It's been awhile

Hey everyone! It's been awhile since I have had the time to make a new post on money for college students.

For many of you, financial aid and finding a way for college is surely becoming more of a grave situation, considering what the economy has done to many people's bank accounts and investments...not to mention what it has done to the financial aid programs that schools offer.

The rising costs of college tuition in California are ridiculous, for example. This year, all UC's have decided to raise their tuition fees by about 10% ( and who knows how much after that), which means that all college students are going to have to front even more money.

So at this time I thought I would give some more advice on how you can find extra money to help cover college tuition.

First of all, as I always say, FILL OUT THE FAFSA! See my past posts for why filling out the FAFSA is essential to receiving financial aid.

I would also like to share some advice on how you can better your chances of getting scholarships if you are already in college.

Keeping your grades up is a given. While most scholarships don't just consider your grades in college in deciding whether you will receive it, it still says a considerable amount about your abilities and work ethic as a student. In my opinion, having anywhere between a 3.5 and 4.0 GPA during college should be enough on the academic side to qualify you for a scholarship.

But additionally, you are going to need to be involved in extracurricular activities in order to have a good chance of winning the scholarship. Whether it is by being involved in student government, clubs (anything from major related clubs to ones that are more just for fun), community service, or a fraternity/sorority, you need to become involved in activities that demonstrate your leadership and potential/interest to make contributions to your school and society. Being involved will show this to the scholarship committee and will also give you many great things to write about in your application essays!

Still, winning scholarships in college is quite challenging, but by doing this, you will greatly increase you chances of winning one!