I鈥檓 not going to sugarcoat this: planning how you will pay for college takes some work-- but it is well worth it! If you鈥檙e willing to put in the time now, you can rest assured that you鈥檝e explored all your options and took advantage of every possible cent available to help cover your college costs.13
As a financial aid counselor, I get a lot of questions about how to get the most out of financial aid, and over the years I鈥檝e come up the following:
1. Complete the as soon as possible.
鈥婽he FAFSA opens October 1 and must be completed annually for you to be considered for financial aid. Both you and your parent need to . Your FSA ID serves as your electronic signature and your FAFSA is not complete without it鈥� note that you can鈥檛 share an ID with your parent! It鈥檚 a good idea to use the built-in IRS Data Retrieval tool to automatically pull your tax information into the FAFSA because it鈥檚 a big timesaver. The FAFSA asks for tax information from two years ago (i.e. 2017 for the 2019-20 FAFSA), so there is no need to wait to apply until you鈥檝e completed this year鈥檚 tax forms. CU Boulder provides financial aid in the form of grants, loans, work-study and scholarships based on your financial situation. Since we have limited resources, we provide money to those who need it the most (as determined by the FAFSA). We also provide funds on a first come, first served鈥� so don鈥檛 procrastinate!
2. Apply for scholarships.
鈥嬧赌�This is the BEST way to pay for college, so be sure to focus your energy here. Your CU Boulder admissions application already considers you for automatic consideration scholarships, but don鈥檛 stop there. Scholarship Services has outlined lots of ways to find and apply for CU Boulder Scholarships and private scholarships. Check with your high school counselor about local scholarships too. Not all scholarships are based on merit or financial need. Many available scholarships are based on talents (such as playing a musical instrument), leadership traits or even majors of study. You鈥檒l find these and other scholarships posted at www.colorado.edu/scholarships. We also highlight some of our larger scholarships on Twitter, so follow us at .
3. Stay in touch with the Office of Financial Aid.
鈥嬧赌�We send you important 鈥淭o-Do鈥� items via email. Keep your eyes open for these communications. This is the best way to stay on top of the next steps for receiving aid, grants, scholarships and work-study.
Of course, there are even more ways to pay for college. For more information, the Financial Aid website is a good place to start.
Completing the FAFSA and applying for scholarships won鈥檛 cost you anything, so it doesn鈥檛 hurt to apply and see what you can get. There鈥檚 so much to enjoy about college, so let the Office of Financial Aid help you figure out how to cover the bill!
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鈥淲ritten by CU Boulder Office of Financial Aid鈥濃��