The FAFSA is a necessary step but people often find it to be very complicated, confusing and time consuming to fill out.  You'll be required to gather a number of documents such as your Social Security Number, driver’s license, income tax returns, bank statements, and investment records. You'll also need to complete a lengthy online form that requires student info, dependency status, parent financial information and student financial information.  You should set aside several hours to do this.

Applicants often feel overwhelmed by the FAFSA application process.  Student Financial Aid Services simplifies the process and will get you on your way to achieving the financial aid you need for your education.  They will review your FAFSA personally using their unique 450-point FAFSACheck™ error detector and human review.   We recommend Student Financial Aid Services for those who would feel more comfortable having personal help with their FAFSA and would like to make sure they maximize their eligibility for student aid.

Project Working Mom was founded in 2008 by eLearners.com and a group of colleges. Since then PWM has granted over $6 million in scholarships. Their goal is to help working parents obtain their educational goals and raise awareness about issues facing many working parents who want to further their education. It’s easy to apply for consideration to a full-tuition scholarship. Just follow these steps:

1. Go to the Project Working Mom website.
2. To complete the application you’ll be required to fill out some basic information, such as your name what type of degree you’re seeking.
3. You’ll also need to write a short essay talking about why you want to go back to school.

Project Working Mom will be awarding scholarships to 285 recipents throughout the year. The applications will be reviewed by a panel of judges, and winners will be selected based on the strength of the application and essay as determined by the scholarship committee.

Life is short.  It’s a really good feeling to test yourself and realize that you still have abilities. I am a regular Georgia gal, soon to turn 50, sharing my story of going back to school.  I'm happy to be pursuing my education online, and if I can do it, anyone can do it!

Since schools have just started back after the holidays, I'm really glad my classes are online for many reasons.  And yes, I have a list.

1. Schedule – I have a crazy schedule, as do a lot of other students, so the online classes allow me to fit my classes into a busy day.  There are many students attending AIU that are also working full time jobs and/or have children at home, but can attend at their convenience.
2. Convenience – This may go along with “Schedule”, but deserves its own acknowledgement for a couple of reasons.  Again, you don’t have travel time, so you can have more quality time with loved ones, or more study time, rest time, etc.  Also, you can attend archived classes 24/7!
3. Location – For those that don't have a brick and mortar campus close by, online classes are the way to go.  We have students attending from all over the country and around the world.
4. Weather – Right now, even in Georgia, there is snow on the ground and temperatures range from the teens to the thirties.  Later in the week, we’ll warm up into the 40's, but still, I don't personally like to get out in that kind of cold!  We've also had several days of continued rainfall, and it's dangerous to drive in the rain.  Personally I would HATE to have to find parking and wade through puddles far away from the entrance to a brick and mortar campus, while trying to tote my necessary books, purse and umbrella, just to ruin my favorite shoes and catch a cold from getting wet!
5. Illness -  Whether you're sick and don't want to spread to someone else, you need extra R&R,  or you just don't want to catch someone else's sickness, online classes are the way to go.  Let's not forget those highly contagious, illnesses, like Swine Flu.   I must confess that after I toured a couple of brick and mortar campuses, I started thinking of having to share the schools computers, limited breathing space, etc, with students who may be contagious with who knows what.  That was a big determining factor in my decision to go with the online education.  Does that make me OCD?  No, just careful.
6. Gas/etc Prices – If you don't have a campus close by, then you would need to spend a LOT of money on gasoline to get back and forth to a physical campus.  And if the uncertainty of gasoline prices isn't scary enough, there's also the cost of the new tires/brakes/brake pads/transmissions fluids, etc that you would have to invest in if driving to campus.
7. It’s Green -  This goes along with numbers 1, 2, and 3 above.  Remember, when you're taking classes online you're not just saving money.  The impact on the environment is greatly reduced.  You’re going green!

I found out during my initial calls that I was indeed eligible for financial aid.  All of the school reps I spoke to assured me that their Financial Aid Department had a multitude of financial aid opportunities.  Between all the available grants, scholarships, student loans and personal loans, I felt very encouraged.  Plus 90% of the schools also had a payment plan!

I learned that one of the first things to investigate in your quest for financial aid is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).  FAFSA is the application used by nearly all colleges to determine your eligibility for federal, state, and college-sponsored financial aid, including grants, educational loans, and work-study programs. The FAFSA form is submitted to, and processed by a federal processor contracted by the U.S. Department of Education (ED), and the results are electronically transmitted to the financial aid offices of the schools that you list on your application.

The FAFSA form requires you to provide information about your family's income, which will be used to determine your Expected Family Contribution toward paying for the cost of your education. The difference between your EFC and the costs of attending school is calculated as your financial need.  You can search "FAFSA" and get several links to specific sites or just go directly to:

www.fafsa.com
www.fafsa.ed.gov/
studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/fafsa.jsp

As part of the FAFSA process, you will need to acquire a PIN.  The PIN is your US Department of Education identifier that you use to electronically sign the FAFSA. If you do not have a PIN, you may apply for one at http://pin.ed.gov

While researching financial aid opportunities, I was amazed and thrilled at all the info at my fingertips on the web. In Google (or your favorite search engine) just start typing keywords to search for.  Remember that you will get some differing results from different search engines.  Some suggested search terms are:

Unsubsidized Stafford, Subsidized Stafford, Perkins, PLUS, Grad PLUS, Pell Grants, ACG, SMART, SEOG Program, grants, scholarships, student loans, and other Title IV grant and loan programs.

Once you decide on a college, they should have a Financial Aid Department with a list of places that you can get financial aid.  If they don't have a FAD willing to help you find financial aid… then find another school!

Helpful financial aid websites:

www.onlinestudentfinancialaid.com
www.ifap.ed.gov
www.studentaid.ed.gov
www.salliemae.com/before_college
www.nasfaa.org/redisign/parentsstudents.html
www.knowhow2go.org
www.going2college.org/StateResources
www.nslds.ed.gov/
www.simpletuition.com/home
www.finaid.com
www.fastweb.com
www.collegeboard.com/student/pay/scholarships-and-aid/8936.html
www.collegescholarships.org/grants/

I graduated high school in Alabama in 1979 (OMG, I just realized, it's been 30 years!).  To make long story short, "Life Happened".  I met a guy, got married, had children, became a gymnastics/ballet/girl scout/soccer mom, a Sunday school teacher, and worked in various radio stations.

Jump ahead 27 years.  I'm now divorced, my kids are grown and I have 2 grandchildren.  The state of the economy caused the group of radio stations that I worked with to downsize, so I lost my job.  I moved to Georgia to be near my parents and tried desperately to find another radio job.  In my attempt to find "work" I saw the same requirements, over and over.  It was quite apparent that to get a good job – a career – I needed to get a Bachelors Degree. All of a sudden I realized that the ringing in my ears was actually my dad's voice in my head – something about having a "back-up plan"!

The thought of going back to school seemed crazy, but exciting!  I mean, I barely graduated high school (again, 30 years ago!).  I'm not a particularly "scholarly" person and just couldn't imagine myself being able to follow through.  Plus, I'll be turning 50 on my next Birthday. "Is there really any sense in getting a college degree at this age", I asked myself.   Also "isn't college expensive"?  But everywhere I looked, there were ads enticing me "Moms, Go Back to School"!  All the talk about getting government grants, student loans and scholarships to further my education peaked my interest.

My first step was to start researching all the possibilities.  I'm not one to make quick decisions.  I had to do a lot of investigating and compiling and comparing of information.  It turns out that I was indeed eligible for grants, scholarships and student loans.  I started calling area schools and researching the many online college and "brick and mortar" college options.  I took lots of notes as I asked loads of questions and compared the details for all the colleges that I was considering.  My phone was ringing off the hook as admission advisors were constantly calling me back trying to win my enrollment.

I weighed the pros and cons of being in an actual classroom with other students for classes, vs being at home alone with my computer for online classes.  There were many decisions to be made.  In my next blogs, I'll walk you through getting into AIU and my online college experiences.

If you are considering pursuing a degree over the Internet, you may find our reviews and comparisons of the top online colleges and universities helpful.

Barbara Means, the study's lead author, said, "The study's major significance lies in demonstrating that online learning today is not just better than nothing — it actually tends to be better than conventional instruction." The New York Times points out that new online tools such as instant messaging and web-based video have helped to enrich the online education experience in recent years, and that online education fostors learning opportunities that are more specifically tailored to individual students.

NextAdvisor.com has reviewed many of the most prominent online colleges and universities. If you are interested in learning more about online education options, take a look at our helpful and informative reviews, comparison chart, and answers to frequently asked questions.

Online education can be a valuable and worthwhile option, but it's important to do your research and select a reputable institution. A degree from a reputable online college or university can help you advance your career, increase your salary or break into a new field. To learn more about some of the top rated online degree programs, take a look at our reviews and comparison chart.

The school will offer a variety of secondary school schools including math, science and humanities according to a report in the Nashville Business Journal. Faculty from the Harpeth Hall School, Holton-Arms School, Laurel School and Westover School will all be involved in creating and teaching the curriculum.

Classes will begin this fall and be affordably priced so that secondary school aged girls from around the world can take advantage of the opportunity. The Online School for Girls joins a growing number of online educational opportunities for high school students. It is estimated that more than 1 million secondary students took an online course during the 2007-2008 school year.

This explosion of online secondary school options will undoubtedly continue to feed the growth of online universities in the United States and around the world.

We have reviewed several online colleges and universities. You can read our comparison and reviews of online colleges and universities to learn more.

First, there are much more strict limits on the amount of credit that can be offered up to a college student by an issuing bank. A student without a co-signer is limited to the greater of 20% of that students annual income or $500. While this may limit some students access to credit, it ensures that the particular individual is not put in a position where they have more spending power than they are reasonable able to pay back. We believe this should help most students develop positive credit usage habits and prevent heaps of unpaid debt from racking up.

Next, banks are prohibited from providing inducements to students in exchange for completing a credit card application. Anyone who has spent any time on a college campus over the last two decades knows how common the practice of providing incentives such as t-shirts, mugs, hats or even candy bars in exchange for signing up for a credit card. We see this as a positive move in that it removes a certain level of frivolity from the process of signing up for a credit card.

Finally, banks must disclose the terms of so called "affinity agreements" between credit card issuing banks and universities. These agreements typically give a bank exclusive rights to market credit cards with the college or university's logos to students and alumni in exchange for marketing fees. This is good for several reasons, but probably the most important has to do with privacy. Often affinity agreements allow banks to have access to significant amounts of personal information and we think it is good that this part of the bill of rights allows students to know exactly how their information may be used by outside parties.

You can learn more about credit cards for college students and tools to monitor credit reports and scores by reading our reviews and comparisons.