Earning a college degree requires the devotion of time and effort. It also requires something less readily available to college students: money, a lot of money.
The cost of higher education has soared; according to USA Today, tuition, fees, room and board at public four-year colleges nationwide have surged 38 percent in the past decade alone.
A solution exists: Financial aid, in the form of grants, loans, work and scholarships.
"Financial aid provides a financial opportunity to students who wouldn’t otherwise have the financial means to attend a higher education institute," said Nick Ferre, an admissions adviser from a post-secondary education institute.
UVSC’s Financial Aid’s Web site states, "UVSC offers a comprehensive and varied scholarship program. Scholarships are provided by state and college funding, alumni, and private donors."
Scholarship opportunities exist throughout the school in each department. Academic excellence, exceptional performance and need-based scholarships are most common.
With thousands existing, privately funded scholarships are widely sought after by college students. Fastweb (www.fastweb.com) is a free online scholarship search engine recommended by UVSC’s Financial Aid department for discovering potential scholarships.
For more information concerning scholarships, Financial Aid has a dedicated scholarship line, (801) 863-8443.
The federal and state government offer many educational grants to college students; the most well known is the need-based Federal Pell Grant.
To determine your eligibility for the Pell Grant program, you must first complete a Free Application for Federal Aid (FAFSA) form, which can be obtained at www.fafsa.ed.gov
"Millions of dollars go unused every year because students are unaware of these many federal and state programs available to them," said Ferre.
Tuition and fee payments are due Jan. 16. For students unable to pay by that date, UVSC offers two short-term payment plans that allow students to defer payments on tuition and remain enrolled beyond the tuition deadline.
Details concerning these payment plans and an application can be found online at http://www.uvsc.edu/finaid/pdf/sttpp.pdf
The Financial Aid Office, room BA105, can be reached at (801) 863-8442 and is open most days from 8 a.m. till 5 p.m.
Additional information is also available on the Web site at www.uvsc.edu/finaid
