Scholarships, Grants, and Aid Finding money for college is a lot
easier if you start early. While you can get loans to pay for
college, your first goal should be to access funds you don't
have to pay back − in the form of scholarships, grants, and
financial aid. Here are the basics of finding money to pay for
college. The process starts with completing the Free Application
for Federal Student Aid, called FAFSA for short. Almost all
colleges use the FAFSA form to determine whether a student
qualifies for need-based financial aid − and to determine how
much aid can be provided. The FAFSA form is completed online;
before you decide which college to attend, you can ask their
Financial Aid departments to evaluate how much aid you will
receive and what effect that will have on total costs. Then,
start searching: Free scholarship websites let you search for
financial aid opportunities (some sites require a fee; stick to
the free sites). Currently free sites include www.fastweb.com
and www.freescholarship.com . Your