The Foreign Service Journal, December 2021

100 DECEMBER 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT P aying for college in the United States can be a Her- culean task. But some of the burden can be reduced with scholarships. Unlike loans, scholarships and grants are gifts—and a gift is always better than a loan. The best source of funding—“inside” funding—comes in the form of merit scholarships and need-based grants from the colleges themselves. These are often renewed each year, as long as you keep your grades up and have no disciplinary problems while in college. It pays to research colleges with large endowments that can afford to give out more money, as well as the many excellent private colleges that are less selective than the “top tier.” They often generously award students who rank in the top 25 percent of their high school class. Need-Based Aid Need-based financial aid is a different story. But it’s worth reviewing the basics of this because there is increasing overlap in the forms required for both need- based and merit assistance ... There are many additional, private (“outside”) sources for scholarship money, including a few that are geared specifically to dependents of Foreign Service employees. However, there are some things to keep in mind about outside scholarships. Once you have received a need-based financial aid package from your college, you are required to report any outside scholarships to the financial aid office. Expect your financial aid package to be consequently reduced. When this happens, many colleges try to reduce your loans before they reduce grant money, but make sure you are aware of each of your chosen colleges’ financial aid poli- cies if you plan to apply for outside scholarships. If you submit multiple private scholarship applications, it’s possible to win enough money to eliminate your loans and even cover most, if not all, of your college expenses. The complete article appeared in the December 2016 FSJ . FROM THE DECEMBER 2016 FSJ EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT Finding Money for College BY FRANCESCA HUEMER KELLY