One of the most exciting moments in life is receiving a letter of acceptance to the university of your choice. However, for many students that joy can be followed by a slight panic about how to pay for tuition, books, housing, and many other expenses. With the average cost of one year's tuition in the state of New York being $17,606, it is no wonder that so many students go in search of additional money to pay for their college degree. According to NYColleges.org the state of New York awards more than 4.6 billion dollars annually through grants and scholarships to students attending the state's private and public universities. Students are generally granted aide in the form of loans, grants, private scholarships, athletic scholarships, or academic scholarships.
The first step to finding potential financial aid is filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA. The FAFSA is form that is used by the Department of Education to assess eligibility for both grants and student loans. Grants are generally allocated on needs basis, where students must meet a certain criteria of income and housing to qualify, and those who do qualify do not have to repay the money that they receive. Students do have to meet certain criteria for loans as well, but are expected to begin repayment after graduation.
After filling out the FAFSA there are several other options for students looking to subsidize their college fund. These options include applying for university specific scholarships based on financial need, academics or athletic performance. In New York State, once a student fills out their FAFSA they can also apply for the NYS Tuition Assistance Program which is a grant based program specifically for full time students in the state of New York. Following this same procedure students can also apply for APTS or Aid to Part Time Students, a similar program that is designated for those students who can only attend school on a part time basis. Many universities also offer fellowship or work study programs to help students earn income while working towards their degree.
The final tier of scholarships come from either private companies, memorial funds, or a variety of other benefactors. The key to finding these scholarships is for a student to know their own unique qualifications and areas of interest. These will be the things that help them stand out as a potential scholarship recipient. Websites such as NYColleges.org and Scholarships.com have a wide variety of scholarship opportunities that are specifically for New York residents. Fastweb.com is also a great national database for scholarships. While it may take some looking to find scholarship opportunities specifically for New York, many of the scholarships available are not based on where students choose to attend college.
While raising money for college can be a very daunting task the right resources can make all the difference. Our ranking of the top business schools in New York will help you to find a school that meets your academic and budgetary needs.