THE GOODS : The ABCs of Finding a Scholarship

Here’s a tip for high school students seeking college scholarships for the 1995-’96 school year or beyond:

Start now.

“Don’t wait until May of your senior year. By then the process is over,” says Jack Wright, a counselor at Santa Monica Community College.

Seniors can use the fall to collect materials for scholarship applications due this winter, says Laurice Sommers, a college counselor at the Hamilton High Schools Complex. Juniors and sophomores can learn what scholarships they’ll be eligible for.

“Put lists together of where you might qualify. Notice what scholarships are going to students in your school and think about whether you’d be eligible,” says Gloria Kapp, director of admissions and financial aid at Cal State Long Beach.

“Be a detective,” Sommers adds. “One of my students did research the spring of his junior year. He found a scholarship for students who played golf and had a strong grade point average. The only qualification he lacked was that he hadn’t caddied at a golf course. The summer after his junior year, he got a job as a caddy. He went to the University of Colorado on scholarship.”

Searches are often rewarding because there are many scholarships, usually given for academic excellence, and grants, awarded on the basis of need. Neither has to be repaid.

Information on assistance is available from high school counselors, college financial aid administrators, the U.S. Department of Education and the California Student Aid Commission in Sacramento. Students may also consult data bases and reference books.

Some students pay businesses as much as $200 to search for sources of aid they could find themselves, Kapp says. More than 80% of aid comes from federal and state programs, and another 19% from colleges and sources including businesses, foundations, and religious and community groups, a federal publication says.

“If a scholarship search organization guarantees its services, find out what you have to do to get a refund if the guarantee isn’t met,” the publication warns.

Students who search for aid eventually must fill out applications. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is necessary for scholarships, grants and financial aid from the federal and state governments and almost all colleges, Sommers says.

Those who read carefully and get all their tax information and records together can complete the form in 60 to 90 minutes, she says.

But others may make damaging mistakes. “A question asks whether you’ll have your bachelor’s degree by a certain date. Without thinking, they check yes. It’s really their high school diploma they’ll complete by that date,” Sommers says. “Students also sometimes get mixed up and put parents’ income under student’s income, and that can hurt them.

“Most high schools offer a financial aid workshop that helps parents and students complete the form. That would be very helpful. The form is actually (only) four pages. But it can be intimidating.”

After completing the form, students should mail it by January, Sommers says.

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Students can apply for federal grants all the way through May. “But if they wait that long, they won’t get financial aid from the state or from their college because those moneys will have been given out.”

The major federal award is the Pell Grant, worth a maximum of $2,340 for the 1994-’95 school year and based on need and the costs at a student’s school.

Students applying for the major state of California grant, called a Cal Grant, must file a grade-point average verification form by March 2. College counselors at high schools mail the form to the California Student Aid Commission in Sacramento, Sommers says.

The need-based grant comes in three varieties. Cal Grant A is based on grade-point average while Cal Grant B is targeted at the economically disadvantaged. The grants pay up to $5,250 per year for private colleges, $3,799 for University of California schools or $1,584 for California State University campuses.

Cal Grant C is aimed at vocational programs at private schools or community colleges. It pays up to $2,360 for tuition and fees and $530 for training-related costs such as tools, special clothing and local transportation.

Those who want to attend a private school also may need to submit a financial aid form to the College Scholarship Service of the College Board in Princeton, N.J.

Immigrants without green cards may apply to the state college system, where they’re eligible for in-state tuition and aid from the extended opportunities program, Wright says. A court decision has denied the students those opportunities in the state university and community college systems.

“It requires an effort to apply,” says Kapp, the director of financial aid at Cal State Long Beach. “You have to keep track of varied dates that applications are due, and information the donor wants may differ from one scholarship to another. Some will want recommendations from teachers, for example, and some will want a personal statement from the student.”

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Many students don’t understand the process and eliminate themselves by not applying.

“Many do not even attempt to find financial aid because they consider themselves middle income,” says Wright, the counselor from Santa Monica Community College.

“Talk to 10 people with incomes that range from $28,000 to $85,000 annually and they all claim to be middle income. They all ace themselves out of the opportunity by their lack of knowledge of how the financial process works.

“The federal methodology of the need analysis takes into account 35 to 40 factors that determine the expected family contribution. A protection allowance is given for parents, depending on their age. The older you are when your children go to college, the larger your protection allowance will be, and the more eligible your child will be to receive financial aid.

“Families should also realize that the family that could not qualify for financial aid for one child may get aid if two children attend college. That’s because the family’s income remains steady, but its expenses are greater.”

The fact that families lose out on aid through lack of information is a shame, Wright says.

“It costs only 29 cents, the price of a stamp, to learn the facts.”

Scholarships and Grants

Many books provide information about scholarships and grants. Here are some recommended by college advisers:

* “The Scholarship Book: The Complete Guide to Private Sector Scholarships, Grants and Loans for Undergraduates,” fourth edition (Prentice Hall, 1993).

* “Directory of Financial Aids for Minorities” and the “Directory of Financial Aids for Women” (Reference Service Press, 1993-’95).

Also recommended is the College Cost Explorer FUND FINDER data base available at libraries and colleges. The data base was created by the College Board, sponsor of the Scholastic Assessment Test.