Financial Aid for college

Time-Sensitive College Scholarship Information
Apply for assistance by March 2, 2009 in order to be considered for the greatest number of various types of aid.  For information about federal and state grants visit: http://www.csac.ca.gov/  The main CSAC website is not explicitly for students with disabilities, however if you meet the requirements for these resources you are eligible for all of them.  Many parents do not know that these resources exist and parents of students with disabilities often assume they won’t even qualify, but this is NOT the case. Most are controlled by income and assets and many can be used not only for academic colleges, but also for career/technical schools and job training. 

Other important websites to check:
FinAid -- Other Types of Aid/ Financial Aid for Students with Disabilities
Funding Strategies – Traditional and Nontraditional
College.gov – In addition to the other information provided it also has information on  Financial Aid.

For more specific information about various types of grants, read on...

Students can apply for both Federal grants and the Cal Grants A, B,C (the Cal-Grants have to be used at schools in California.) They provide varying amounts of aid, but when used at a private institution, they can yield as much as $9,000+ per year toward student tuition and/or other expenses.  Another important state grant is the Chafee which is directed to current and former foster students which can yield up to $5,000 per year toward a student’s educational costs. The contact website is http://www.csac.ca.gov for information regarding both the federal grants and the state grants.  It is important to file as early in this filing period as possible because as mentioned above, some of the state sources of aid have March 2, 2009 as a cut off date and because colleges/universities/schools distribute to those with completed paperwork first.  If a college is running short on its allotted federal aid, this sometimes means that even if a person is otherwise eligible a student can miss out on a source of aid, if s/he is slow to apply.

 In addition to this information, this web site also includes information on “Cash for College”, a program designed to help parents/students complete the basic application that must be filed to access federal and most state financial assistance for postsecondary education.

If going to a California Community College there also is the Board of Governors Fee Waiver (BOGFW) to meet the California Community College mandatory enrollment fee. These are applied for through each local community college’s financial aid office.

TRANSITION BRIEF: COLLEGE/CAREER PREPARATION AND FINANCIAL AID --- National

TRANSITION BRIEF: COLLEGE/CAREER PREPARATION AND FINANCIAL AID --- California Supplement

Please note: Matrix does not endorse or recommend any provider, treatment, or philosophy that families may encounter from the resources, events, or websites listed. Matrix encourages you to obtain more information about any resource prior to selecting a provider.