High school graduation is just a few months away and that next goal is to get into college. Unless you come from a wealthy family, you may need to get help paying for college. But there are other ways of doing this. There are a lot of people who will be willing to lend a hand so that everybody can get an education.

You need to find and apply for grants and scholarships as early as possible. There are several foundations, community organizations, colleges, and universities who can award scholarships and grants to whom they deem worthy. They can be contacted by mail, email, or phone.

You can apply for grants and loans by filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or FAFSA. Students or their parents can fill out the FAFSA to help determine if they are eligible for low interest federal student loans, work-study programs, grants, and school scholarships. It is best to complete the application as soon after January 1st of the school year you intend to start. You need to regularly check your regular mail or email. You will receive a Student Aid Report or SAR as soon as your FAFSA has been processed. The SAR contains all the information you wrote on the FAFSA. It is important that you carefully review the SAR for necessary corrections. An electronic copy of the SAR is sent out to the colleges and universities you have selected in the FAFSA. The FAFSA can help the universities and colleges determine if you are eligible for non-federal aid.

If the school accepts you as one of their students and if they received a copy of your FAFSA, they will arrange a financial aid package for you. You will be notified of your eligibility in a form of a Financial Aid Award Letter. Part of the financial aid package is the PLUS and Stafford student loan. If you choose to accept the PLUS and Stafford student loan, you have to fill out a master promissory note (MPN) or loan application for the lender you chose.

The Federal PLUS and Stafford student loans are offered through private lenders. These loans are the same for every lender and differ only by the borrower incentives or benefits. You can go with non-profit student loan providers because they usually offer the best incentives and the portion of the profits are given back to the community for outreach programs and scholarships.

If you have exhausted all means of finding a way to pay for college, you can get a private loan. Keep in mind that private loans have higher interest rates than student loans. They are also based on credit.

As soon as your student loan has been processed by your lender, the disbursement will be sent to your school based on the disbursement dates provided by the school. The school, in turn, will apply all the grants, scholarship, and loan funds to the tuition fees and other expenses. You will be notified as soon as the remaining funds are available.

If you have not used the entire amount you borrowed from the lender, it is best if you return the remaining student loan funds. This keeps the loan debt at a minimum and eases the burden of repaying it after you have graduated.