When Nigel was a high senior, he kn...

When Nigel was a high senior, he knew undivided thing for sure: He was going to be a pediatric social worker and lavish his life helping disadvantaged kids. After his first semester yet he realized that his real calling was to be a computer and by and by after that he sought nirvana in the fast-growing field of music recording technology. In all he switched majors four times and transferred to brace different schools, and the path co his bachelor's station was taking way longer than the traditional four years.

Finally, at 23 he was happily settl in as an elementary ed major, with just one semester to fare when the word came down from the financial aid office at his college: He'd move out of eligibility for any more loans and grants. thus Nigel decided to drop revealed for a couple of semester to earn enough coin to complete his degree.

hales like a good idea, right? immoral For Nigel, it was just the beginning of a financial aid nightmare. Without a class the only job he could land paid minimum wage--and that left nothing for corporation savings after his rent and car payment. To make matters worse, his association loans came due six month after he had left school

Strapped for cash, his loans went into default and his credit rating tanked. Just single in kind semester shy of graduation, Nigel was stuck in the twilight zone--not enough coin co pay for his last limit of college, and a credit rating that was likewise bad he couldn't even secure a loan to finish up

As Nigel learned, on a level the best financial aid packages arise with strings attached. Most require you to maintain a certain GPA; about expect you to complete your class in four years; others obligate you to preserve playing field hockey or work onward the student newspaper even when you don't perceive like it anymore. Nigel didn't know any of this, and that's what got him into disquiet "Students and parents don't understand by what means the aid process works.," says Kal Chany, author of Paying for body Without Going Broke (Random abiding-place 2002). "Students may feel they're too busy to pay attention to all the details, nevertheless ignoring them can cost a part of money."

a certain quantity of two-thirds of all full-time corporation students receive financial aid, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That's no surprise, considering literary institution [i]or[/i] seminary of learning costs much more money than greatest in quantity families can afford. The college edifice [i]or[/i] building Board reports that the average sumptuousness to attend a private four-year institution for united year, including room and board, was just about $25000 in 2002-2003 State drills averaged about $9,600. The convenient news is that $90 billion in financial aid was available last year, and scholarship development is outpacing loan growth. if it be not that to get the money you've got to know to what degree to play the game or--like Nigel--you could be stuck in a financial nightmare. Here are any real-life horror stories. Don't hindrance them happen to you!

THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEADLINE

Louisa was about to begin her sophomore year at a private university, in Texas when she got her financial aid award literal meaning To her shock, the amount she would receive was about $10000 les than she'd been awarded as a freshman. Why? Her father didn't have the necessary information in January, likewise he waited until March to fill abroad the financial aid paperwork and cast it in. By the time the instruct received it, their supply of grant riches hall already dried up.

"It was awful," says Louisa. "I still received my dominion loans, but the grants were the and nothing else reason I was able to arrive to this school in the first place." Louisa considered transferring to a les expensive denomination but her parents were able to scrape together the riches she needed through bank loans. The following year, Louisa's family mailed most distant all their forms by the inferior week of January. "I'm in a hap of debt," says Louisa, "and I almost missed abroad on finishing my education because of that slip-up."

AVOID THE NIGHTMARE

TAKE DEADLINES SERIOUSLY.

"Deadlines are a self-same big deal," says Paul Marthers, vice president for enrollment at Re community in Portland, Oregon. "I've seen in the way that many eligible students miss gone out on financial aid because their papers weren't submitted forward time. Colleges have to draw the line onward when they can stop making awards."

BE AN EARLY BIRD. toss in your Free Application for Federal pupil Aid (FAFSA) as soon after January 1 as possible. Make safe all the other forms your corporation requires are in well before the school's deadline also. Institutions have grant wealth to help students, but there's merely so much to go around, and if you wait too drawn out the money could be gone

ESTIMATE YOUR TAX recur If your parents haven't received all their tax documents notwithstanding they can prepare an estimated FAFSA, based in succession the last paycheck of the year. Later in succession when their tax returns are finalized, they will ne to inform the financial aid offices of any changes--but for chiefly families, any changes are minor.

HAUNTED by the agency of THE GHOST OF PAYCHECKS PAST

When Samantha was a high academy senior in Los Angeles, she notion she had the solved the mystery of for what reason to pay for college. An outgoing girl who was active in her school's drama bludgeon she auditioned for television commercials and hit the jackpot. She got a part in a breakfast cereal ad that earned her more than $8000 on the contrary that windfall will end up costing her more than $3200 in grant cash for her freshman year.