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Financial Aid for Long Island College

Whether it is your child or yourself going to school here are some methods to consider when it comes to financial aid.

Savings: Because college is so expensive, it is very important that parents start saving for their children's education as soon as possible, even as early as the day the child is born. Time is one of your most valuable resources. The sooner you start saving for college, the more time your money will have to grow in the bank.

If you start saving early enough, even a small weekly or monthly investment can grow to a significant college fund by the time the child is older. For example, saving $50 a month from birth would make about $20,000 by the time the child turns 17, assuming a 7% return on investment. Saving $200 a month would turn into almost $80,000.

Military Aid for Long Island Schools: Under the Montgomery GI Bill, the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard (and their Reserves and the National Guard) provide a cash education incentive to motivate you to join and serve a tour of duty. The Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) provides up to 36 months of education benefits to qualified veterans for college, business, technical or vocational courses, correspondence courses, apprenticeship/job training and flight training. MGIB benefits can be used while on active duty or after a fully honorable discharge from active duty.

The Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps each provide tuition assistance (a "kicker") in addition to what you make through the Montgomery GI Bill. Each service controls the total amount of extra money it provides. The Army fund raises the amount of support to as much as $70,000, the Navy fund increase the amount of support to as much as $50,000 and the Marine Corps fund raises the amount of support to as much as $30,000. College Funds are rewarded on a competitive basis according to academic merit (i.e., scoring in the top half of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery). Also, to qualify one must also agree to serve six years.

In exchange for a service commitment, the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program supplies you with money for college while you're in school. You have to take one military science course along with your other college courses and, upon graduation, enter the service as a commissioned officer. (There is no military commitment in the first year in ROTC, allowing you to pursue ROTC on a trial basis to see if ROTC is for you.) Full ROTC scholarships will pay for almost all tuition, fees and books charges for four years of college. ROTC scholarships may also come in one, two and three-year lengths.

Scholarships for Long Island Schools: Undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships are forms of aid that assists students in paying for their education. Unlike student loans, scholarships and fellowships do not have to be paid back. Hundreds of thousands of scholarships and fellowships from several thousand sponsors and colleges are awarded each year.

Generally, scholarships and fellowships are set aside for students with special qualifications, such as academic, athletic or artistic talent. Awards are also obtainable for students who are interested in particular fields of study, who are members of underrepresented groups, who live in certain areas of the country or who express financial need.

Average students often ask if there are any scholarships available to students who don't have a 4.0 GPA. There are many scholarships for average students that put there focus on qualities besides academic merit.

Do not waste your money on fee-based scholarship matching services. You won't get any better information than is not already available from the free services available on the Web. A part of your scholarship might be taxable. Usually amounts used for tuition and required fees are tax-free, but you should review the rules to make sure that you report the scholarship correctly. Student Loans for Long Island Schools: Education loans come in three different categories: student loans (e.g., Stafford and Perkins loans), parent loans (e.g., PLUS loans) and private student loans (also called alternative student loans). A fourth type of education loan, the consolidation loan, allows the borrower to put all of their loans into one loan for simplified payment. Loan forgiveness programs (in which the borrower's loans are paid off in exchange for volunteer work or military service) offer an option for easy repayment.