College Counseling at St. Margaret's

It’s never too early to think about paying for college. In fact, the college counselors urge parents to share the family’s financial situation with students at the start of the college process. Finances and family financial priorities may factor into how a student assembles a prospective college list.

The big question, of course, is where to begin. I’ll describe three online resources that can help you get started.

1) Most colleges ask students to submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to begin the financial aid and scholarship process. The FAFSA is required in many cases for students applying for need-based financial aid and/or merit scholarships. The FAFSA website is a great resource that includes financial aid calculators that help families estimate how much colleges will expect them to contribute towards the cost of their students’ education. The FAFSA is at: www.fafsa.ed.gov.
2) FinAid.org is a favorite “go to” website that does a great job laying out various options for financing a college education. Additionally, FinAid.org includes a scholarship search tool. This is the same tool many financial aid advisors use to help match students with scholarship possibilities.
3) Orange County Community Foundation (www.oc-cf.org) matches students with scholarships that benefit students who live in Orange County. This is a great resource that is not as overwhelming as a massive scholarship database. Students receiving OCCF scholarships may attend college anywhere in the country.

There are other resources to help students and their families understand and navigate the daunting task of paying for a college education. Irrespective of the tools families choose to use, it’s important to start this research earlier rather than later.