Student loans for middle-income students are available for those willing to put in the legwork. (Photo Credit: CC BY-ND/Federal Student Loan Debt)

Financial aid is a necessity for many low- to middle-income students and their families. Thankfully, there are student loan programs designed specifically for people who fall within the low- to middle-income brackets. Banknote suggests those looking for ways to pay for college use this three-pronged attack.

Aim high for need-based qualification

If a student doesn’t qualify for student loans at one college, it is quite possible that student could qualify at a more expensive university. Sally Donahue, Harvard’s director of financial aid, points out to Banknote that need-based financial aid is contingent upon income and assets, relative to admission costs. Thus, not qualifying at a $20,000-per-year school doesn’t mean a $60,000-per-year option is out of the question.

“We have probably 600 families with incomes over $180,000 receiving grant aid right now, and that’s usually because they have two or three students in high-cost colleges,” says Donahue. “It just depends on where you go.”

Harvard happens to be a “no-loan” school that enables students to obtain the necessary financial aid via grants, scholarships and work-study programs. The Institute for College Access and Success indicates that there are more than 50 such no-loan schools across the U.S. from which to choose. Keep in mind that most require family income to be below $50,000 annually.

Tax credits offer long-term help

Carol Stack, co-author of “The Financial Aid Handbook,” claims that 2011 is a banner year for student loan tax credits. Specifically, the American Opportunity Credit is one to watch. Extended through 2012, this credit can mean an extra $2,500 for families, as long as at least $4,000 is spent each year on college-related expenses. Intended for the first four years of post-secondary education, the American Opportunity Credit applies 100 percent to the first $2,000 spent during the tax year, and 24 percent to the next $2,000. At least half-time enrollment is required and family income must not exceed $160,000 per year. Check with the IRS for more information.

The Lifetime Learning Credit is great for part-time students and those who attend college for more than four years. Approved college expenses up to $10,000 are reimbursed at a 20 percent clip.

Good aid for good students

Merit-based aid exists for men and women who may not qualify for need-based student loans, grants or scholarships. Collegiate financial aid search engines, like College Navigator and Meritaid.com, state that $11 billion in merit-based aid is distributed annually. Thus, there are plenty of opportunities for good students to take advantage. Chris Long from Cappex, a Meritaid.com sister company, advises students to find schools outside their geographic area that would benefit from their test scores and GPA.

“You should also apply to schools where you’re at the upper end of the academic scale. You’re going to be very attractive to those schools because they want to increase their average GPA, SAT and ACT (scores),” he said.

Sources

Bankrate

Cappex

College Navigator

IRS.gov

Considering scholarships and grants

"DaHjaj 'oH QaQ jaj Daq Hegh" if you don't look into these strange scholarship ideas, students!

Are you or someone you know preparing to go to college? Whether you’re a first time college applicant or a returning student, significant preparation is involved, particularly on the financial level. Payday loans won’t finance your journey through the halls of academia, so you’d do yourself good if you researched college scholarships for which you may be eligible. If you look hard enough, you’ll begin to see that being creative can help, because there are some strange college scholarships out there.

Top 12 weird college scholarships

Thanks to some fascinating work by the blog Zen College Life, I’ve picked out my favorite 12 from a larger list. Each of these strange college scholarships could be money in the bank for your college education – if you’ve got the moxie.

1. Duck Brand Duct Tape Stuck on Prom Contest – High school students who make the best prom outfits from the handyman’s cure-all are eligible for a $3,000 prize.
2. Society of Vacuum Coaters Foundation Scholarship – This has nothing to do with vacuum cleaners. If you are prepared to apply coatings to lengths of material at speeds of up to 500 feet per minute, then you may be eligible for a $2,500 college scholarship.
3. Sophie Major Memorial Duck Calling Contest – Think this is something people simply do for fun at the county fair? Well, there could be $2,000 in it for you, so start quacking.
4. Excellence in Predicting the Future Award – For a scholarship related to the world of high finance, you think they could shell out more than $400. I suppose some money is better than no money, however. Predict America’s economic future and be rewarded!
5. The Billy Barty Foundation – If you’re little (under 4-foot-10) and can provide documented proof of dwarfism, there could be big money in it for you.
6. National Marbles Tournament Scholarship – Start the kids while they’re young. Turn off the video games and get them outside so they can play marbles. If they win the related tournament here, they could earn between $1,000 and $2,000 in college scholarship bucks.
7. KLI Academic Award: The Kor Memorial Scholarship – The Klingon Language Institute accepts only the best and brightest. Even if you’re just out of Starfleet Academy and know no Klingon, you’re eligible to apply for this $500 college scholarship. If you need payday loans to repair your matter transporter to get to their hyperspace application office, beam on over to the application button for Personal Money Market that you see on the left side of this page.
8. American Association of Candy Technologists Scholarship – If you’re a college sophomore, junior or senior who majors in food science or a related are with at least a 3.0 GPA, $5,000 in sweet college money could be waiting for you.
9. OP Loftbed Scholarship – Dude, what are you going to Tweet to your BFF next? If you attend an accredited college (for a school other than the one of hard knocks, let’s say), spill the juicy to these guys and there might be $500 in college scholarship money in it for you.
10. American Nudist Research Library Scholarship – For many, college is about letting go and living the life you dream. If that dream includes unabashed nudity, apply for this scholarship!
11. Michigan Llama Association (MLA) Scholarship – If you’re a nudist, hopefully there are no curious llamas nearby. Because you never know what might happen. Seriously, if you’re a member of this select group (or the child of a member), you can apply for this college scholarship.
12. Mycological Society of America Scholarships – Studying mycology can be fun, but it can also be profitable for students, teachers and researchers. If you’re up on your fungi, there could be a $2,000 in it for you. Tell them Egon Spengler sent you.

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If you’ve ever taken college courses, you know that textbooks can be expensive. Depending upon the type of student loan, scholarship or grant you have, the expense for these massive tomes may or may not be covered. If you don’t have any help and you’re trying to pay your own way through college, good luck.

Payday loans and other short term loans aren’t likely to help you with the bill for a full semester’s tuition, but they can make a difference when it comes to buying textbooks in a hurry. Just make sure that you’re shopping for the best deal possible. Check out a place like Better World Books.

Taking the books campuses won’t

Stephanie Elam reports for CNN that Better World Books is a solution for both those searching for discounted college textbooks and those looking to unload textbooks, particularly those school bookstores won’t buy back. Xavier Helgesen, Kreece Fuchs and Jeff Kurtzman, the team that founded Better World Books, are prepared to make your textbook buying and selling experience as painless as possible.

“We just thought, like, wow, there are all these books out there that the bookstores are just saying, ‘No, I don’t want it,’ but there’s totally value in those books,” Helgesen said. “You just gotta get them efficiently up on the Internet and then someone will buy them.”

How it started

The three college friends tried to sell back their used textbooks, but the school bookstore wouldn’t buy. Once they put their books on eBay’s half.com, they sold like “gangbusters,” Helgesen said. They were going for around $50 apiece.

Feeling as if they had struck gold and not wanting to give eBay a percentage of the profit, the trio tried book drives. Their first moved 2,000 books for $20,000, but after hosting more drives, they discovered that textbooks wouldn’t be enough to support their business model. Soliciting libraries for their old books came next.

“We went to the American Library Association conference with kind of a one page printed pamphlet that said, ‘We’ll sell your books,’ and we heard all these horror stories,” Helgesen said.

“We heard of libraries having to dump books down a well at midnight because they weren’t allowed to even recycle them, but they didn’t have any room on their shelves and they needed a home for these old books. Once we started doing that… we got twice as many books from libraries now than we do from college campuses.”

Today, Better World Books brings in 40,000 to 50,000 books. Just as many are sent out to buyers, with free shipping within the United States. Those that don’t sell are recycled in an environmentally conscious manner, rather than simply being thrown away. Out of their significant revenue, as much as 10 percent is given to libraries and literacy programs worldwide.

And the prices?

According to Helgesen, the cheapest books at Better World Books sell for about $3.50. But even for the biggest, most in-demand textbooks, the pricing structure is very affordable. With payday loans and short term loans, you’ll find that your course load of books is within reach.

“What’s cool about us is we post (textbooks) at about market level, so some of the books will only be about 20 or 30 percent off, so they may still be $80 to $90. Some other ones are 90 percent off, so you may be getting a $100 book for $10, and that happens every day here,” said Helgesen.

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