Financial Aid Application Deadline Ticking

The clock is ticking for college students applying for financial aid.

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid will be accepted this week through March 2 for the 2008-09 school year. Students must fill out the FAFSA to qualify for state and federal grants and loans.

Counselors urge everyone to apply, even if they don't think they're eligible. And they remind students that financial aid is not just for high school seniors -- everyone can apply, from part-time students to older students just entering or returning to college.

Nationally, 63 percent of undergraduates receive some type of aid, according to the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study from 2003-04, the most recent data available.

At local colleges, anywhere from 50 percent to 73 percent of students receive aid. Depending on living expenses, the annual cost ranges from $10,000 at Modesto Junior College to $36,000 at University of the Pacific, according to their Web sites.

Students at community colleges and universities can get aid in a variety of ways: scholarships and grants, which are gifts and do not have to be repaid; loans, which must be paid back with interest after graduation; and work-study programs, where students work on campus in exchange for financial aid.

Funding comes from state and federal governments and private organizations, as well as the individual colleges.

The starting point for financial aid is the FAFSA. Referred to as the golden key, the FAFSA is the fundamental qualifying form used for all federal and certain lenders' programs, as well as for many state, regional and private aid programs.

More than $80 billion in new aid to 14 million college students and their families is awarded through FAFSA, according to its Web site.

Students can fill out their FAFSA online, which is easier and quicker, or on paper. The online application edits and checks the entered data to immediately catch mistakes. The paper application can take three weeks to process.

Many students fill out financial aid forms for their freshman year, but money can be reapplied for and renewed each year they're in college.

For help filling out the FAFSA, students can go to their high school counselors, college financial aid offices or online. California State University, Stanislaus, is holding a Cash for College night Feb. 5 at 6 p.m., and most high schools and colleges are offering free financial aid workshops in January and February.

For more information on the FAFSA, go to www.fafsa.ed.gov.

Stanislaus State's Cash for College night will be held in Room 130 of the Mary Stuart Rogers Educational Services Gateway Building on the south end of campus, off Monte Vista Avenue. For more information, call 667-3336 or go to www.californiacashforcollege.org.

Bee staff writer Michelle Hatfield can be reached at mhatfield@modbee.com or 578-2339.