Financial aid for online college and university programs

When the moment is there that you've made the wise decision to go for your degree online and you've been accepted to an online college or university program, but what to do next? Well, the next step in realizing your college or university certification dream could be to secure the funds needed for your education from external sources.

Federal student aid

If you live in the US and if you haven't already done so already, now (before your online college application) is the right time to complete the free application for Federal Student Aid, or FASFA if you want to cut it short. FASFA is a really straightforward application  which is published by the Department of Education and it gives lenders an insight in what kind of funding you are entitled to. The application process is quite simple and you are able to have it completed online in just a few minutes. Once you have filled out all of the required details you should receive a confirmation letter in just a matter of a few days time. This confirmation letter tells you exactly which programs you are eligible for to receive funding. The entire process is free and fairly simple to do, and it’s the real cornerstone for securing financial aid for your online college or university program.

Contacting the financial aid department of the online college

So now you got all of this information, you need to get in contact the financial aid department at the specific online college (or university) where you want to do your study. There are usually serveral different types of financial aid packages made available to you, often ranging from work / study programs to government study aid programs. The financial aid officer of the specific online college or university of your choice is be able to provide you with the required forms for the lending institutions applicable and may be willing to guide you through the whole decision making process. Forms may be found on the websites of the various online colleges and universities as well together with informtion on the different types of financial study aid.

Send in your financial study aid application

After you have completed your applications for financial study aid, you will need to send the forms to the online college or university of your choice to be verified and processed. Most banks nowadays will not release the study aid funds directly to the student, only to the college or university at the start of the term. This makes everything easier and safer for the college, the student and the financial institution.

Online college program application

Once your financial study aid has been approved and you’ve received a confirmation letter from the financial institution involved you can go ahead to send in your application for the online college or university program. Together with your application, you should refer to the approved financial study aid application and attach the letter of approval you received from the financial institution. Now the only thing you have to do for now is to wait until you receive the final letter of approval from the online college or university.

Conclusion

Securing financial study aid for onlinecollege and university courses / programs is quite an easy process that anyone should be able to do by themselves. Like the way you study, the key to the financial study aid application process for online university or college courses is to be well organized and to make certain that you meet the loan deadlines as specified by both the Department of Education (DoE) and your college's financial aid department.