This period of time is when you are preparing for the financial aid process, which will actually get underway after January 1. In future posts I will discuss searching for scholarships and other specific steps of the financial aid processes.
A Brief Overview of Financial Aid Resources
Financial aid comes from three sources: (1) Grants and Scholarships, (2) Student Loan Programs, and (3) Work-Study Programs.
The sooner you begin looking for grants and scholarships, the better. There are a variety of resources to help you in this search which I will discuss these in my next entry.
Not many law students use work-study programs at the Columbus School of Law, but I’ll discuss these options in a few weeks, as well.
Student loan programs represent the single largest sources of financial aid for law students. Access to these programs is simple and the application process is quite streamlined. Most loan activity occurs in the months of May and June prior to beginning the fall semester. I’ll discuss loans in greater detail in a later entry.
Almost all law students complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). I’ll cover this topic in a later entry. The important thing to know at this point is that the first date a FAFSA may be submitted (for the 2006-2007 year) is January 1, 2007.
What to Do Today . . .
Between now and January 1, 2007 please locate or request your Federal PIN. Many of you probably already have this PIN. If not, or if you’ve forgotten it, go to www.pin.ed.gov and request your new PIN or to request a “duplicate” if you’ve forgotten your number.
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