by Melissa Brock | Aug 1, 2020 | Financial aid and scholarships |
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Did you know your child can earn scholarships as a kindergartener? Yeah! Unbelievable, right?
It cracks me up to think of my son sitting down at a computer next year, typing away at a computer to fill out a scholarship application. (He’s four.)
I checked in with Michaela Schieffer, an independent college counselor with MoonPrep.com. She says, “While starting a separate savings account for college is the solid solution, you also have creative options to grow that account. I recommend beginning the search for external scholarships as early as possible. External scholarships can be used at any college, and are available as early as age 10 through graduate school. Since most of these early scholarship awards are dispersed in a check rather than directly to a college, this is a great way to augment your savings in a college account.”
Such solid advice! Here’s a deep dive into scholarships — at any age.
What if My Child’s a Senior?
Now, most people’s energy doesn’t turn toward thinking about scholarships until their kids get close to high school — and most students even wait till senior year to start thinking about scholarships.
Is it too late to apply for scholarships when your student is a senior? No, of course not! Start looking at whatever age your child is right now and start looking, whether you’re starting as a rising senior, eighth-grader or sixth-grader. (And if your child is a rising senior, start now!) You can also look into how to help your senior combat scholarship overwhelm.
Don’t forget, your child can still look for and apply for scholarships during college as well. There are opportunities everywhere.
Here are some ways to get started on the scholarship search, no matter your child’s age.
Start Searching Now
Whatever age your child is right now, start looking for scholarships.
What’s the first thing you do when you’re looking for information? Sure, you Google it. Check out FinAid’s Scholarship List as an example.
Don’t forget to check out scholarships in your community. These are lower-hanging fruit because the community you live in is more likely to award scholarships to one of their community members. Here’s how to look.
- Ask your child’s school counselor. School counselors are the heroes of community scholarship knowledge. Your child’s school counselor should be able to hand you a list of scholarships available in the community. If your child’s not in high school yet, ask in the school office at your child’s school for any information about scholarships.
- Tap into your own local connections. Ask wherever you go — the dentist, the chiropractor — to find out whether scholarships exist, even for younger kids.
- Research past scholarships. Ask for old scholarship programs or scholarship awards night programs from local high schools. Don’t be afraid to ask for several going back a few years.
- Branch out and ask about scholarships in another local area — or two. Don’t stick to your neck of the woods. Ask for scholarship programs at other high schools in your county or area. A local business might be willing to branch out, particularly if students in that area aren’t taking advantage of a particular scholarship. The business also might be willing to offer a county-wide or area-wide scholarship.
- Watch out for scholarship scams. Nothing is scarier, right? Don’t miss this post about avoiding scholarship scams.
Gear Your Child Toward Scholarship Types
First, let’s consider the ways scholarship committees award scholarships. They want to see your child do a few things.
Develop Specific Skills
Put yourself in a scholarship committee’s point of view. You’ll notice that lots of scholarships awarded are based on entrepreneurial skills, art skills and more. Has your child worked to develop a specific talent or interest? Whatever it is, nurture it, then use those skills to his advantage when you’re looking for scholarships.
Here a few skills your child can develop over time:
- Fine arts prowess
- Athletic talent
- Leadership skills
- Academic excellence
- Team player skills
- Analytical skills
- Communication skills
Consider Ways to Serve
Wouldn’t that committee rather give a scholarship to a kid who actively provides value to a specific cause or organization? It’s one thing to be in clubs and hold leadership positions. But what if your child can make a serious impact? Doing something that makes an impact can make your child extremely valuable in the eyes of the scholarship committee.
Does your child have a hankering to serve others? Here’s an example. Annie Wignall Foskett was 11 when she created the Care Bags Foundation. She began collecting essentials (soap and shampoo, etc.) for kids in foster care and crisis situations. Foskett jumped into action by creating fabric care bags filled with these essentials. Fast forward 20 years later. The foundation now serves displaced, abused and disadvantaged children all over the world!
Obviously, it’s better to develop a child’s burgeoning desire to serve organically, rather than trying to do it just for scholarships or personal gain. However, if your child has a great idea, nurture it. You never know how much a great idea can take off!
Here are some ideas you and your child can think about developing:
- Help disadvantaged children
- Assist senior citizens
- Raise awareness and help for animals
- Take care of the environment
- Help the hungry
- Assist the homeless
- Reduce crime and promote safety
- Enhance the local community or state
- Help disadvantaged schools
It’s a great idea to do some research to find out what the needs are. A great way to launch a major project is to start by volunteering. Encourage your child to check at school, at your family’s place of worship or city council to determine what type of help is needed. Encourage your child to just get started wherever he or she gravitates toward, such as a homeless shelter or nursing home, and ask whether it takes volunteers.
Does your child have to build his own nonprofit or create an amazing foundation like Care Bags? No. Showing extraordinary compassion toward a particular cause is also a phenomenal way to gather scholarships
Develop a Vision or Trajectory
Help your child develop a vision for his or her life. I know, it can seem impossible for most young people. How can they possibly know everything that’s available to them? Most kids have a limited worldview because they haven’t had the life experience that comes with age. However, it’s a great idea to have some sort of idea of what that could look like. Does your student gravitate toward social justice issues? Writing? Entrepreneurship? What does that life look like?
My aunt knew at a very early age that she wanted to be a teacher. She was probably in second grade when she declared she wanted to influence children for the rest of her life. Guess what? She became a first grade teacher and taught for years! I’m amazed by that story and like to share it because you might not be too young to figure it out.
Build on Other Traits
What other characteristics does your child have? Is your child a minority or have a disability? Is your child left-handed? You already know there’s a scholarship for just about everything you can think of. I have a personal example that applies to this. My school counselor knew that I’m deaf in my left ear and partially deaf in my right ear (yes, it’s true!) and got me in touch with our local vocational rehabilitation office. The organization gave me some extra scholarship money over the course of my four years at college. (State vocational rehabilitation (VR) offices help people with disabilities prepare for, obtain and retain employment.)
I wouldn’t have even known it was a possibility if she hadn’t mentioned it. Sometimes it’s about talking to everyone you know — and searching online for that information.
The University of Washington has a great list of scholarships for those with disabilities if your child qualifies.
Get in the Habit of Looking Often and Take Action
It’s never too early to start looking for scholarships, but it’s important to also look for them all the time. Be on a constant search for scholarships that fit your child’s profile. Encourage your child to look, too. Here’s a quick example of what you could do:
- Look for scholarships on the first and 15th of every month. (Set a calendar alert so you remember to do it.)
- Select at least two scholarships to apply for every month. (Your child can do this!)
- Create a Trello board to keep track of scholarships researched, applied for and received. It’s really helpful so I stay organized. I do this for my blog and align my editorial calendar with the following:
- Articles to Write
- In Writing
- Editing
- Ready to Input
- Inputted
- Review in Six Months/One Year, etc.
- Create an account for the scholarship money. (But learn the scholarship rules — some scholarships don’t allow you to just “take” the money. Some may have specific requirements, like a preference to pay the school directly.) However, if a scholarship committee allows you to cash a scholarship check, consider whether you want to invest the money in a diversified fund — particularly if your child wins the scholarship years before the start of college. Consider contributing your own money to that account as well (regularly and often!) so there’s a robust amount earmarked for college.
- Constantly review what’s going well during the scholarship search. If a process needs to change, make that change early on.
Don’t Get Discouraged
Not getting results? Keep going. Keep moving forward!
I know I already mentioned this, but don’t wait till high school to start looking for scholarships, particularly if your child is truly doing some exceptional things. If he’s creating his own app to feed the homeless in Africa, you bet scholarship committees will want to hear about it — even if your child’s only eight.
When it comes down to it, it’s a very generous world we live in — and people want to help promising kids go to college!
Make an Impact on the World
Here are a list of scholarships your child can apply for, divided by age. Check out this list of best scholarship websites as well.
Starting from Kindergarten
Starting from Middle Elementary
Starting from Middle School
Starting from Early High School
Notice that the bulk of these are for younger students! Good luck with your own child’s scholarship search!
by Melissa Brock | Jun 11, 2020 | Financial aid and scholarships |
Your child may be gung-ho about experiencing all there is to soak up about residential living during his or her first year at college.
On the other hand, your kid may refuse to set foot in a dorm. Maybe she doesn’t like the idea of sharing a bathroom with 30 other girls. Maybe dorm life just doesn’t appeal.
For whatever reason, let’s dig into this all-important question: Will your child get extra financial aid if he or she lives off campus?
In short — no. However, it’s important to know that off-campus living doesn’t affect your financial aid eligibility.
In fact, I think Notre Dame’s website sums it up nicely. It says:
Living on campus does not affect a student’s financial aid eligibility. A standard room and meals amount is used to determine undergraduate students’ cost of attendance whether they live on or off campus.
— Notre Dame’s website
Generally, this is the case at most schools, but it’s always best to check with every school your student’s interested in. Here’s what you need to know.
Why Live Off Campus?
First of all, why do students choose to live off campus? There are a variety of reasons, and sometimes it’s not always a decision your child will make freely. Universities often don’t have enough room for all students to live on campus.
But here again, all colleges have different policies. It’s best to ask. For example, the college I worked for required all students to live on campus. In fact, you needed to petition the residence life office staff in order to live off campus — and that reward was granted just to a select few.
Why’d they do that? Well, I worked at a small liberal arts college. The requirement was put into place to make sure that the college built a sense of community. If even half of the students lived off campus, the college would be a ghost town. I was actually super grateful for that requirement because small campuses need that community feel. (It’s definitely a very different story at a large state university.)
The point of telling you this is to check into a college and university’s policies very carefully when you go on visits. If your child isn’t sure he likes the college’s policies regarding residence life, he’d better steer clear of attending that college altogether.
So, why do some students choose to live off campus? Here are a few reasons:
- Potentially less expensive
- More space
- Less noisy than a buzzing residence hall
- Potential garage parking — it’s way easier to live off campus with a car
- No residential advisors (RAs) and fewer rules (including curfews)
- Increased privacy (no communal bathrooms!)
- Easier with work and other social commitments
- Roommate choice is more targeted
On the other hand, here are some reasons your child may prefer to live on campus:
- Potentially less expensive
- Offers a more social atmosphere and a gateway to the campus community
- Fewer responsibilities (paying utilities, making rent payments, etc.)
- Easier access to the cafeteria and broader food choices
- Easy access to campus resources like the library, student center, gym, etc.
- No need to drive to campus or take public transportation
- Your child is more likely to complete a degree — that one is HUGE!
- Services like internet, water, sewer, waste removal, etc. are already built in
- Opportunities to participate in residence hall association
- Laundry facilities are available
As you can see, there’s a lot to consider when you and your child are thinking through the benefits of each. Notice that the first item on each list is “potentially less expensive” — it might be cheaper to live on campus or off campus.
While that might sound confusing, you just have to run the numbers. Rent will naturally be cheaper in Omaha, Nebraska, compared to Cambridge, Massachusetts. We’ll dive into the numbers a little later in this post. I’ve also created a handy budgeting spreadsheet to help you and your student figure out which option is cheapest.
Note: This entire article tackles financial aid for off-campus housing by paying rent for an apartment, house or townhouse. It’s obviously going to be cheaper if your student lives at home with you and doesn’t plan to pay rent while going to school.
How Financial Aid Works with Room and Board
Your child won’t get extra financial aid by living off campus, so how does the money get distributed? It all starts with a college or university’s Cost of Attendance, or COA.
How Colleges and Universities Calculate Cost of Attendance
The COA is an approximate calculation of your child’s complete expenses. It includes items like tuition, room, board, fees, books, supplies, transportation, loan fees and other miscellaneous expenses. The COA helps determine the maximum amount of total grants and loans your student can receive. In short, financial aid offices use the COA to determine your child’s eligibility for financial aid. The COA may also include other things — disability costs, study abroad program costs and more.
You may even want to alert the college your student is considering if you have any unusual expenses that might affect your cost of attendance.
The COA works with another factor — your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) — to determine how much financial aid your child will get. In fact, it’s an easy subtraction problem. Colleges and universities subtract your EFC from the school’s COA (I know, all the acronyms)!
What’s an EFC? It’s the government’s estimate of what you and your child may be able to pay for a year of college. It’s based on your income, assets, age, number of dependents and more. The difference between the cost of attendance and the EFC is how much financial aid must make up the difference.
When you fill out the FAFSA for your child, you’ll need to indicate whether your child plans to live on campus or not.
So, let’s apply all this to an example. A student named Rachel plans to attend College A in the fall. She and her mom filled out the FAFSA together and found out that her Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is $12,000. College A’s Cost of Attendance (COA) is $52,000 — again, this includes tuition, room, board and fees. The difference, $52,000 – $12,000, equals $40,000 — and within that figure is room and board. Financial aid calculations will be different for students who live in off-campus housing and $40,000 must be made up through financial aid.
Which is More Expensive — Living On or Off Campus?
Is off-campus housing always less expensive than on-campus housing? (I’ve heard so many college kids say that.)
The truth is that Trulia’s 2018 Market Trends Campus Report said that in 28 of 48 colleges and universities it surveyed, it was either the same price or cheaper to be off campus, with average savings of $219 per month for those with a roommate. Meals were included in the housing options for 8 of these 28 colleges and universities, which added to the expense. Removing these schools from consideration brought the average monthly savings in off-campus housing down to $146.
I did some more digging to find the actual cost of living on campus compared to living off campus:
Average cost of room and board, according to Debt.org:
- $8,887 per school year at public colleges and universities
- $10,089 per school year at private colleges and universities
Average apartment expenses, according to Debt.org:
- $1,178 per month for a two-bedroom apartment
- $112 per month for the electric bill
- $50 per month for internet
- Total: $16,080, assuming your child doesn’t have a roommate
So, here’s what I can tell you for sure, because there are so many variables: At first glance, an off-campus apartment may look way cheaper than the price of room and board, but you have to add in costs for electricity, gas, water, waste disposal, cable and internet — it all adds up fast.
In fact, there might even be hidden surprises you’re not thinking of as a parent. (You may own your own home now — it’s easy to forget about things like lease deposits!) Here are some often-forgotten extra expenses I came up with:
- Don’t forget about summertime rent! Remember, leases are typically year-round, not just the nine months your child is in school. That can add more to the bill.
- Your child will need to pay for transportation. Whether that means paying for car insurance, the subway, the bus system — whatever it is! — it adds to the expense.
- Utilities are part of the package. Don’t forget about electric, gas, internet, cable, water and trash. This can add considerably to the expense.
- A deposit is also part of the deal. The drawback to having to pay a deposit is that you have to pay it in the first place — and can lose it if your apartment is in a shambles when your lease is up.
- Roommates might not work out. What happens when one roommate decides to bail out and your child can’t find a replacement? The rent still needs to be paid each month!
Figure Out Whether Your Child Really Should Live Off Campus
Living off campus is much closer to a real-world experience. Rent is due and the lights will extinguish if the electric bill isn’t paid. Is your child ready for these types of responsibilities or is he better off in the relative comfort of dorm life? If you know for sure that your child will subsist on Easy Mac and needs an RA to help handle roommate squabbles, it might be better to stick to residence hall living.
On the surface, it might look like living on campus versus off campus is solely a money decision, but consider where your child would thrive most. If your son thinks of himself as a gourmet chef, he may hate eating the on-campus food and text you green-faced emojis daily. (That alone will probably tell you whether he or she is ready to live off campus.)
Don’t forget that there are ways to reduce the on-campus costs if you really want to. Your student may want to expand her leadership skills and get plugged into a resident advisor (RA) position. Here’s a major perk: RAs usually get free room and sometimes free board! Now, it’s true that your student may find that RA jobs are only reserved for juniors and seniors. However, your son or daughter might be the token sophomore that gets chosen! (I’ve seen it happen lots of times.) Your child will need to prove good grades and extracurricular involvement and will likely also have to go through a rigorous interview process.
Determine a Budget
You may want to talk your child through a budget prior to the start of college whether he or she decides to live off campus. In fact, to save you a little bit of time, I developed a budget worksheet for you and your child. You can copy this worksheet and adapt it to your needs. It’ll tally up all the costs for you automatically. It’s nothing fancy — maybe someday I’ll get a chance to make it really pretty!
Compare your student’s total expenses with his or her total income. Your child’s income should be greater than his or her expenses. If this isn’t the case, try to help your child reduce expenses and/or work to increase his or her income. This may show you clearly whether it’s cheaper to live on campus or off campus. Explore these options on every visit and while you build relationships with admission counselors and financial aid personnel at various schools.
Think of the Whole Picture
No, you don’t get extra financial aid for off-campus housing — even if it’s more expensive than living on campus. So, the moral of the story may be this: Don’t make cost the only factor when you and your child decide whether living off campus is a priority. There are lots of other things to consider — including your child’s sense of responsibility.
Here’s something else to consider: Check to make sure your financial aid and tuition plans cover off-campus housing. Direct student loans, 529 plans and prepaid tuition plans have certain rules about how your student is allowed to use the money.
by Melissa Brock | Jun 3, 2020 | Financial aid and scholarships |
Can you guess the hot topic in every single admission counselor meeting?
That’s right — financial aid and scholarships!
I loved this part of what I liked to call my “admission spiel,” because I enjoyed helping families dive into financial aid and scholarships.
Anyway, I launched into one particular admission spiel with a family in my office one day. We talked through the available merit-based scholarships the student would automatically receive through the college. (Based on his grade point average and ACT score.) Then I brightly said, “And don’t forget to fill out scholarship applications in your community and online!”
The student avoided his parents’ gaze.
The student’s dad chuckled and his mom said dryly, “The problem is getting him motivated to actually do them.”
Sound familiar?
Kids seem to fall into two camps: Those who apply for scholarships like it’s their job and those who have no interest in scholarship applications at all. The kids in the latter group might just need a little nudge. Here’s how to get your high schooler started.
Step 1: Have the talk. (The money talk!)
Your child needs to hear why it’s important to get scholarships. This may mean breaking down costs in a visual way so she can see where the gaps will be if she doesn’t apply for them.
For example, you might want to break it down like this — and you can get way fancier than I did, with charts and pie graphs and whatever!
Dream school cost: $50,000 per year
Amount of financial aid you’ll receive based on dream school’s net price calculator(net price calculators live on financial aid pages and estimate how much financial aid you may get): $20,000 per year
Total cost after net price calculator results: $30,000
Amount in 529 plan: $60,000 ($15,000 to be distributed over four years)
Out-of-pocket costs: $15,000 per year
Note: You’ll be basing this off the net price calculator, which is an estimate, but that’s okay. It’ll give you a rough idea to figure out how much potential out-of-pocket costs you’ll have.
If the out-of-pocket costs make your high schooler nervous, assure her that you’re going to work together to figure out that out-of-pocket amount. But tell her that scholarships are going to help out a lot — and that it’s better than taking out oodles of loans.
Step 2: Hammer out a goal. Then set smaller goals.
It’s hard to get started if you have no final goal. In high school, goals are built right in: English persuasion paper is due on such-and-such a date, for example. Science test on Friday.
Then, set a big goal with your child — one that you can both agree on, like “Complete 50 scholarship applications” between June and August (or whatever it may be).
Then, within that goal, set up mini-goals. A mini-goal could be like this: “Research and choose 10 scholarships to apply for during the first two weeks of June.” One of my favorite phrases: “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” (Supposedly Confucius said it — how do they know that? I picture some guy following him around all day, writing down every word he said.)
Anyway, I recommend breaking everything down that you possibly can.
Step 3: Play to your child’s strengths.
This means two things. It means knowing your child’s capabilities within those goals. Does your child despise writing essays, even if they’re about himself? Work with him to find scholarships that eliminate an essay component or require a brief essay.
Also, make a list of your kiddo’s strengths. What’s unique about him? What does he have going for him that can niche his way into scholarships? Does he plan to major in something specific? Does he have a disability? Do his hobbies qualify him for a scholarship? Brainstorm and do some hearty research online.
Step 4: Help your high schooler get organized.
My daughter takes piano lessons, and can you guess the hardest part of practicing? You got it — getting started. She dreads it, but once she gets into a new piece, she’s fine. In fact, I finally started giving her permission to play the songs the worst she could the first time around so that they sounded terrible. That seems to work.
The hardest part is getting started, and it seems especially true for kids. (It may be hard for you as well!) But you know that once you actually get into something, it’s not so bad. But you have to start somewhere!
It helps to have a plan mapped out ahead of time so your child can stick to goals. Sticky notes on a calendar work really well. If you want to get techy, use a project management tool like Trello or Asana to keep your child on his or her goals. I personally use Trello for work and I love how due dates turn yellow and send you email reminders when a deadline looms closer.
Step 5: Talk to everyone about scholarships.
Next, alk to anyone who might have a connection — your job, your partner’s job, your neighbor — whoever you can think of! And yes, talk to that guidance counselor and those at colleges. This can be you and your child’s fact-finding mission.
Finally, once one of you find out about a scholarship, what will you do? You bet — you’ll put it on the “to do” calendar.
Step 6: Develop a few key paragraphs for pluck ’n plug.
What do I mean by pluck ’n plug? Easy: Develop a beginning, middle and end for scholarship essays that your child can use for just about any scholarship application. It’ll be a paragraph you can store on Trello, Asana or Google docs.
Will every scholarship application sound the same? Of course not! However, it sure does help with getting started when you already have something to work with.
These three paragraphs should be kind of like writing an essay for school. Your child should write an attention-grabbing intro:
My name’s Sadie and I’ve been blind since I was two. How did it happen? Unfortunately, that’s my earliest memory. My brother was a science whiz (and also 13 years older than me). One day, he…
An equally gripping middle, which addresses questions asked in individual scholarship essays (you’ll have to add answers to those later):
What’s the largest predictor of success, you ask? I believe I’ve had to overcome a lot in my life, and college is just one more of the series of challenges. I’ve read a lot (audio books are my fave!) of books about leadership and perseverance and one thing I’ve learned is that grit matters. In fact, it’s one of the largest predictors of success. Never quitting. Digging in and waking up thrilled for the challenges you face every single day, whether your world is full of color or not.
A conclusion that ties it all together:
So, I learned at an early age that life doesn’t always go as planned. But you know what? I think I dream in color — even if I can’t remember exactly what colors look like. I know grit plays a role in what happens when you fall down (blind or not) and that — not talent, not luck — is everything. It’s why I believe I deserve the XYZ Scholarship.
Your kiddo can mix and match, pluck ’n plug. And fill in the gaps. This doesn’t have to be rocket science!
Tackle the Overwhelm
Finally, tell your child she can do this. And stopping short of doing scholarship essays for her, tell her you’ll help her in any way you can.
Also, make sure your child understands that this doesn’t have to be so complicated. It’s only a matter of moving one stone, little by little.
by Melissa Brock | May 7, 2020
Contact Questions or comments? I would love to hear from you! Name Email Address Message 14 + 14 = Send message Frequently Asked Questions 1. What’s the No. 1 secret to the college search? Hands down — it’s building relationships. I’d encourage you and your student to...
by Melissa Brock | May 7, 2020
Hello! Welcome to the newest fork in the road on your parenting journey! Now it involves a (maybe slightly bumpy) ride with your soon-to-be college student. I’m sure you’re experiencing mixed emotions — joy, trepidation and excitement. Totally understandable. Read...
