Even though the spring semester just began, it’s time for students to start thinking about paying next semester’s tuition. That can be a very scary thought, but it doesn’t have to be. There are many ways to reduce each semester’s bill. It’s important to understand how student loans work. Applying for scholarships and learning about smart student loan practices can make the process much less intimidating.
SNHU has many internal resources that can help students understand and reduce their bills. SNHU’s Making CENT$ Financial Literacy aims to help students learn more about all the different parts of your bill. Their Facebook page regularly gives students tips and resources to help them understand good saving habits, loan repayment and where to find scholarships. Following them on social media will also make sure that learning about smart financial practices will always be on the front of one’s mind. In addition, they host events for students to learn more in-depth parts of their finances.
SNHU also offers financial literacy courses hosted by iGrad, which are available on my.snhu.edu. These courses aim to give students a deeper knowledge about financial success and are highlighted by classes teaching loan management and smart loan borrowing.
SNHU offers their own scholarships, which are free to apply for and are open to all SNHU students. Right now, there are 58 available scholarships across all of the SNHU schools under Named and Endowed Scholarships. The due date for applications is March 15, 2021. The scholarships require an application including a unique essay. Each of the scholarships have specific requirements for applicants, so students can easily find the scholarships that apply to them.
External resources are also available to help students reduce their bills. There are many websites and books that list hundreds of scholarship opportunities for college students. It can be very overwhelming when faced with all of these resources, though. All of the scholarship services advertise themselves as the best, but some of them are better than others.
Students may be familiar with The College Board for their standardized testing, but they also are host to a large scholarship database. They allow users to narrow down the scholarships to make sure they work not only for them, but also SNHU. They let users search by major, location, club membership and even religious affiliation.
Another good database is scholarships.org. Once an account is set up, scholarships will be sorted by how likely users are to win them. This makes sure that users only spend their time and energy on the scholarships most worth it. Scholarships can be hard to find, but utilizing these websites can greatly help in the hunt for tuition money.
Finally, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a staple of college financial aid. Submitting a FAFSA application is key to getting government student loans. Borrowers will need to pay loans back, but the application is free. After filling out the application once, it becomes much easier to apply in following years.
Student loans can be scary, but with these resources students can be sure that they’re making smart student loan decisions.
