What Does it Cost to Take Online Courses?

The direct costs for taking online courses depend entirely upon the school you choose and are not necessarily less than the costs for taking traditional, in-classroom courses. In general, you can expect to pay charges for tuition, some fees, course materials, and any equipment or supplies you're going to need.

What is Financial Aid and is it Available?

Financial aid is assistance meant to help you pay for school. Some schools allow students taking distance learning courses online to have financial aid, and others do not. You'll need to contact any school you're interested in to see what their specific financial aid policies and requirements are for students taking online courses. Additionally, the types and sources of financial aid can vary from school to school.

Most financial aid programs fall into two categories:

• Grants and scholarships are types of financial aid that you don't have to repay under normal circumstances. If you withdraw from a course or fail to maintain eligibility by successfully meeting certain criteria, you may be required to repay part or all of a grant or scholarship, depending on the particular award's rules. Some grants and scholarships are based on financial need, while others are academic-based or awarded on your personal characteristics or traits.
• Self-help financial aid consists of student loans and work-study programs. Loans are types of assistance that you have to repay after you complete your degree or if you leave school for a certain amount of time or longer. Generally, student loans have lower interest rates than other kinds of loans and some don't require interest-payments while you are in school. Work-study programs (in which the school helps you get a job so you can use the money to pay your education-related expenses) are not generally available to distance learning students as they require the qualifying students to be on-campus.

How Do You Apply for Financial Aid?

The first thing you should do is contact the school you plan to attend to get information about the financial aid programs they offer and any forms that you must complete in order to apply. Most schools require you to complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and submit it to the federal processor. Some require an additional, institutional application for aid. Most schools have deadlines by which you must apply for financial aid. Many of these deadlines are in the spring of the year in which you plan to begin taking courses in the fall. However, for online courses that don't necessarily fit a semester or quarter schedule, the dates may vary. You should contact the school directly to inquire about application deadlines. There are some schools that require you to complete and submit to the school's financial aid office an institutional application. (The majority of these require the institutional application in addition to a FAFSA.) Most institutional applications collect information about financial resources that the FAFSA doesn't ask about (home equity, certain types of property and investments, and so forth), as well as information about your personal interests. School personnel use the information you provide to identify your level of financial need and the interest- and achievementbased scholarships for which you qualify.

What is Financial Need?

Financial need is not necessarily the amount of money that you think you'll need to take courses. Rather, it is the difference between the cost to attend a school and the amount that you (and your family) can reasonably be expected to pay toward your education. Most institutions that participate in federal financial aid programs use this standard formula to calculate financial need:

Cost of attendance

- Expected Family Contribution (EFC) = Financial Need Financial aid personnel use financial need as a target amount to try to meet with the various resources that are available at a particular school. Typically, they try to award grants and scholarships first, then loans to cover the remaining financial need.

What are the Sources of Financial Aid?

There are several sources of financial aid: governments (federal, state, and local), companies, non-profit organizations, individuals, and the schools and programs of study themselves.

• Federal Pell Grants-Federal Pell Grants are awards to undergraduate students who have a certain level of financial need. The amount varies between $100 and $4000 per year, depending on the level of funding that the overall program receives, as well as depending on your precise financial need, cost of attendance, and whether you're enrolled on a fullor part-time basis.
• Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (SEOG)-Federal SEOG awards are for undergraduate students who have the greatest financial need and the amount you receive depends on the school's awarding policies for the funds. Generally, the amount varies between $100 and $4000.
• Federal Work-Study-Federal Work-Study is a program in which the school helps students find jobs to earn money to pay for educationrelated expenses. Students enrolled in distance learning programs usually are not eligible for Federal Work-Study because of the need for the student to be able to work on-campus or near campus.
• Stafford and Direct Loans-Money for lowinterest loans makes up the majority of federal financial aid. Federal Stafford Loans (also called Federal Family Education Loans) and Federal Direct Loans (also called William D. Ford Loans) are quite similar, except that the source of funding for a Stafford Loan is a private lender and the source for a Direct Loan is the U.S. government. If the school you're attending participates in the Direct Loan program, you apply for a loan through the school. If it participates in the Stafford Loan program, you apply for a loan through a bank, credit union, or other lender. A school can only participate in one of the two programs.