Financing Your Student’s Future

According to Larry Moeder, Assistant Vice President for Student Life and Director of Admissions and Student Financial Assistance, every student can qualify for some form of financial aid.

Helpful Hints:

• Apply at least once for federal financial aid, loans, and grants
• Be very aggressive when looking for college financial aid and scholarships
• View the scholarship and financial aid search as a necessary, beneficial process
• Utilize sites such as Fastweb and College Answer to find scholarships
• Apply for essay-based scholarships -- essays often deter students, so the scholarship might have less applicants and simultaneously improve your students’ writing skills.
• Encourage your student to look at part-time job options. Get help with job searching though K-State’s Career and Employment Services
• Be sure to complete tax returns early enough to have accurate data for the March 1st FAFSA deadline. K-State sends an annual email notification to students reminding them to apply.
• Be leery of anyone asking you to pay them money to help you and your student with obtaining scholarships. This can often imply a scam.

Frequently Asked Financial Assistance Questions

What about the K-State Scholarship Application?

The application is due Nov. 1st for high school seniors and Feb. 1st for all previously-enrolled college students. Be thorough on the application. Before filling it out, sit down with your student to discuss accomplishments and in preparation for completing the form, take notes! Put down more information than you think you need; it may be helpful at a later time or on another application. Keep in mind: leadership positions and community service activities are heavily emphasized on the application.

Who should fill out general scholarship applications?

Students. Encourage your student to take charge of their scholarship applications. Scholarship Nominating Committees can tell if a parent filled out an application and this can negatively affect the student’s chances of obtaining scholarships.

How thorough?

Scholarship applications should be  grammatically correct and void of spelling errors. On applications involving essays, revise for clarity of thought and innovation of ideas. It is always helpful to have two or three people review your student’s application(s) and offer suggestions and corrections.

Does your student have some extra time on his or her hands?

As high school seniors, students should consider the scholarship search process to be their part-time job.

Does your student know his or her major already?

If your student has chosen a major, have your student search for scholarships related to his/her intended major.

How often should my student apply for scholarships?

Your student should actively pursue scholarships before and throughout the college experience; many scholarships are renewable or offer re-application opportunities every year.

Why are we doing this?

The scholarship search and application process is necessary and beneficial. Even if students are not awarded a scholarship for every application filled out, they will gain valuable learning experience from their efforts.

Parents and students can visit with an advisor in the Office of Student Financial Assistance to learn more about receiving student financial assistance.  Their office is located in 104 Fairchild Hall or you may e-mail finaid@k-state.edu or call
(785) 532-6420 or (877) 817-2287 (toll free).