Michelle answers:

The FAFSA can be filled out every year, but depending on the type of aid you receive, you may be eligible for a certain dollar amount (such as in loans) or a time limit (such as Pell Grant, which only covers 4 years).

But you need to keep in mind that the higher up you go, the more loans and less of other types of aid become available to you. This is normally the case, and sometimes you can subsidize this with state aid and private aid.

Michelle answers:

Clarification: The FAFSA (Free Application For Student Aid) is just an application. FAFSA does not make any offers of financial aid. The inforfrom your FAFSA application is what the college/univ. Financial aid staff at the schools to which you have applied use to help them determine what amount and form (loans, scholarships, grants) of financial aid they will offer you.

1. If you have heard from the colleges/universities to which you have applied regarding the amount and type of financial aid they are offering you, I recommend you talk (via telephone or in-person) with the financial aid advisers at those schools and ask about any other financial aid options they can recommend.

2. For many scholarships for Fall 2011, for which you might be able to apply, the application deadlines have passed, unfortunately.

3. This is a link to a March 2011 article from the well-respected US News and World Report listing some scholarships with application deadlines that may not have passed:
http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-scholarship-coach/2011/03/31/8-scholarships-for-procrastinators-and-overachievers

4. You may also be able to find some scholarships for which you can apply, and for which the application deadline has not passed, by using the Scholarship Search database of the well-respected College Board:
http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp
If you wish to save your search strategy and return to it later, you can register (for free) without worry of receiving a lot of spam messages.

5. Like my local public library, your public library may subscribe to a database that you can access from your home computer through the library web pages, with your valid library card: GrantSelect.
I suggest you telephone your local public library and ask if it subscribes to the GrantSelect database and how you can access it.

Keep in mind that many, many, many students are looking for and applying for scholarships and grants. Being awarded one, is getting more difficult. Also, sometimes the amounts awarded are smaller than expected (or desired.) There is only so much money in the form of financial aid to go around. The more people who apply and qualify often means smaller award amounts.

Best wishes

Michelle answers:

Hi. If you begin working Full time, it will just depend on how much money you make that year before you file your tax returns. Your EFC will go up based on the fact that you have made more money. It will not change for the current school year though, just when you renew you FAFSA. Hope this helped!

Michelle answers:

The only “federal” aid available is through FAFSA. That is the application used to apply for all federal aid. Any other website claiming to offer federal aid is a scam and you should absolutely not ever list your social security number or other personal info on any of these websites. Your school itself may offer additional aid but community colleges usually do not offer much. Community colleges are hardly ever worth the out of state tuition. Either choose a different school that is able to give you more aid or stay in North Carolina to get lower tuition.