In this issue:
- Win a free professional FAFSA preparation!
- Featured Sponsor
- Scholarship: $26,000 from the Truman Foundation
- Scholarship: Gates Millennium Scholarship Program
- Feature Article: Leverage your work-study experience!
- Calendar
- A word from our sponsors
- Privacy Information
- Sponsorship Information
- Contest Application!
Win a free professional FAFSA preparation!
Every year, over 70% of FAFSAs filed have one or more errors in it that disqualify students from receiving financial aid. This year, as part of our FAFSA Awareness Program, we are giving away five (5) professional FAFSA preparations, absolutely free (a $50 value each).
Professional FAFSA preparation is the best choice for ensuring you receive the maximum amount of aid available to you. It's very similar to visiting a tax preparation specialist, who ensures that you get the maximum amount of money refunded by the IRS. Professional FAFSA preparation takes only a few minutes and qualifies you for up to $17,250 per year in federal student aid(*), without the risk of serious errors that may disqualify your application immediately.
How do you win a free FAFSA preparation? Simple! At the end of this newsletter is a form. Simply refer five (5) fellow students, parents, or colleagues to the Financial Aid Newsletter, and you'll be entered to win a free preparation from FAFSAapplication.com. The drawing will be held on December 31, 2003, just two days before the 2004 FAFSA filing season opens. Winners will be notified by e-mail.
fafsaapplication.com is proud to sponsor the Financial Aid Newsletter as the leading provider of professional FAFSA preparation. In business since 1997, fafsaapplication.com provides students and families with the same ease-of-use filing for the FAFSA that tax preparation companies have given taxpayers for years.
Visit them on the web at http://www.fafsaapplication.com today!
Scholarship News: $26,000 from the Truman Foundation
The Truman Scholarship is a highly competitive, merit-based award offered to U.S. citizens and U.S. nationals from Pacific Islands who want to go to graduate school in preparation for a career in public service. The scholarship offers
- Recognition of outstanding potential as a leader in public service
- Membership in a community of persons devoted to helping others and to improving the environment
- A $26,000 grant, $24,000 of which is for graduate study in the U.S. or abroad in a wide variety of fields.
Apply online at http://www.truman.gov
Scholarship News: Gates Millennium Scholarship Program
U.S. citizen minority students are invited to apply for the Gates Millennium Scholarship Program, funded by a grant from Microsoft founder William H. "Bill" Gates. Nominees will be awarded funding up to the cost of education by the William & Melinda Gates Foundation, based on academic excellence and financial need.
Apply online at http://www.gmsp.org
Feature Article: Leverage your work-study experience!
One of the key three components of the financial aid process is the work-study program. Either sponsored by the Federal Work Study program, or a private-sector job that a student has while in school, many students use work-study to pay their way through school. Equally many students simply regard work-study as an unpleasant but needed way to pay for school, rather than leveraging the opportunity for what it is - a chance to build career-boosting experience while still in school.
When signing up for your financial aid package and considering work-study, take careful account of your interests, hobbies, and leisure activities. Chances are that at least one of your hobbies could be leveraged into a work-study job that didn't involve washing dishes in the dining hall. For example, a passion for art can lead to assistant curator jobs at the campus museum. Technical experience is always in dire need at college help desks. All colleges have departments that require student assistance at one or more points during the year, and you may be able to do something you love while paying for school.
Edvisors Network Chief Technology Officer Christopher Penn recalls his college work-study experience.
"When I first got to Franklin & Marshall College, I wasn't sure what I'd end up doing with my spare time, but I figured that I'd try to learn as much about the Macintosh platform as I could. I'd used Apple computers all the way from second grade onward, so learning the ropes about managing a large quantity of them seemed like a natural step in my technical knowledge.
The very first days of freshman year, I got my Macintosh Centris 650, and got it up and running on the campus network in relatively short order. Turns out that was a relatively unique thing - most of the 450 freshmen had a terrible time even unpacking their computers (seriously!), much less getting them configured for a network.
Being interested in trying to meet new people, I ended up walking around the freshman dormitories, helping out whoever I could. I think by the time the first week of school had ended, I had probably installed around 80 or 85 computers. I'd made a few friends along the way, which was a nice bonus.
Folks in the Computing Center got wind of it (and probably disagreed with one or more of my installs, but hey) and brought me on as a Help Desk consultant, which I ended up doing all four years, eventually helping to develop a call tracking system, work with some of the first peer to peer file sharing (a piece of software called Hotline), and develop more than 20 web sites.
Believe it or not, I didn't go to college for technology or business. My undergraduate degree is actually in Political Science. But my four years in work-study gave me four solid, serious years of technology skills, a foundation that eventually led me to my Master's degree in Information Systems and into a very successful career later on.
Work-study wasn't a boat anchor that dragged me away from my free time - it was a real booster to my career and a great way to enjoy my hobby and have someone give me money for it."
Remember that every experience contains the potential for unlimited opportunities - when you sign up for Federal Work Study as part of your student financial aid, make sure you make the most of it!
December is upon us, and January 2004 is not far away! Mark your calendars for the following important dates.
- January 2, 2004: The first day you can file your FAFSA for 2004/2005.
Consolidate your student loans today! It's fast, easy, and convenient, and helps you with your finances by:
- Locking in the lowest rates in 30 years with a weighted average fixed rate
- Reducing your monthly payment and freeing up cash each month
- Improving your credit rating by reducing the number of loans outstanding
Visit http://www.studentloanconsolidator.com and consolidate now!
Attention Parents!
Looking to fund the spring semester? Apply now for the Parent PLUS Loan, the only low-interest, no collateral loan designed specifically for parents of undergraduate students.
- Non-need based
- No collateral
- Federally guaranteed
Apply today at http://www.parentplusloan.com or call 1-800-413-7737!
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