It is never too early to start looking for financial aid. Juniors should look at the deadline dates of scholarships so that they know when they are due. For a list of scholarships that we know about, please visit your Naviance account.

The FAFSA is an application that the government uses to determine how much you can afford to send your student to school. Once completed the government will send your information to all the schools that they are told to send it to.

First, both the parents and the student must apply for a USERNAME and LOG IN, which can be done at https://studentaid.gov/. If there is more than one student in school, the parent can use the same USERNAME and LOG IN, but each student must have their own.

Second, you will need your W-2 form, tax return information, and possibly other documents in order to complete it. This is to be done every year of school – even if you are only going part time.

Each college may have a different deadline date. Make sure to get it in by the college's preferred deadline date because you do not want to miss out on your chance of financial assistance.

Local Scholarships will be posted in the EHS Google Classroom.  All students have access to this. Local scholarships are a great way to help pay for school. Scholarship providers like to see people from their community succeed.  Since the number of students who qualify is limited, the chances of winning local scholarships are often greater than the odds of winning national scholarships. This can make local scholarships an attractive option for funding your education.

 

Institutional Scholarships are need or merit based types of financial aid awarded by higher education institutes. Like other types of scholarships, institutional scholarships help offset the costs associated with higher education.  Institutional Scholarships can usually be found on the financial aid website of the institutions that are being applied to. 

 

Other Outside Scholarships, also known as private scholarships, are scholarships that are not funded by a student’s college or the government. Entities or institutions that award outside scholarships include: companies, associations, specific groups, and charities. Outside Scholarships can be found at several different websites.   

 

 

FAFSA – Free Application for Federal Student Aid

FSA ID - An FSA ID is an account username and password combination that gives you access to U.S. Department of Education online systems and can serve as your legal signature when completing electronic documents. Create an FSA ID: https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch

 

Contributor - A contributor is anyone required to provide a signature on the FAFSA® form as well as consent and approval to have their federal tax information transferred directly from the IRS into the form.

 

Independent Student - For the 2025–26 FAFSA® form, an independent student is born before Jan. 1, 2002, married, a graduate/professional student, a veteran, a member of the U.S. armed forces, an orphan, a ward of the court, a current or former foster youth, someone who is or was in a legal guardianship, someone with legal dependents (not a spouse), an emancipated minor, or someone who is or at risk of being homeless.

 

SAI – Student Aid Index – index number calculated by the Department of Education that determines a student's financial need

 

Cost of Attendance - the total amount it will cost the student to go to school including tution, housing, food, materials, transportation, etc.

 

Financial Need  - Cost of attendance minus the amount determined by the student aid index

FSS – FAFSA Submission Summary 

 

Financial Aid - Financial aid is money to help pay for college or career school.

 

Federal Student Aid - Federal student aid is aid from the government in the form of grants, loans, and/or work-study funds to assist students with college or career school. Students have to complete the FAFSA® form to apply for this aid.

Scholarships – typically merit based meaning academic, athletic, music, art, or other performance based awards

Grants - A grant is a monetary gift for people pursuing higher education. It is often based on financial need and does not need to be repaid (unless, for example, you withdraw from school and owe a refund).

Loan - A loan is money borrowed from the federal government or a private source like a bank or financial institution, and must be paid back with interest.