Higher education is one of the biggest keys to financial success and independence.  On average, workers with bachelor’s degrees earn almost twice as much as those who only have high-school diplomas. However, a college education is very expensive and often, funding an education becomes one of the biggest obstacles to obtaining an education. While it may not be a topic that students enjoy thinking about, they need to keep in mind its importance and investigate their options as early as possible. Ideally, students should begin looking into financial aid possibilities during their junior year of high school, and they’ll have to keep thinking about them until they finish graduate school! However, students don’t have to tackle this task alone. Their parents, guidance counselors, financial aid counselors, benefits planners, and others will be able to provide them with support. Furthermore, there are various online tools and resources that can help introduce them to the possibilities out there for financing an education. This article talks about some of them and provides links with more detailed information.

Though many students know that March, April, and May are months with many financial aid and scholarship deadlines, the process of obtaining financial aid can be so daunting that most students are unable to obtain all of the resources that could be available to them.  One of those resources is right here on the Proyecto Visión website. Did you know that PV lists more than 80 scholarships that are specifically designed to help finance the education of students with disabilities? This list, which is the most comprehensive and up-to-date list of scholarships that are specifically designed to help fund disabled students’ education, includes all sorts of scholarships, ranging from scholarships for students with specific disabilities, like mobility impairments, autism, multiple sclerosis, etc., to scholarships for students pursuing specific interests, such as journalism, nursing, athletics, or science. Other scholarships are for people who attend certain schools or live in certain states. Of course, many are for students with any disability and living in any state. PV also lists links to other websites that can help you search for scholarships not listed on our site.

The privately funded scholarships on PV’s list are just one of the many steps in the financial aid process. One good thing about them is that they are often overlooked, meaning that you have a pretty good chance of getting one if you do apply. Take a look at them, see which ones you qualify for, and apply for them.  If this year’s application deadline has already passed, make sure to apply next year, since they are all annual scholarships! However, while these scholarships can be a significant benefit, the biggest sources of financial aid for students are university and government programs. To get those, not only will you have to complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), but you will also have to file additional paperwork with the college or university you plan to attend (or those schools you are applying to).

Once they have read your financial aid application, colleges and universities will make financial aid offers.  These offers will include three basic components:

• Grants are money that you will never have to repay. They are clearly the best type of financial aid, because they are completely free.

• Loans are money you will have to repay. There are a number of different types of loans with varying interest levels and it is very important to pay attention to any fine print. Usually, you will have to repay loans over the course of many years after you graduate.

• Work-study offers mean that the university will help you find a part-time job on campus to help you make a little money to cover your expenses.

Financial-aid packages offered by different universities can vary significantly in the respective levels of these three components, so it is important to examine all offers carefully. The most important number to look at is the amount of grant dollars that a university is willing to provide. It may turn out that a university with an expensive tuition that offers large grants will be cheaper than another university with a low tuition that doesn’t offer grants. Sometimes even Ivy League institutions can become cheaper than public universities, depending on their respective financial aid offers. That can be one reason to make sure to apply to several colleges, so that you have the opportunity to look for the best offer possible. Remember that if the school you want to go to does not offer much financial aid, you can talk or write to their financial aid office and explain to them your financial situation. They may revise and increase their financial aid offers, or increase the percentage of their offer that is grants relative to the percentage that is loans.

As mentioned above, there are many people who can help you navigate the complex task of learning about financial aid. Besides your parents, who will be an integral part of the financial aid application process, your high-school guidance counselor or college financial aid office will be able to provide support and advice.  College students can also go to their schools’ disability services offices. There are also disabled students associations at many universities that are a good source of peer support and advice. You should even look for advice when you or your parents file taxes, because of the new American Opportunity Tax Credit!1

An important consideration is that some scholarships or financial aid programs can impact certain types of disability benefits you may already be receiving. In addition to the disability services office at your college or university, you should talk to a benefits planner. The Social Security Administration has a good list of benefits planners who can help you learn more about the relationship between income, financial aid, and disability benefits. You can also get advice about benefits issues at Independent Living Centers. You can find an Independent Living Center at the CIL Management Center. Students in California can also find benefits planners by looking at Disability Benefits 101 (DB101), a website that includes various informational pages related to youth and disability, including calculators that can help you figure out how part-time employment could affect any disability benefits you receive.

There are also certain agencies providing disability benefits that can be used to help finance education, such as state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies. The Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation has a list detailing contact information for the VR agency in each state. There is a complex relationship between VR funding and financial aid, so you should talk to your local VR agency and also read information provided by the HEATH Resource Center. The article “Show Me the Money! Options for Paying for College” has a basic introduction to the issue, while “Creating Options: 2007 Financial Aid for Individuals with Disabilities” has more in-depth analysis of how to proceed with the VR process.

Finally, another way of making higher education more affordable is to save money and build assets. One great way to do so is through Independent Development Accounts (IDAs), which provide financial training and financial incentives to saving. We have an article in this issue of our newsletter about somebody participating in an IDA program. You can get answers to frequent questions about IDA programs from DB101. Another savings-based approach is designed for parents to save money for their child’s education. This plan involves putting money into a 529 plan, which functions similarly to IRA retirement accounts in that there are lower taxes on interest earned. A basic summary of 529 plans is available from the EQUITY newsletter. The exact benefits of 529 plans vary by state, so it is important that you find a local source of information about them.

1. The new law creates a $2,500 higher education tax credit that is available for the first four years of college. The credit is based on 100% of the first $2,000 of tuition and related expenses (including books) paid during the tax year and 25% of the next $2,000 of tuition and related expenses paid during the tax year, subject to a phase-out for AGI in excess of $80,000 ($160,000 for married couples filing jointly). 40% of the credit is refundable. The new credit temporarily replaces the Hope credit.

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