subject: Legitimate College Funding Sources Versus Scams: Watch The Money! [print this page] College grants, scholarships and fellowships are often used to offset tuition costs. Unlike student loans, these forms of financial aid typically don't have to be repaid. But if a financial aid offer sounds too good to be true, it might be a scam. This applies to online school programs and traditional based settings. Nearly 840 consumer complaints about scholarship and grant programs were reported to the Federal Trade Commission in 2009, as compared with 177 complaints in 2008, according to an April Smart Money report.
Companies might begin by offering scholarship seminars or scholarship consultant visits at no cost and then charge as much as $2,000 for their services, the Smart Money report noted. In at least one instance, an Arizona woman responded to an offer of $15,000 in federal stimulus grant money to help pay for her education, cashed a $2,000 check that she received and sent the company that provided it $2,100 for alleged taxes on the full amount, according to a March report from Phoenix-based ABC 15. But the woman never received the $13,000 balance, and the $2,000 check she deposited bounced after her $2,100 cleared, ABC 15 suggested. If you need more information about pell grants for college, look on the internet.
If you're considering applying for online college grants, scholarships and fellowships, you might first take note of expert advice:
(1) Don't get involved in unsolicited free grant offers and don't pay any money for "free" government grants, the Federal Trade Commission and ABC 15 reporter Joe Ducey advise. If you have not applied for government grants (online or otherwise) and are advised you've been awarded one, it's a scam, according to information attributed to the Better Business Bureau. To prevent telemarketing calls, the Trade Commission recommends getting your telephone number on the National Do Not Call Registry.
(2) Don't deposit checks when you aren't familiar with who has provided them, and don't wire money to anyone you don't know, Ducey advises. Also, don't give bank account information to a company you don't know and when you don't know why the information is needed, the Federal Trade Commission notes.
(3) Don't believe false promises. Many legitimate companies advertise that, for an advance fee, they can provide students with scholarship lists, according to the Trade Commission. Many companies also charge fees to compare student profiles with scholarship opportunities for which they might qualify the Trade Commission reports. But legitimate companies never guarantee or promise scholarships or grants for online college and traditional college pursuits, the agency suggests. You might consider an Internet search on any unsolicited offers, according to Ducey. And you might check the correct names of government agencies, according to information from the Trade Commission.
(4) Do research grants online and at the library and talk with financial aid representatives and guidance counselors. Many online college grants, scholarships and fellowships available from schools, large companies, non-profit organizations and government agencies don't require application fees. By completing a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), available on the US Department of Education Web site, applicants receive information about the types of government financial aid, including low-interest student loans, for which they might be eligible. And a Web site that the Federal Trade Commission says is the only official access point for federal grant-making agencies in general includes an online database. The government itself doesn't contact anyone to offer money, as per Better Business Bureau information on the database Web site. And the database Web site reports that it doesn't ask for social security numbers, banking or credit card information; nor does it share information, except with regard to government agencies that can offer assistance.
(5) Do your homework when attending financial aid seminars. The Federal Trade Commission recommends that you investigate any organization that you consider paying for assistance and that you be wary of testimonials. The commission's advice: Ask the company to provide three referrals, and speak with those referrals about how satisfied they were with products and services; ask the company about its costs, services and refund policy, and get that information in writing; be cautious of seminar representatives who evade or are reluctant to answer questions; and consider that you may never have money refunded from some unscrupulous operators, even if a refund policy is in writing. There is an abundance of information about distance learning education on the web.
