Free Money!
By Denae Ayala, Arely Mondragon and Nicole Ransick
There are thousands of scholarships out there, but to be eligible, you must apply. Many resources are available at Taft College to help with your student finances.
Barbara Amerio, the Director of Financial Aid and Scholarships at Taft College, has been helping and encouraging students to apply for financial aid since 2011. Prior to writing this piece, we had no idea how many scholarships were available for students like us. The money is out there, knowing this, we went to talk with Amerio to get an insight on what kind of help us students could be receiving.
One type of federal aid available to students is the Pell Grant, however to be eligible, you must fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA),which has no deadline. However, state aid is also available in the form of a Cal Grant. Depending on your financial standings and background, there is a chance you may receive free money, but you will never know if you do not apply!
Here at Taft College, getting a scholarship may be as easy as filling out a piece of paper with your information on it in the Student Service Administration Building. The Board of Governor’s fee waiver can be filled out in paper form at the Financial Aid office or online through FAFSA. It is available solely to California community college students.
The deadline for the Taft College Community Scholarship Program is March 17 for the 2016- 2017 Academic Year. If you were unaware of this, you are not alone. We were not either, and at our confusion, Barbara Amerio was shocked and jokingly asked “are you living under a rock?” She reminded us that free money is out there in the form of grants and scholarships.
The Taft Community Scholarship Program simultaneously allows you to apply for 30- 35 scholarships just by filling out a single application. Hurry though, your time is running out, you do not want to miss out on the chance to receive a scholarship.
https://fafsa.ed.gov/