Chapter 12 Financial Aid and Funding Options
12.4 Chapter Review and Activities
Key Takeaways
- Identifying sources of funding prior to starting a post-secondary education can help students organize their finances.
- Scholarships, bursaries, and grants provide students with free money during their education.
- Scholarships are awards of merit for different ways that students excel.
- Bursaries are funding provided for students based on their financial need.
- Awards can be outgoing, internal, or external awards.
- Other sources of funding include aboriginal funding, registered education savings plans, and student loans.
- Government student loans offer students (even those with little or no credit rating) financing at a reasonable interest rate without having to start repayment until they are finished school.
- Summer jobs and part-time jobs throughout the school semester can be an important source of income for students.
- Identifying yearly and monthly expenses will help in building a personal budget.
- Developing a budget for the school year involves identifying expenses, income, sources of funding, and organizing the information into a monthly budget plan.
- An effective budget not only involves creating a workable plan but it includes following it!
- Identifying personal accomplishments and attributes will aid in applying for student awards.
Exercise: Financial Practice
Being savvy with your finances takes practice.
1. Follow the budget you created in Chapter 12.2 Personal Budget for a week and report back.
- Did you have trouble following it?
- Did you overspend in any areas?
- Were there areas in which you could have done things differently?
- What changes will you make for next week?
2. Apply for another award. When you applied for the award in Chapter 12.3 Applying for Student Awards you likely saw numerous other awards you could apply for. Just do it!
Make a schedule for applying for awards. There are awards due throughout the year. If you make time each week to apply for a few awards, you increase your chances of receiving awards by the sheer volume of awards you apply for. If you spent two hours applying for seven awards, and you received one award for $500, that is the equivalent of making $250/hour. Not bad for putting together a few applications.
If you still aren’t sure if you will go to school, or you still haven’t been accepted yet, you can still apply for a student loan. You won’t receive any money until you are accepted, registered, and the school has accepted your tuition. By applying early, you will receive a statement telling you how much you are eligible to receive. This is incredibly helpful as you put together your budget. This helps with planning and even decision making.
Keeping your finances in order is one of the most helpful things you can do for yourself as you embark on student life. School comes with enough stress as it is without worrying about your bills at the same time as you are trying to study for a final exam. Make a budget. Stick to your budget. And if things get tight or unexpected expenses arise, apply for more awards, get a student loan, or schedule an appointment with the financial advisor at the school for more ideas.
