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Financial Support for College

Accessing Financial Support for College

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and State Aid

The federal government and State of California have financial aid programs for students that want support financing their college education.

  • Most students that apply for FAFSA or State Aid are granted aid. Further, there are various forms of State and Federal aid.

Want to learn more about what types of federal and state aid are open to students, and how and when you can apply? 

The Pell Grant and California College Promise Grant

Students at all levels of college education should apply for the Pell Grant. In fact, the Pell Grant is the main source of financial aid for students.  

Community college students should apply for the California College Promise grant. According to research on community college transfer experiences in the Inland Empire, we found this grant gave students freedom to take as many courses as they wanted per semester that related to their educational goals.

Hence, the California College Promise grant allowed these students to focus on school instead of increasing hours worked at an external job to finance their college education. 

What Are Student Loans?

Student loans offer financial support to students who plan to go to college. Students can apply for private and public student loans to finance their college education.  Letsgotocollegeca.org has some fantastic resources for information about student loans.

  • With this in mind, check out their intro guide to student loans. This guide can teach you all the vocabulary surrounding federal, state, and private loans for citizens and non-citizens.  
  • In addition, the intro guide to student loans will also teach you about how to pay off student loans. You’ll learn about paying off the interest and principal on capital owed. The guide explains the difference between federal subsidized and unsubsidized loans, including financial packages and timeline of interest payments. 

TIP: Apply for a federal loan – it’s much cheaper than a private loan, and if you meet the qualifications you’ll most certainly be granted one. 

California Dream Act Loan 

For students that are non-citizens, we highly recommend reviewing the article, How to Apply for the California Dream Act.

Undocumented and nonresident citizens will learn how they can get college financial aid from the State of California.

Specifically, you’ll learn about the CADAA eligibility requirements, the difference between the California Dream Act and FAFSA, and more.