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Paying for School

Different Ways to Pay for School:

1. Apply for a student loan
2. Explore aid, scholarships and grants
3. How much can you afford to use?
4. Tips on using credit wisely.

1. Apply For a Student Loan

Personal Education Loans can offer a simple and affordable way to help overcome increasing costs. With the rising costs of higher education, many student loan organizations are providing loans that cover the complete cost of college through programs based on monthly payments that fit real-world lifestyles. Did you know that the cost of a four-year college education has nearly doubled since 1992? According to the College Board, the average annual cost of attendance is $33,301 at a private 4-year college and $16,357 at a public 4-year college*. Here are some great articles on BECU.org and on other web sites that will help you make sense of your student loan options:

• Loan to Learn: Balancing the Dream and the Reality
  To help make re-paying your loan manageable, consider the balance between what you'll owe, and how much you'll likely earn post-graduation.
• Loan to Learn: FAQs about Personal Education Loans
  Plato said that "knowledge is the food of the soul". Look here if you're hungry for student loan FAQs and payment calculators.

BECU Loan Products: Home Equity Loan or Home Equity Line of Credit. Tap the equity in your home to help pay for your child’s education.

*Data provided by Loan to Learn.

2. Explore Aid, Scholarships & Grants

Depending on your financial need, you may be eligible for federal or state financial aid. And depending on your grades, your income, and your accomplishments, you may be eligible for scholarships. Financial aid includes grants, loans, and work-study programs. Scholarships come from colleges and universities, employers, individuals, private companies, nonprofits, religious groups, or professional organizations. Grants, like scholarships, do not have to be repaid and are available through federal and state government agencies.

Here are some websites we've partnered with to help BECU members explore potential financial aid and scholarship options:

Financial Aid

• Federal Student Aid: Introducing the FAFSA 4Caster
  What is federal student aid? Who qualifies? How do you apply? Learn the basics and use the 4caster tool to get an early estimate of your eligibility for federal student financial assistance.
• Federal Student Aid: Funding Education Beyond High School
  This online PDF is a 60-page comprehensive resource from the U.S. Department of Education about grants, loans, and work-study programs.
• Federal Student Aid: Financial Aid Wizard
  Student Aid on the Web's Financial Aid Wizard allows you to plan out, in 7 easy steps, your entire financial aid packages online!
  
  Easily find and calculate virtually everything you need for any school you're interested in. Use the wizard to see deadlines for filing financial aid applications, to access scholarship searches, to estimate your expected family contribution and federal aid, and to interpret and analyze financial aid award letters.

Scholarships & Grants

• BECU Scholarships: Each year, the BECU Foundation awards at least 25 scholarships of 2,000 each to members active in their communities. Applications will be available and accepted January to March of each year.
• Fastweb.com: Find Scholarships
  Once you register, Fastweb.com will send you email notifications of scholarships, internships, and grants that fit your interests.
• SchoolSoup: Scholarship Search Engine
  SchoolSoup has the largest scholarship database in the world. Use it to search through $32 billion worth of scholarships to find the ones that match your interests and profile.
• Sallie Mae: Feder al Grants and Scholarships
  Grants and scholarships are attractive ways to pay for college because you don’t need to repay the money.
• Sallie Mae: Ways to Reduce Your Tuition Bill
  When scholarships, grants, loans, and alternative funding still aren’t making the cost of tuition manageable, check out these great ideas for ways you may be able to lower your tuition bill.
• Loan to Learn: Balancing the Dream and the Reality
  To help make re-paying your loan manageable, consider the balance between what you'll owe, and how much you'll likely earn post-graduation.
• Loan to Learn: FAQs about Personal Education Loans
  Plato said that "knowledge is the food of the soul". Look here if you're hungry for student loan FAQs and payment calculators.

3. Discover Smart Ways to Save For School

There are lots of ways to actively save for your education.

• Save tax-free with a Coverdell Education Savings Account. Auto Deposit money from your job or internship into your BECU savings account.
• Another way to save is with a Certificate of Deposit (CD). CDs earn higher interest than a savings account and can help you save for your future.
• Also available to BECU members is a free financial counseling service called BALANCE. You can speak with a BALANCE financial counselor to discuss your budget.
• And BECU education specialists offer seminars and webcasts where you can learn new ways to budget, save, and invest in your future. Here are some great articles on BECU.org and on other web sites that will help you learn saving strategies that could work for you.

Learn About Coverdell Education Savings Accounts

• The Motley Fool: Make Your Diploma Dollars Go Farther
  In the Motley Fool’s College Savings web site, you’ll learn that Coverdell ESAs allow a maximum annual contribution of $2,000 per student per year. The earnings grow tax-free as long as distributions are used for eligible expenses.

BECU Products and Services:

BECU is here to help. Check out the various ways that students can benefit from the credit union difference.

• BECU: Discover Member Advantage
  Get higher returns on lower balances: As a BECU member, you can earn higher rates above our standard rates on the first $500 you deposit and get FREE Direct Deposit, making it easier to save money every month.
• BECU: Learn the benefits of Fixed-Rate CDs
  BECU CDs guarantee a fixed rate of return: It’s easy to watch your money grow with a BECU CD. A Certificate of Deposit is like a savings account where you earn more interest because you agree to keep the money in the account for a certain amount of time, or term. Terms for CDs range from three months to five years. Open an Add-To CD with as little as $100 or a traditional CD with $500.
• BECU: Attend or View a Better Budgeting Seminar
  Learn how to spend less and save more: Discover where you're currently spending your money; learn how to create a spending plan and a savings budget, and explore ways to stay on track.