Financial Aid For Students

Guides students through the process of locating and applying for financial aid.  Prepared by the Congressional Research Service for the U.S. Senate, updated September 2009.

Getting started

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Student aid and where it comes from

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Basic assistance categories:

  • Financial need-based
    Remember that students and their parents are responsible for paying what they can-- financial aid is a supplement, not a substitute, for family resources.
  • Non need-based
    Factors include academic excellence, ethnic background, or organization membership. Corporations may also offer assistance to employees and children.
Federal Student Aid:
  • Provides nearly 70% of student aid under Loans, Grants and Work/study programs.
  • Available to all need-based applicants; some loans and competitive scholarships for non need-based.
  • Free information from the U.S. Department of Education:
  • Student Aid on the Web
  • Financial Aid Resource Publications
  • Loans must be repaid when you graduate or leave college:
    • Stafford Loans (FFELs and Direct Loans) include:
      • Perkins Loans for the most needy undergraduates; through participating schools.
  • Scholarships/grants are mostly need-based and require no repayment:
  • Pell Grants
  • Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG)
  • Other grants, scholarships, and fellowships, mostly graduate level: search the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) by Beneficiary, such as "Student or Trainee" or "Graduate Student".
  • "Congressional" scholarships:
  • Named for Member of Congress or other prominent individual (such as Byrd Honors Scholarships, Fulbright fellowships)
  • Merit-based and highly competitive
  • Members of Congress do not play a role in selecting recipients
  • Work study programs allow you to earn money while in school:
  • Federal Work Study Program: college campus jobs
  • Student Educational Employment: jobs with the federal government
  • For questions not covered by the Department of Education Web site, call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-433-3243.
States offer residents a variety of scholarships, loans, and tuition exemptions.

Colleges and universities provide some 20% of aid, most need-based. Check university Web sites and the institution's financial aid office when you apply for admission.

Private foundations, corporations, and organizations offer scholarships or grants:
FastWeb
Free Scholarship Search
Grants for Individuals

Targeted aid for special groups

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Interested in public service?

Federal assistance programs seek to encourage people to work in geographic areas or professions where there's a particular need (such as doctors in underserved areas); encourage underrepresented groups to enter a particular profession; and provide aid in exchange for services provided (such as military service).

Aid for private K-12 education: No direct federal assistance, check with schools themselves:

Repaying your loans

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After college, the federal government has ways to help you repay your loans.

States, schools, and some private employers provide help in repaying loans in exchange for public service.
CRS contact Merete Gerli, x77109

Constituent Services

  • Washington D.C. Office
  • Honolulu Office
  • Hilo Office
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United States Senate

141 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C. 20510

Telephone: (202) 224-6361

Fax: (202) 224-2126

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Honolulu Office

300 Ala Moana Blvd., Rm. 3-106

Box 50144

Honolulu, HI 96850

Telephone: (808) 522-8970

Fax: (808) 545-4683

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Hilo Office

101 Aupuni Street, Suite 213

Hilo, HI 96720

Telephone: (808) 935-1114

Fax: (808) 935-9064