Financial Aid/Scholarship Opportunities | High School and Beyond
SCHOLARSHIPS
Saint Mary’s believes a strong scholarship program opens doors and changes lives. Students in grades 9-11 as well as current Seniors may apply for SM-sponsored scholarships.
The scholarship application process opens January 1 and continues through March 30. Application process and links will be provided through the weekly TeleRam.
Seniors (Class of 2024):
- Apply for SM Senior Scholarships by clicking on the button below.
- For a list of local and community-based scholarships, please click on the button below.
FINANCIAL AID
SENIOR COLLEGE FINANCIAL AID AND SCHOLARSHIPS
Important dates to remember || 2023-2024 Academic Year
September 13, 2023
Senior Family College/Financial Aid Night, 6 PM - Cafeteria
December 1, 2023
FAFSA available online at studentaid.gov (tentative date)
January 1, 2024
Grades 9-11 SM Scholarship application available online
February 1, 2024
Saint Mary’s Senior scholarship application available online
April 30, 2024
ST. MARY'S SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION DEADLINE.
ALL APPLICATIONS SUBMITTED ONLINE.
April 2, 2024
FAFSA FILING DEADLINE FOR UC and CSU SYSTEMS.
PRIVATE SCHOOL DEADLINES MAY BE EARLIER. PLEASE CHECK!
May 15, 2024
SENIOR Awards Night
May 24, 2024
Graduation
General Financial Aid Information & Reminders
*Information & graphics gathered in part by the
University of the Pacific (2023) and the CA Student Aid Commission (2023)
GENERAL ADVISE
- Don’t pay for a college scholarship search engine.
- Look for local (vs. national) scholarship opportunities; often there are less applicants.
- Ask friends/family for scholarship opportunities through their employers.
- Don't wait for admission to a school - many scholarship deadlines are early!
SCHOLARSHIP SCAMS
Warning signs:
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- You have to pay a fee.
- Money-back offers of guarantees.
- Credit card or bank account information required.
- Provides "exclusive" information.
Common Scholarship Scams
- "Phishing": Unsolicited emails that bear the logo of your bank or credit card may appear to be legitimate, but are traps to lure you into giving your personal or account information.
- NEVER GIVE out your social security number, credit card, or bank account numbers to unsolicited emails or calls.
- "Pharming": Unsolicited emails that encourage you to visit a website or click on suspicious links. Make sure your inbox spam filters are up to date.
- BE CAREFUL about giving out your contact information or email address.
TYPES OF FINANCIAL AID
Scholarships
Merit/Academic/Performance scholarships
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- Offered directly by universities.
- Often dependent on GPA/test scores.
- Varying application dates for consideration.
Outside Scholarships
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- Online: fastweb.com, scholarships.com.
- Foundations, religious, community, ethnicity-based organizations, local businesses, or civic groups.
- Organizations/professional associations in your field of interest.
- Your employer or parents’ employer.
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Grants
Pell Grant (Federal)
Cal Grant (State0
Institutional Grants
- Amounts and eligibility vary from school to school.
Federal Parent & Student Loans
Federal student loan options
Federal parent loan options:
- Parent PLUS loan – up to the remaining cost of attendance
- Approval based on credit
- Flexible repayment options and loan forgiveness opportunities
Cost of Attendance
- Each school will have their own cost of attendance: even CSU/UC and CC will vary from school to school.
- Direct costs vs. indirect costs:
- Direct costs: expenses that have to be paid such as tuition, fees, books, housing (if living on-campus).
- Indirect costs: expenses you may come across to help you budget wisely for the year such as personal expenses, transportation, supplies, etc.
Offer Letters
Each school sends out an offer letter with student’s aid eligibility.
- Layouts may be very different – look for:
- Total direct costs
- Loans vs. free money
- Total due after grants, scholarships, and student loans applied
- Renewal terms
- Verification requirements
FAFSA information
FAFSA(FREE APPLICATION FOR FEDERAL STUDENT AID):
- Free Application for Federal Student Aid – https://studentaid.gov
- FREE – OPENS December 2023 (exact date TBD)
- Used to help determine federal, state, and institutional aid eligibility
- List up to 10 schools (additional schools can be swapped in after FAFSA has been processed for the first time).
- Student and *1* parent need to create account (FSA ID)
- Collects household financial information
- Asks for tax information from 2 years prior. Seniors should be submitting the 2022-2023 FAFSA, which will use 2020 tax data.
COMMON FAFSA MISTAKES:
- Not reading definitions or instructions carefully:
- Legal guardianship
- Parent
- Head of household tax status
- Number of family members (household)
- Number of children in college
- Inputting information
- Confusing student & parent information
- Name and DOB
- Listing only one college to receive FAFSA data
- Not providing net worth of assets as of the date the FAFSA is completed
- Including assets that should be excluded
- 529 plans – where to report asset, where to report distributions
CHANGES TO THE 2024-2025 FAFSA PROCESS:
FEDERAL STUDENT AID ASSISTANCE:
- StudentAid.gov/completefafsa – access to resources (FAFSA, worksheets, etc.)
- Studentaid.gov/help-center/contact – online assistance and contact information for Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC)
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- 800-433-3243 (1-800-4FED-AID)
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CSS (College Scholarship Service) Information
CSS(COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP SERVICE):
- https://cssprofile.org (Online registration only)
- Online application that collects informations used by nearly 400 colleges & scholarship programs to award institutional aid from the colleges/universities (Not used for awarding federal or state financial aid)
- Required at certain schools along with the FAFSA
- Some colleges may require the CSS Profile from both biological/adoptive parents in cases of divorce or separation
- Initial application fee + 1 college: $25; additional schools $16 – Fee waivers available
Helpful Financial Aid and Scholarship sites
College Search & Applications
www2.calstateapply.edu/apply California State University (CSU) System
www.universityofcalifornia.edu University of California (UC) System
www.commonapp.org Common Application
www.deltacollege.edu San Joaquin Delta College
www.scoir.com College, career and scholarship search
www.wiche.edu/wue 160+ WUE schools- reduced tuition for CA students
www.aiccu.edu Independent Colleges search tool
www.catholiccollegesonline.org Catholic College Admission Assoc.
www.californiacolleges.edu California Colleges-college/career planning
www.act.org ACT registration, score reporting, practice tests
www.saintmaryshighschool.org St. Mary’s High School Scholarships
www.fafsa.gov FAFSA application
cssprofile.collegeboard.org CSS Profile (College Board)
www.icanaffordcollege.com CA Community Colleges
www.csac.ca.gov California Student Aid Commission (CalGrant)
www.fastweb.com Scholarship search engine
www.scholarships.com Scholarship search engine
www.petersons.com/scholarship-search.aspx Scholarship search engine
www.cappex.com Scholarship search engine
www.unigo.com Scholarship search engine
https://www.nasfaa.org National Association of Student Fin Aid Administrators
Salliemae.com Student loan servicer & information
https://www.stocktonusd.net/Page/776 Stockton Unified (*scroll down to “SUSD Scholarship Catalog” for SUSD eligible community scholarships)
Athlete Resources
Athlete Resources
www.eligibilitycenter.org NCAA eligibility registration (DI/DII)
www.naia.org National Assoc. of Intercollegiate Athletics
https://usveteransmagazine.com/ US Veterans Magazine resource list of scholarships for dependents of veterans (search under Education tab)
uncf.org/scholarships United Nego College Fund
apiascholars.org/ Asian & Pacific Islander Americans
www.hsf.net Hispanic Scholarship Fund