Office Of Scholarships & Financial Aid
1201 S. State Street,
CSS 101,
Big Rapids, MI 49307
If the financial aid you are awarded is not enough to cover all of your educational expenses, here are some other options to consider:
Do you and your family have assets that you can use to pay your college expenses. This could include cash, savings, education savings plans, retirement plan loans, home equity loans, etc. If not, is there enough money in your monthly household budget to reasonably cover the out of pocket expense if you could divide it into three or four equal monthly payments? If so, there are payment plan options that you may wish to consider.
While you are encouraged to continuously search for scholarship opportunities before you begin college and throughout your education, we advise families not to count on scholarship funds unless you have actually been awarded a scholarship. Scholarships are very competitive. Search for scholarships, but prepare to cover your costs without the scholarship dollars.
Our Scholarships website has a lot of valuable information to help you begin your scholarship search efforts.
Many families find that they need loans to cover their educational costs. Federal Direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans are the loans that are recommended first, before resorting to private loan options.
If the loans offered to you by FAFSA are not sufficient to cover your needs, there are "alternative loan" options that can assist you and your family in obtaining the funding you need to cover your educational expenses. There are a couple of things you should know before you begin searching for alternative loans:
Please click this link for more information or to apply for a Parent PLUS Loan.
If you are considering private alternative loans, you are encouraged to visit our private loan webpage to help guide you through the process.
** Students enrolled in a two-year Associate's Degree program are eligible for a maximum of $4000, regardless of the number of credit hours earned.