There Is Financial Aid Available For Those Final Years Of College!

While it seems like it's hard enough just getting accepted into a college

, what freshmen don't realize is the pressure doesn't really start to escalate until they get into their junior or later years. Some of those pressures aren't even academic. Financial pressure, due mainly to the seemingly annual rising cost of tuition, can really put a burden on a student. This affects those attending both traditional and online schools.

Proof is the Science & Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (aka SMART) grant. Created in 2006, the SMART Grant is awarded based on need, much like the Pell, although there are different grant-specific requirements. As such, a FASFA form must be completed in order to get one. One of the benefits is the same FASFA form can be used for both grants. It is awarded in addition to the student's Pell Grant award.

This grant is only available to students who are majoring in physical, life, computer sciences, mathematics, technology, engineering, a critical foreign language, or non-major single liberal arts programs. The website of the Board of Education details exactly what curricula are considered allowable. Also, applicants must be enrolled in the courses necessary to complete their selected degree program. Not surprisingly, the student must attain and keep a grade point average of at least 3.0 in course work required for the major. If you need more information about scholarships, look on the internet.

The grant will provide up to $4,000 for each of the third through fifth years of undergraduate study. The amount, when combined with a Pell Grant, may not exceed the student's cost of attendance. To be eligible, the student must also be a U.S. citizen or legal resident.

Part of this grant is that one must be enrolled in degree-applicable courses and this component cannot be overlooked. There must be at least one such course in every semester. Planning to coast the last semester after all degree-appropriate courses have been taken is not going to work as this means you have disqualified yourself for a SMART grant. As such, grant beneficiaries are advised to take another curriculum-appropriate class, even if it's not needed to graduate.

It is highly important to stay up to date with this program. It is reviewed every year, often with modifications made to it. For instance, when the grant was first created, it did not recognize "home-schooled" or overseas students. Now it does. There is an abundance of information about online graduate school on the web.

What an applicant should do is get in contact with their selected school's financial aid officer about this program (as well as any others they might qualify for). It's the officer's job to stay on top of these programs and help the applicant through the process. It also doesn't hurt for a student to do a little homework on their own. A good place to start is the U.S. Board of Education.

by: Natasha Bright

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