Financial Aid is a significant factor affecting a student’s college choice because not everyone can afford to go to universities and colleges like Columbia and Stanford. Financial aid covers almost all the necessities of a student including – course fees, books, living expenses, and so on. Filling out an application form for your dream college or university is quite simple, but it is important to check the terms and services of financial aid. Let us see is Financial aid awarded by semester or year in this article.
Is Financial aid awarded by semester or year?
Financial Aid awarded by a college or university can be semester or year based depending on your FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. And to understand that it is important to understand that there are diverse types of financial aid with several terms and services. , not only terms and services but there are distinct factors that affect if a college or university will provide aid annually or semesterly.
In this article, we discuss about the financial aid awarded yearly or semesterly, and distinct factors along with the types of financial aid for different students.
Factors Influencing Financial Aids: Semester or Year
Financial Aid can be a major asset to easy and low-cost college or university life, but there are distinct factors that affect which type of financial aid can you get. Some of these Factors are: –
- Financial Situation – It is important to understand and be honest about the financial situation as according to the forms and information provided to the university and colleges, the amount of financial aid can vary on the type of financial package terms and services you fall into.
- FAFSA or Free Application for Federal Student Aid – FAFSA is an online form that a student fills out to get financial aid from universities. FAFSA takes different applicants and puts them in distinct categories to check their eligibility after considering the provided information.
- Attendance cost – Attendance cost is one of the major factors that can affect how an applicant will get financial aid or not because after calculating the whole cost of college, it is then calculated with the financial situation and other factors and details provided at FAFSA.
- Deadlines – Deadlines are the most crucial part of getting financial aid from some college or the university, especially if a student is looking for a particular package. As it is important to be updated on the deadline and try to submit the applications and letter a few weeks before that.
- Financial Aid Award Letter – Unlike FAFSA these are letters that will increase your chances of getting financial aid. These letters contain the cost of attendance, details of some precious scholarships or aids, work-study opportunities, and so on.
There are factors that a student cannot change. But there are packages that a college or university provides for students according to Expected Money contribution or EFC (The total amount of money your family can use to support) and FAFSA.
Now, not only these but factors like military benefits and so on are taken into consideration. If a student at military schools or colleges known as Cadet can use the financial aid benefit which – in exchange for a particular time in service that can be somewhere from 5 to 8 years, can complete some course with full financial aid or sponsored programs.
Not only these other types of benefits and financial aid programs can help in opening options for private foundations. To know that high school students or freshers are suggested to counsel with the applied university or colleges advisors or counselors to help them with the further process as each institution has its procedure along with distinct terms and services.
Distinct Types of Financial Aids
There are several packages that students are provided that can have distinct financial aids which are calculated according to EFC, FAFSA, and other information provided by the applicant. Financial packages can be both semester-based and year-based. Some of the distinct types of financial aid are –
- Pell Grant – Federal Pell grant is financial aid provided to students by the government or US Department of education and not the university. The average amount for a Pell Grant is $6,000 to $7,000 for a year.
Pell Grant is a semester–based aid, given in two parts 50% in spring and 50% in winter. This Aid can be provided to some graduate or undergraduate students.
- Federal Student Loans – In this, there are two distinct types of loans –
- Subsidiary – These loans are only available for undergraduate students or financially unstable students. This type of loan does not have some interest. These loans are availably semester-based.
- Un-subsidiary – Graduates or Financially unstable both students and applicants can apply for these Direct Subsidiary loans, but these loans have interest on them. And the amount provided varies from the type of student as Self-reliant students get more than financially unstable ones.
There are certain rules and criteria for being a Self-reliant student such as –
- 24 and above
- Professional or Graduate school
- Veteran or current militant
- Orphan or a ward of the court
- Work study loan – These a year-based loans and can be taken semester-based too, as in this a student receives a job or work offer from a university or a certain organization where they are paid hourly or monthly depending on the type of work.
These loans are only given to graduate or independent students.
- Private student loans – These loans do not have some limits, they can be annually monthly, or semester-based as no FAFSA is required for them because students take them on their account with interest.
Private student loans can be given to either Self-reliant or financially unstable students if financially unstable students have their guardian’s or parent’s consent.
Conclusion
There are distinct types of financial aids that depending on distinct factors and packages the aids provided can be awarded semester-based or annually. Also, there are several factors such as – FAFSA, deadlines, and financial aid Award letters that can make it simpler for a student or applicant to get financial aid from a college or any private institute.
Factors influencing financial aid have been discussed and described distinctly along with how they influence financial aid for a student or applicant. Further in the article, several types of financial aid both year and semester-based were described along with the eligible applicants.
