Non Traditional Student Funding

I went back to college in Dallas, Texas about two years ago when the job market tanked along with my career. I’m a nontraditional student, which is code for anyone over 30 years of age attending college. With few students my age, I am glad to see an increase in non-traditional students who take our studies more seriously. Non-traditional students not only expect more in the classroom, but often bring balance and perspective to those with little experience. I must say the students receiving financial aid are clever at finding ways to not pay for college.

As you pay for college and survive the typically painful annual process of applying for and hopefully receiving financial aid, you then notice another increase. It’s the plethora of emails on how to save money in every aspect of college life from books to insurance. I was bombarded with invitations to use services and save money and apply for the vastly available grants and scholarships and get my degree. You almost feel indestructible reading these ads. Some ads would have you believe there’s a guy at every university waiting just for you so he can write a check just because you’re in college. But eventually you get through a semester and realize that grants are few and far between and have strict, unyielding requirements. Still, you have to look for ways to reduce the cost of attendance which has skyrocketed in recent years and continues to climb. This leads you to the pursuit of scholarships.

While you can find plenty of sites talking about scholarships, it’s a lot harder to actually find scholarships. Some sites are full of links that take you on a goose chase and you never find the golden egg. I eventually found the Federal Government’s financial aid site and the FAFSA site which led me to FastWeb, a site where you can search for college scholarships. After navigating the waters of financial aid at college…a list of scholarships is a very helpful tool. After all, nontraditional students are not being courted to attend college. Only after a year was I approached for scholarship opportunities by Phi Theta Kappa, a national honor society for two-year colleges.

I did find scholarships to apply for, yet the requirements promptly narrowed my opportunities. Most scholarships have very specific requirements such as where you live, what you study, grade point average, age, etc. I even tried to apply for a scholarship through a group my mother belongs to, but the application was only for persons living with their parents and I couldn’t get in touch with anyone to help. The word available took on new meaning. This nontraditional student found some traditional discouragement. I was not prepared for the paperwork required for each application or that most awards were $500-$1000 a year or the endless waiting. I never heard from anyone. When NPR debates the price of a college education in contrast to the debt, you may want reconsider scholarships despite the paperwork. Perhaps…. perhaps…, but I’m off to study now.