Financial Aid Planning

These websites are maintained independently of LaGrange High School by various institutions and organizations. Some of the links will be inactive based on the server conditions of the hosts. LaGrange High School and our Counseling department bear no responsibility for the content and acceptability of these links.

HOPE is a major source of funding. HOPE is available for students attending Georgia colleges, universities and technical schools. HOPE requirements are constantly changing, so check with your counselor for current requirements. Keeping the HOPE is dependent on maintaining a 3.0 GPA at the Georgia college or university you attend.

Most colleges have a wide variety of scholarships available. Once you decide where you want to attend college you need to contact the Financial Aid office and inquire about any scholarships for which you may be eligible. In addition, if you know the major you intend to pursue, you should contact that division of the college and inquire about any scholarships they may offer.

There are quite a number of free scholarship data bases and searches on the www. We recommend that you start with www.fastweb.com. Other good sites are listed on a separate handout. These are all free resources! We discourage you from using any service that charges a fee. Research indicates that these services rarely, if ever, prove to be more beneficial than the free services. In most cases, we also discourage you from applying for scholarships that require any form of payment on your part. Be wary of any opportunities that require you to pay any fees, as most are fraudulent offers.

Some major local scholarships such as Hatton Lovejoy are available to a select group of students, based on class ranking. In such cases, eligible students are notified individually that they may apply for the scholarship.

www.GAcollege411.org is a website run by the Georgia Student Finance Commission. Every student needs to create an account (free) with this agency and make use of this resource. From this website students can accomplish a multitude of important tasks, including applying to colleges, sending transcripts to colleges, taking interest and career inventories, searching for scholarships, applying for the HOPE scholarship, and creating a resume.

Extensive use of this website is strongly recommended.

At the beginning of each month seniors should receive a copy of Scholarship News via their email account with GAcollege411. This handout is generated in the counseling office and is a list of scholarship opportunities that have been issued to the school. This is not intended to be a list of all scholarships available to you – just those which have been sent directly to the school. You should make use of all resources available to you in order to locate possible scholarships.

Start your search for college funding early and be persistent. Remember that you will need to complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) as soon after January 1 of your senior year as possible. You and your parents should complete your income tax forms prior to applying for FAFSA. Every senior needs to complete this form. HOPE and other scholarship sources require that the FAFSA be completed before you are eligible for their scholarship funds. www.fafsa.gov is the website for completing this form. www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov is a website for completing a preliminary FAFSA prior to Jan. 1