If you're a high school junior or senior, it's never too early to to begin exploring your financial options if you're considering college or career school. When thinking about the cost of education beyond high school, students and parents alike think scholarship first when it comes to footing the bill for college. But there are other ways to fund a college education. One of the best sources for financial aid is still good old Uncle Sam.



According to studentaid.ed.gov, a student aid portal administered by the U.S. Department of Education, the Federal government remains the single biggest source of student aid in America. Grants, work-study programs and loans - these are the three main student aid programs - account for more than 80 billion dollars a year in aid to high school grads who believe they must learn more to earn more.

Having a basic grasp of the trio of aid options available from the Federal government is an essential precondition for completing the FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The process of qualifying for Federal student financial aid requires all high school graduates to complete and submit a FAFSA application.

Student aid from the Federal government is available in three basic forms: grants, work-study programs, and loans. The different kinds of financial assistance vary with respect to the dollar value of the aid you receive and whether or not the financial aid has to be repaid. Grants do not require repayment, nor do work-study programs, which pay a wage or salary for work performed. Loans, on the other hand, must be repaid, just like a car loan or home mortgage, over a period ranging from 10 to 25 years.

Within this general three-tiered framework, there are several types of grant and loan programs. One of the better known types of grant, the Federal Pell Grant, is generally considered to be the foundation of the Federal student aid program. Other less familiar grants include the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG), and the National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant, a long name that is usually shortened to the National SMART Grant.

There are different loan formats, too. The direct Stafford loan, in which the lender is the Department of Education, is probably the best-known example of this kind of Federal student aid. Depending on the loan amount and the payment plan they choose, recipients of a direct Stafford loan have between ten and twenty-five years to repay the government.

With only a pair of exceptions, the amount of Federal student aid you can receive is determined by your financial need. The amount is calculated by subtracting your Expected Family Contribution, or EFC, from the cost of attending a college or career school. Using factors you supply on your FAFSA � including family income, family assets and benefits like unemployment and Social Security � your EFC is calculated according to a formula laid down in Federal law. The Federal government notifies you of your EFC on your Student Aid Report, or SAR. You'll receive your SAR after the government has processed your FAFSA application.

If all this sounds confusing, the government has several outstanding resources to help you make sense of Federal student aid programs. One of the best resources is the website referred to earlier in this article, studentaid.ed.gov. Another is "Funding Education Beyond High School", a free 60-page document available in PDF format at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Delve into these resources as soon as possible in your senior year of high school if you want to have the best chance of receiving Federal student aid.