College students across the board generally need to borrow from a plethora of financial sources in order to complete a college education. Financial sources include federal grants and loans, state-based grants and scholarships, college and university grants, fellowships and scholarships, grants, scholarships and fellowships from professional organizations, and private loans from lending institutions.
Students with disabilities not only may be fettered with the same funding issues, but they also face challenges within a traditional collegiate environment not the least of which is accessibility and mobility. The accessibility issue was pretty much handled with the signing into law in 1975 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Statistics show that there are over 40 million Americans with some sort of physical or mental disability. The IDEA was recently amended in 2004 and has reshaped the way our educational system deals with special education needs.
Students with disabilities not only may be fettered with the same funding issues, but they also face challenges within a traditional collegiate environment not the least of which is accessibility and mobility. The accessibility issue was pretty much handled with the signing into law in 1975 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Statistics show that there are over 40 million Americans with some sort of physical or mental disability. The IDEA was recently amended in 2004 and has reshaped the way our educational system deals with special education needs.
Organizations and Associations
Students with disabilities are advantaged when it comes to grants and scholarships. Since the IDEA made it illegal to segregate disabled students, there has been a concerted push to offer incentives for students with disabilities to pursue their educational and career goals. Many organizations are outstanding supporters:
- National Federation for the Blind - a variety of scholarship and grant awards for blind students
- Jewish Guild for the Blind - grants available for undergraduate students
- National Association of the Deaf - scholarships and grants for graduate students
Colleges and universities know their campus environments are more fulfilling academically, intellectually and socially when they provide a diverse student body. As a means to those ends, colleges have not only ramped up grants and scholarships to underrepresented populations, but they solicit and invite disabled students to join their communities:
- eorge Mason University - contact the Disability Resource Center
- George Washington University - contact Disabilities Support Services, ask for their brochure, "Financial Aid for Students with Disabilities"
- Western Michigan University - fellowships for disabled students pursuing degrees in rehabilitation sciences.
- Gallaudet University is a college for the deaf or hearing impaired
Last-Minute Financial Aid for College Students
By the end of September, many college students will be back on campus, registering for classes, catching up with old friends – and scrambling for money to cover the growing gap between their financial aid packages and the true cost of tuition, books and room and board.
Financial aid experts call the gap “unmet need,” and it’s rising. Students and their families are responsible for a portion of the costs of college (determined by the Department of Education, using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid), and students apply to their college of choice to cover the rest. But colleges don’t usually cover the full balance. For the 2007-2008 academic year, the average student with a gap at a traditional four-year college had to cover $7,878 in “unmet need,” a 22% percent increase from four years earlier.
Many students make up the difference with private loans. But smart students aren’t giving up hope for more aid just because classes have started. Experts say the recession has prompted more students to look for financial aid during the year. Shawn O’Connor, chief executive of Stratus Prep, a Manhattan-based admissions and financial aid counseling firm, says he gets one to two calls a week from students trying to figure out how to get more aid during the year because of a change in circumstance (e.g. a lost job), up from one or two calls per year in 2006.
Whether you know an undergrad who’s feeling strapped or if you’re just trying to avoid adding to a bucket of student loans, here are six tips for getting (very) last-minute financial aid.
Merit-based scholarships
For students with exceptional academic records or talent, schools offer awards that range from $1,000 per year to the total cost of tuition. In most cases, schools distribute the money before the academic year begins, but some students who were awarded a merit scholarship may have matriculated elsewhere, leaving the school with extra money. Just approach your financial aid office and ask, says Lee Harrell, an admissions and financial aid officer at Ohio Wesleyan University. If there’s no more money, ask about the spring semester because colleges tend to distribute this free money twice a year, he says. Also, ask whether the college offers any scholarships for, say, students born in certain countries or states.
Outside scholarships
Most third-party scholarships have been awarded by the time school starts, but some have fall application deadlines and distribute the money during the 2010-2011 academic year. The New Look Laser Tattoo Removal clinic in Houston awards $1,000 per semester to students interested in medicine, applied sciences or engineering; scholarship applications are due by Nov. 30. And students who devote much of their time to volunteering are eligible for a $1,000 award from Cappex, which matches students to colleges, about four times per academic year. The next deadline to apply is Sept. 30, and the award will be applicable to the next academic year.
That being said, there are other alternatives to finance college tuition in scholarships, grants and awards that should be reviewed to see what you may qualify for. One source that I found helpful is located here.
http://www.freecollegetuition.financebusinessadvice.com/
