There are plenty of Local Sources of financial aid. Your temple, local shops, church, school, or other community organization that you are involved with may have a scholarship for you! At the Bronx High School of Science alone there are three graduation awards along with monies for working in certain offices. Ask someone who would know about these sorts of things, these are hardest to find. There are no postings for these scholarship opportunities online (usually) but can be quite plentiful. Have your parents check at work and ask your pastor or rabbi or other cleric. It's always worth a shot.

It's easiest and hardest to win scholarships from National Sources; I applied for over 10 national awards and didn't win one. But for my $3.90 it was worth the shot. The Discover Card Tribute Awards for High School Juniors (www.aasa.org) is one of the biggest scholarship awards and missed by people who do not look for financial aid until their senior year of high school. These are private funds given by large or national companies/organizations. There are many books out there that you can purchase that offer some very specific scholarship information; it is worth it if you can find a targeted book (like those for B-students or student-athletes). Check collegeboard.com and fastweb.com for two great search engines of scholarships.

I lied, it's really easiest to get financial aid from Federal/State Sources but they require filing of special forms that are the FAFSA (explained later) and additional forms that vary by state. The biggest source of money for college is the national government. Money is usually for the poorest families, so it is quite possible that those of us with family incomes of over $60-80,000 will miss out on this source of loans and grants. However, this is not a steadfast rule, having another sibling in college will bring down your Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) which describes how much the government says you should be able to pay for college. The FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid) is required by most schools to determine need based financial aid.

And then there is of course Institutional Sources. Many institutions of Higher Education have their own sources of aid some is merit based for achievement in high school (academically, sports, musical ability, etc...) and some give their own need based financial aid. Find out about school's individualized financial aid program if it is an issue before you should apply. Some schools offer money for specific programs. Clark University in Worcester, MA for example will give more money to academically talented students interested in the sciences rather than the humanities or another program. Your financial aid counselor at the university is your friend and if you call, they will usually try to work with you to help cover the costs associated with college.

As they say however, don't let the cost of a school deter you... financial aid is a definite possibility for all students not just poor ones. Students should at least apply to all schools that they are interested in. They should try to get funding from private sources and call up the financial aid office of the school that they are interested in attending if they need more aid.

Copyright: Joshua is a freelancer and a student at Binghamton University, State University of New York. He is pursuing majors in Finance, Human Development, and Accounting. Joshua's work has been published in many online blogs, web sites and print journals.