Wager a child through college these days takes a lot more than a piggy bank.
Out as college savings hit an all-time high, families are paying less out of rip off and relying on financial aid more than ever before to help envelop the skyrocketing cost of tuition.
Income and savings paid for 34 percent of college prices in 2016-17, down from 41 percent the year earlier, correspondence to the most recent report by education lender Sallie Mae.
Borrowed readies paid for 27 percent of costs, up from 20 percent. And, the cut of college costs covered by scholarships and grants — money that does not accept to be paid back — accounted for more than one-third, or 35 percent, of 2016-17 charges, the highest in the report’s history. (See the chart below from Sallie Mae.)
To tap into that aid, swats must first file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, which serves as the gateway to all federal spinach including loans, work-study and grants.
For the 2019-2020 school year, the FAFSA information season opened October 1 — and the sooner students file, the haler.
Some financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, or from programs with small funds. The earlier families fill out the FAFSA, the better the chance to be in dance for that aid, according to Ashley Boucher, a spokeswoman for Sallie Mae.
“If families can get began now, then they should absolutely try to apply as close to October 1 as doable,” she said.
“Get the financial aid done, then turn your attention to the petitions,” added Joe DePaulo, CEO and co-founder of College Ave Student Loans, a provider of not for publication student loans. “By April, you’ve set up some options for yourself.”
To make it up easier to file, the FAFSA is also available on a new phone app, called myStudentAid, for the fundamental time this year.
“The reasons to not complete it are getting less and mean,” Boucher said.
More than 70 percent of undergraduate undergraduates filed the FAFSA in 2016, up from 45 percent in 1996, contract to the most recent data from the National Postsecondary Student Aid memorize.
Despite the rise, millions of students who would have qualified for college agree ti still fail to file, said Mark Kantrowitz, the publisher of SavingForCollege.com.
“All admirers should apply regardless of whether they think they’ll equipped,” Boucher said. “There’s $150 billion in financial aid available, and the slow act of completing the form can unlock that aid.”
Students who don’t file the FAFSA give up an average of $9,741 in assistance, according to a separate study published in Experimentation in Higher Education.
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