to have your loans forgiven through those programs, and they don't make it easy. We recommend spending 3 hours per week on scholarship applications. Use the Career Coach's Scholarship list below and scholarship search engines like GoingMerry.com. Also, see the article at the bottom of this page about how to graduate debt-free.

Institutional Scholarships

All colleges and universities have a Financial Aid / Scholarships page on their website where you will be able to find minimum requirements for these scholarships. Institutional scholarships are those scholarships awarded to students by the college or university and are generally based on GPA and/or ACT test scores. Some are given based on financial need. This is where your ACT test scores will be most important. Many colleges and universities have institutional scholarship deadlines on December 1st of a student's senior year. To be considered for these scholarships, students need only to apply for admission and complete the FAFSA before the deadline. However, some colleges have different deadline dates so it is important to look at the college or university's website to determine exactly when the scholarship deadline is for that school. Some schools even offer scholarships to students who apply during their junior year!

If you have trouble finding the information you need, please feel free to email your Counselor or Career Coach for assistance.

Completing Your FAFSA Application

All college bound Seniors must complete the FAFSA application to be considered for Arkansas Scholarships, federal financial aid (Pell grant), and institutional scholarships (scholarships offered by colleges). The FAFSA application opens on October 1st, and we encourage all seniors to complete it along with the SAMS application for state financial aid in October. Any student needing help can contact Mrs. Shearer or Mrs. Hall for assistance at any time. KEEP TRACK OF YOUR FSA ID! You'll use it every year that you are in college, and parents will use the same FSA ID for each child that goes to college.

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