How much financial aid can you get for college

LOG IN. Enter your email address to begin the reset password process. Enter your e-mail address to begin the reset password process. The EFC is based on the student and parent income and assets, family size, number of children in college and other demographic factors. Are you married? What is your annual adjusted gross income AGI? What is your spouse's annual AGI? What is your child's annual AGI? How much do you have in non-retirement bank and investment accounts excluding plans and Coverdell ESAs?

How much do you, your spouse, and your child have in plans and Coverdell ESAs? Where does your family reside? How old will you be or will your spouse be, if older when your child enrolled in college?

How many members will you have in your household when your child enrolled in college including that child? When is the Expected Family Contribution determined? What determines your Expected Family Contribution? Your school may also choose to offer you additional aid beyond your need-based financial aid offer. Grants and scholarships are highly coveted by students since, unlike loans, they do not need to be paid back.

The good news is that as many as two-thirds of all students receive at least some aid in the form of grants or scholarships from their college and federal aid. Scholarships are usually not determined by your EFC but are based on things like merit, community service, and other factors.

While students who file late will still have their financial needs met, those offers are likely to contain more loans and fewer grants and scholarships. Students must show financial need to receive a Pell Grant but, unlike some other need-based aid, these grants consider more than your family income.

Need could be based on how many children your family has in college, the cost of attending a specific college, or your family's existing assets. Pell Grant recipients must also maintain high academic standards. Each school determines what those standards are, but it usually involves keeping a certain grade point average.

Both part-time and full-time community college students are eligible for Pell Grants, but the award amount will be reduced for part-time students. When you receive your financial aid award letter from your community college, you'll be notified about any federal student loans that you qualify for.

There are. Stafford loans or Direct Loans are the primary loan offering from the federal government. There are two types of Direct Loans—subsidized and unsubsidized. To receive subsidized student loans, you must exhibit financial need. You can receive unsubsidized loans regardless of financial need, but as shown in the table below, both types of loans have annual and aggregate or total loan limits. Subsidized loans are less expensive because the U.

Department of Education pays the interest on your loans while you're in school, as well as for the grace period six months after you leave school. In contrast, the interest on unsubsidized loans accrues while you're in school. Unless you make interest payments during that time, the accrued interest will be added to the principal amount of your loan when you leave school. The amount you are eligible to receive is determined by the cost of your school, your year of education, and whether you are a dependent or not.

This table from the Department of Education shows loan limits for the current school year:. Many businesses, foundations, and charitable organizations offer scholarships for community college students. You can apply for—and receive—multiple scholarships that together could cover a large portion of your costs. These types of scholarship applications frequently require only submission of an essay and a copy of your transcript. Our college scholarship database is a great starting place for your scholarship search.

We award one every month and parents can apply, too, so you can double your chances. If you still have tuition gaps—and if you do, you're not alone—private student loans can provide the funds to help you start your education. View our picks for the best private student loans here.

Published in: How to Pay for College.