Scholarships & Financial Aid Resources 

HESAA FINANCIAL AID PRESENTATION  

Here is the presentation to view the information from Financial Aid Night, which took place at CHS on 10/8/25.

Information and step by step guide to creating a FAS ID. 

Scholarships are regularly posted on Naviance under 'Scholarship'. If you are having trouble logging in email your school counselor. 

Here is a financial aid tool kit for all applicants:

https://financialaidtoolkit.ed.gov/tk/resources/all.jsp

Reach Higher, a guide to choosing a college path:

http://www.hesaa.org/Flipbooks/ReachHigher/index.html

Interactive Student Loan Game Plan:

http://www.iowastudentloan.org/smart-borrowing/student-loan-game-plan/nj/student-loan-game-plan.aspx

HESAA HESAA is a premier source for State grants, scholarships, and loan opportunities. It is the only state authority with the sole mission of providing students and families with the information and resources necessary to attain an education beyond high school. We encourage you to visit their website, www.hesaa.org, to learn more about their programs and services, including their Student Loan Guide.  

CHS Raise Me

Federal Student Aid Resources

Going to College in New Jersey Magazine

LendEDU Student Credit Cards Video Course

New Jersey Dreamers Information

SCHOLARSHIPS.COM

Student Insights - Scholarship Program

Useful Links

• Affordable Colleges Online
  Affordable Colleges Online began in 2011 with the mission to provide strategies and information about pursuing an affordable higher education. Our free community resources and tools span topics such as financial-aid and college savings strategies, affordability and scorecard rankings, opportunities for Veterans and people with disabilities, and online learning resources. We have been featured by nearly 600 top universities in the United States, Canada, and the UK along by several many state and local government organizations.
  http://www.affordablecollegesonline.org/online-colleges/new-jersey/

• AffordableColleges.com
  AffordableColleges.com's mission is to help you earn your degree without taking on thousands of dollars in debt. Our site is a free resource designed to help everyone address the cost of college while pursing their goals. We can show you the path to a reasonably priced education.
  http://affordablecolleges.com

• College Scholarships, Colleges, and Online Degrees
  http://www.college-scholarships.com

• College Scorecard
  https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/

• FinAid
  The SmartStudent guide to financial aid.
  http://www.finaid.org/

• Free Scholarship Searches
  http://www.fastweb.com/

• Guaranteed Scholarships
  The scholarships listed on this page are all "guaranteed."
  http://www.guaranteed-scholarships.com

• Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA)
  HESAA is the only state authority with the sole mission of providing students and families with the information and resources necessary to attain an education beyond high school.
  http://www.hesaa.org

• LendEDU
  LendEDU is focused on promoting financial literacy through free educational resources. Most of our resources focus on financial aid, student loans, college budgeting, etc. We even have a free college scholarship search available for students.
  LendEDU launched a new tool to help students and families navigate financial aid, scholarships, grants, and student loans.
  The tool, known as LendEDU Financial Aid Hotline , is a free text-in service designed to quickly answer any question related to financial aid, grants, scholarships, and student loans.
  Simply text-in your financial aid questions to the hotline at (302) 278-4037 and you will receive a detailed response from our team within 15 minutes!
  https://lendedu.com/

• Money Geek
  This site will help you understand common (and uncommon) ways of financing your education or lowering your expenses. Whether it’s resources to locate scholarships and grants or breaking down how student loans work, they’ve got you covered.
  https://www.moneygeek.com/education/college/

• myCollegeOptions
  Search from a list of over 60,000 scholarships.
  https://www.mycollegeoptions.org/scholarship-advanced-search.aspx?HighlightMatchPattern=scholarship-search|scholarship-advanced|scholarshipsearch

• Open Education Database
  Whether you attend college online or on campus, you have aid options to help pay for the cost of education. Learn more about how grants and loans can work for you.
  http://oedb.org/financial-aid/

• Private Student Loans Guide--The Student Report
  Eligibility, Cossts, Best Repayment, & Warnings
  https://studentloans.net/private-student-loans/

• The Best Scholarship Search Platforms
  A guide that reviews the best scholarship search platforms and instructs students on how to use them effectively to find as many opportunities as possible.
  https://www.reviews.com/best-scholarship-search-platforms/

• The Simple Dollar
  Features a practical calculator tool and resources that can help to develop personal debt management plan as well as strategies and techniques to accelerate debt payoff.
  http://www.thesimpledollar.com/debt-payoff-calculator/.

• The Student Loan Game Plan
  http://www.iowastudentloan.org/

• The Student Loan Report
  The Student Loan Report helps keep students and their families up-to-date on the latest student loan and financial aid news and information so they can make the best decisions when it comes to paying for college and repaying debt.
  https://studentloans.net/

• Udemy
  College financial aid made simple.
  https://www.udemy.com/financialaid

• Understanding Student Debt
  In our first installment, "Understanding Student Debt," we tackle the issue of college loans, an issue affecting millions of Americans due to the rising cost of tuition and the increased time it takes to complete a degree. Today, Americans owe over $1.45 trillion in student loan debt, averaging around $37,172 per person in 2016.
  This initial essay collection addresses tough topics and questions like, “What are the consequences of student loans?” and “What is a university’s role in financial support?”. It is comprised of five essays written by a group of national panelists on the front lines of student debt.
  http://www.bestcolleges.com/perspectives/student-debt/

Types of Financial Aid

Grants - Grants are financial aid that does NOT have to be repaid (unless you withdraw from school or owe a refund or receive a TEACH Grant and don't complete your service obligation. Examples of Federal Grants: Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG), Teach Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grants, and Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants.

Scholarships - Donations from nonprofits and private organizations to help students pay for college. "Free Money" - sometimes based on academic merit, talent, participation in an organization of the years, application or essay, for pursing a specific area of study, athletic and more. 

Loans - Loans are money borrowed for pursing your education. They can come from the federal government, from private sources such as a bank or financial institution, or from other organizations.