Scoring Scholarships Helps With College Costs
Rhonda Shepard, financial aid specialist at Allen, discusses scholarships with a student.
March 5, 2018
Getting a college education can be one of the most demanding tasks to accomplish. However, once one has earned his or her college degree, it can be one of the most rewarding experiences in your life and give you numerous opportunities.
However, finishing college comes with a price, literally. The cost for attending college is so high that often students rack up thousands of dollars in debt that they cannot pay-off, or it takes them several years to do so. Luckily, there are plenty of opportunities to help pay for college including scholarships and financial aid.
Allen Community College offers numerous scholarships for students that they can apply for such as academic, athletic, and activity, scholarships. These scholarships can help students pay for tuition, book rental, and other fees depending on the type of scholarship.
Rhonda Shepard is the financial aid specialist who handles all of the scholarships at the college.
“Our academic scholarships through Allen provide book rental, tuition, and fees (not including online or technology fees) for the Presidential Scholarship,” Shepard said. “There is also the Dean’s Scholarship for book rental and tuition and the Merit scholarship for a flat 500 dollars. That would help alleviate some of the financial burden for students as they’re coming to Allen.”
These academic scholarships are based on you grade point average (GPA) during high school. For example, to get the Presidential Scholarship, a student must have a GPA between 4.0-3.75, the Dean’s is 3.74-3.5, and the merit is 3.4-3.0. The deadlines for these scholarships for the fall semester is August 1 and the spring semester is January 1.
TO APPLY FOR an academic scholarship, simply fill out an application in the link below. Keep in mind that the college must receive all high school or college transcripts you may have before they can process your scholarship application.
https://my.allencc.edu/forms/ScholApp.aspx
A student’s academic scholarship may be funded through through Allen’s Endowment Association. The funding for these scholarships have specific requirements which depend on the donor. Aimee Thompson is the Director of the Endowment Association and determines who is eligible for these scholarships.
Students also have the opportunity to receive an activity or athletic scholarship. These scholarships are set up through the sponsor or coach of the activity or sport. More information about these scholarships is provided on the Allen website. Students wanting to receive these scholarships must be accepted and selected by the sponsor or coach.
Prospective or current college students are encouraged to apply for outside scholarships to help pay for college in their local area. They may also be eligible to receive scholarships from their state or national scholarships.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is another opportunity for students to save money; they can fill out the application to help pay for college through government funds. If students need help filling out their FAFSA, they can sit down with their local counselor if they are high school students. If they are college students, they can go to the financial aid office and get someone at the office to help them. The link for 2018 FAFSA is below:
“I encourage everyone to apply for FAFSA because they could qualify for Pell grants or other federal financial aid that they may not be able to get if they don’t qualify for a scholarship,” Shepard said.
THERE ARE numerous scholarships for students to get through the college or outside the college. If interested in potentially receiving more scholarship money, visit fastweb.com to get matched with thousands more scholarships.
“My number one tip when applying for scholarships is to apply early; don’t wait until the last minute,” Shepard suggested. “It is important to apply for these scholarships because a lot of students are unable to come to college unless they have financial assistance through scholarships or the FAFSA.”
For more information about scholarships provided by Allen, click the link below: https://www.allencc.edu/index.php/admissions/scholarships.
