College Admission Help

College Grants and Financial Aid - It's Out There

By MICHELLE GEORGE
The Eagle-Gazette Staff

LANCASTER — Felicia Ward knows she doesn’t need a 4.0 GPA or a lot of money to pay for college next year. She just needs to be a little aggressive.
So when the Lancaster High School senior set her sights on earning a degree in middle childhood education, she focused on the best way to reach that goal — financial aid and lots of scholarships.
Felicia has applied for financial assistance and close to 40 scholarships this year so she can attend the Ohio University Lancaster Campus in the fall — and she’s confident she’ll get the help she needs through one or both of those avenues.
“My grandfather once told me, ‘Even if you were homeless, there are still ways out there for you to go to college,’ ” Felicia said. “You just have to find them.”

Felicia is one of many college-bound students looking for financial assistance to pay for a college education.

Financial aid, grants and scholarships are readily available for students who need help paying for college, said Sharon Weaver, a Lancaster High School guidance counselor.

But it’s an option, Weaver said, that some students don’t always consider or know how to find.

“Students eliminate themselves because they think: ‘I’m not a valedictorian. I’m not involved in community activities. I don’t have a chance at winning a scholarship,’ ” Weaver said. “But that’s not always the case.”

And Pat Fox, enrollment director at OU-L has noticed some students don’t bother to apply for financial aid because they believe they won’t be eligible.

“I’ve noticed the volume of students looking for financial aid has increased, but I think some people may have the misconception that filling out the FAFSA is a lot more complicated than it is,” Fox said. “And I think that is one of the biggest mistakes students make, not filling out the FAFSA.”

Fox and Ward said the majority of incoming college students are more eligible for financial assistance then they think.


College Grants and Financial Aid - It's Out There