Finding Financial Aid

Finding financial aid is hard work. Experts advise students and parents to prepare for hours of research and writing, even if a private firm promises that they “will do everything for you”.

“Applying for college aid is work,” says former Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden. “No company can solicit recommendations, complete applications, or write essays or resumes for you. Students and parents need to be prepared to put in hours of paperwork, despite what a scholarship search company may promise.”

Did you know that eCIS has more than just descriptions of hundreds of sources of scholarships, loans, and grants? Under Financial Aid Basics, you’ll find . . .

	Answers to common questions about financial aid.
	Definitions of financial aid terms.
	A suggested timeline for getting aid.
	Information about cooperative programs that let you attend out-of-Idaho schools for in-state costs.
	A sample letter to help you draft your requests for financial aid information.

There is much more to obtaining financial aid than making a list of scholarship sources. For example:

Only students and their parents have the information required to compute “official” financial need and to accurately complete government and institutional financial aid forms.
Students and their parents need to be satisfied that every avenue of financial aid sources is investigated, not just those from a single national database. This means using CIS, working with the financial aid office at the school one plans to attend, and researching government student financial aid programs.
Only the prospective college student himself or herself can best understand their own goals and preferences in order to sort through the thousands of scholarships, loans, and grants that are available each year.
And once a list of prospective sources of aid is assembled, only the student can complete the application materials in the way that convinces those bestowing aid that this individual is the one they’ve been looking for. At the very least there will be an application form to fill out; often much time and attention must be spent on an essay, project, resume, letter, or collection of references.

The Idaho Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit (334-2424) has published information about education financing, as well as written to Idaho parents and educators about potential scholarship scams . And remember—the experts say that if families are prepared to work for their financial aid check, they will be less likely to waste money on services that promise to ease their workload but really just lighten their wallets.

Go to Attorney General Urges Caution in
Scholarship Searches, Recommends CIS
Financial Aid Information in CIS
About CIS
Information in eCIS