Financial aid in all its forms

Scholarship and financial aid opportunities abound for students in and out of the university.

Scholarships for good grades and community service are common when on the hunt for financial help in college. Less common, but still available, are the scholarships for being an almost perfect bowler or for getting straight C’s in high school.

There are more options for students seeking financial aid. There are numerous offices and resources students can look into at Utah State University for help.

The advisers in the Scholarship office, located inside of the Financial Aid office, specialize in the many scholarships students can find and apply for — both in and out of USU.

“For current students, their opportunities are going to lie within their department, so typically they have to have a declared major,” said Jessica Carpenter, a scholarship specialist in the Scholarship office.

Ninety percent of scholarship opportunities for new incoming students or transfer students will come through the Admissions office, Carpenter said. They will usually be academic based, looking at GPA or ACT scores.

Carpenter said that perhaps the most useful resource is the newly-launched website STARS, which helps new and current students find scholarships they qualify for in USU’s system.

“You’ll initially create your profile and what scholarships are loaded in there as available. It will filter through those and give you a general list of scholarships you can apply for,” she said.

Not every department and office on campus has loaded their scholarships onto STARS, because it is brand new, though many clubs and organizations based in the Taggart Student Center have posted their scholarships through the website, Carpenter said.

“In the past you would have already needed to know about them, but we’re putting them out there so more students are able to apply for them, more out there so everybody knows about them,” Carpenter said.

All outside scholarship providers wanting to advertise their scholarships to USU students go through the Scholarship office, so the workers there can make sure they are reliable and worth students’ time, she said.

Carpenter said never pay to apply for scholarships. It may seem obvious to some, but brand-new students who have no help may not know. Nobody should have to pay for scholarships because there are too many opportunities that are free for all students, she said.

“We get tons and tons of outside scholarships. That’s pretty much our life between the months of July and September … but it’s good,” Carpenter said. “They can range from the Coca-Cola foundation to a mom-and-pop diner … and they come from all across the country.”

For those applying for different scholarships and financial aid, there can be a hefty load of applications and resumes to send in.

“With scholarship applications, come see your coaches,” said Donna Crow, executive director at Career Services. “Just like resumes, instead of getting thrown in a pile, we can help look over them.”

The Career Services coaches can look over and help to revise applications but will refer all students back to the Scholarship office when looking for specific opportunities to apply for, Crow said.

Misty Inglet, a senior majoring in broadcast journalism, started earning money for college at a young age by simply doing something she loved and was good at.

“I started bowling when I was 10, but we actually didn’t find out that there were these competitive tournaments until I was 15,” Inglet said. “Some people think it’s weird … but it pays for school, so it’s something. It legitimately is a sport. I train for it. I condition for tournaments. I work hard.”

Inglet has used the scholarships and money she earns from bowling in tournaments all four years of college, usually only paying herself for books and housing.

Inglet was originally offered a full-ride to bowl on a competitive college team in Georgia. Because bowling is so big in the East, schools have bowling teams, like any other sport, and they will pay for you to go to school, she said.

“Look into every possibility. Don’t ever exclude anything,” Inglet said. “I would never have thought when I started bowling that it would help me with college in any form. The things you’re interested in, it never hurts to look into it. Maybe take it to the next level and it will benefit you somehow.”

FAFSA is the financial aid resource that junior Michael Zajac, majoring in business marketing, uses to help pay for school.

“It helped out with school so much because I was able to focus on school and not have to worry a lot about money,” Zajac said.

Zajac had to pay differential tuition in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business starting this year, which added to what he was paying.

“I would have gone into debt without the aid because of the higher costs of the business school,” Zajac said.

Zajac applied online through the government website for the financial aid.

Students can go to the Financial Aid office for help with loans and FAFSA, a financial aid system each student can apply for and see what kind of loans they qualify for.

The Financial Aid and Scholarship offices are separate organizations with different advisors and specialists in each.

To make a profile on the STARS website visit usuaggies.starsscholarshipsonline.com. For more information about scholarships and financial aid at USU, visit usu.edu/finaid.

— mandy.m.morgan@aggiemail.usu.edu