The Texas OnCourse Educator Blog

Scholarships and grants, federal student loans, state and college loans, private loans, work-study – these are the many ways your students can receive assistance in paying for college. Researching and pursuing these opportunities can be complicated, but there’s more to do once applications are in! Students need to learn that borrowing only what they need is crucial to minimizing debt, and that certain forms of financial aid will need to be re-paid or traded for time.

After counseling sessions, financial aid nights, mountains of paperwork, and countless follow-ups, your students have *successfully* filed their FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Way to go, counselor! What now?

I have worked with many undocumented students over the years. It’s heartbreaking to see how defeated, unsure, and scared they can be about their path to college readiness. It is our job to educate and uplift all students – and let them know that college is an option. 

“Why should my child or my family apply for FAFSA if we are not low income?” As a parent and educator, I am asked this question often. My response comes from personal experience working with college-bound students and their families for the past 25 years.

It’s financial aid season, which means that students, parents, and educators around the country have “paying for college” on their minds. FAFSA is a definite buzzword, but what about those students who aren’t eligible for federal financial aid?

It’s that time of year where we are tasked with supporting our students and parents with navigating financial aid applications. The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and TASFA (Texas Application for State Financial Aid) can be overwhelming for anyone, but with the right tools, you can feel confident in supporting your students and parents through the process. 

Do you teach or advise students who are Texas residents but ineligible to apply for federal financial aid? If you do, you might not be sure whether they qualify for financial aid at all. We have some great news! Those students may be eligible for state financial aid.

With 2018 FAFSA priority deadlines behind us, students are checking their portals and mailboxes for their financial aid award letters. As they gear up to make big decisions about their financial and educational future, here are a series of helpful terms and questions to help guide students through their award letters.

As college acceptances and financial aid award letters start rolling in for high school seniors, families are beginning to count the cost of these postsecondary options. The cost of attendance for each college includes four main types of expenses. Understanding these types of expenses, some direct and some indirect, will help families decide whether a college is a financial fit and find ways to cut costs. And find more information on college costs, financial aid, FAFSA and more in our Financial Aid Basics for Counselors guide.

The information here comes from our CSS Profile training module, available through Texas OnCourse Academy.