The Influence of Leadership and Success to Everyone

Creative Writing
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Creative Writing
Financial aid plays a significant role in enabling students to go through college. Financial aid for students can come from loans, scholarships, or grants (Peterson's & Overdrive, 2011). Unlike loans and scholarships, grants provide aid without the expectation of the money being paid back. The grant is applied to a student's school expenses such as books, tuition, and housing. The federal and state governments are the biggest funders of student grants. The grants are provided based on various metrics including, academic achievement, student status, economic need, and ability to pay (Peterson's & Overdrive, 2011). These metrics make up the two main types of grants; merit-based grants and need-based grants.
Need-based grants are linked to economic eligibility and family income (Peterson's & Overdrive, 2011). Most applicants attribute their qualifications for need-based grants based on their parents' income only. However, other factors that determine a student's eligibility. First is the number of dependent family members. If a student has adequate and able family members, they do not qualify for need-based grants. However, those with very few and unable family members do qualify. Second, applicants should consider the number of direct family members they have pursuing college or any other tertiary education (Peterson's & Overdrive, 2011). The more the family members pursuing education at the tertiary level, the more likely the student applicant is eligible for a need-based grant. This is because having several members of your family pursuing tertiary education puts strains on your family's ability to also pay tuition fees for you.
The third circumstance is a very low expected family contribution from an applicant's parents or guardians (Peterson's & Overdrive, 2011). If an applicant's parents or guardians acknowledge a meager expected family contribution based on their income level, the applicant becomes eligible for a need-based grant. However, the extent to which their level of contribution is meager is determined by FAFSA data. The fourth circumstance is the lack of family assets. Some families may lack the liquid cash to pay for their children's college tuition. However, they may also have enough assets, which, once liquidated, can enable them to pay for the student's tuition. To qualify for a need-based grant based on family assets, they need to have little to no assets. The final condition determining a student's eligibility for a need-based grant is their status (Peterson's & Overdrive, 2011). For instance, if a student has a physical disability and his parents alr...