Federal Pell Grants

A Pell Grant is a need-based program for undergraduate students and is awarded by your college's financial aid office. Awards can be made up to $5,500 for the 2010-11 academic year, based on financial need. If you qualify for this program, your school will have money designated for you.

Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)

The ACG program is need-based and rewards students who have demonstrated a high-degree of academic success in their high school education. The grant is available for first- and second-year students with awards up to $750 for the first year and $1,300 for the second year.

For more information about these and other federal grants, talk to your financial aid officer or go to Student Aid on the Web.

Financial aid programs that are backed by the federal government but are administered by the individual college financial aid offices are referred to as campus-based. How much aid you receive from each of these programs depends on your financial need, on the amount of other aid you receive, and on the availability of funds at your college or career school. Unlike the Federal Pell Grant Program, which provides funds to every eligible student, the campus-based programs provide a limited amount of funds for each participating school to administer each year. When the money for a program is gone, no more awards can be made from that program for that year. So, make sure you apply for federal student aid as early as you can. Each school sets its own deadlines for campus-based funds.

Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grants (SEOGs)

A SEOG is a need-based grant for undergraduate students with exceptional financial need and is awarded by your college financial aid office. Awards can be made up to $4,000 for each academic year for educational expenses.

Work-study

The federal work-study program is based on financial need. The work-study program provides part-time employment while you are enrolled in school. Generally, you will be awarded a number of hours per semester that you can work and then you are paid an hourly rate for those hours. Jobs can be either on-campus or in the community.

For more information about these and other campus-based programs, talk to your financial aid officer or go to Student Aid on the Web.

State-based aid will vary from state to state. Below are just a few of the programs offered by the State of Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Tuition Aid Grant Program (OTAG)

One program you may have heard about is OTAG. This program is for need-based Oklahoma residents attending eligible colleges, universities and career technology centers in Oklahoma. Recipients can be either full-time or part-time undergraduate students. For more information, go to www.otag.org.

Foster Care Tuition Waiver

Students with circumstances that have placed them in foster care for at least nine months while they were between the ages of 16 and 18 are eligible for tuition waivers from the state. For more information, go to Foster Care Tuition program.

Oklahoma Tuition Equalization Grant (OTEG)

Similar to OTAG, this need-based program awards grants to Oklahoma residents enrolled as full-time undergraduates at qualified Oklahoma not-for-profit, private/independent institutions of higher education.

For more information about grants and scholarships, go to www.okcollegestart.org. This site also has a free national scholarship search function.

NOTE: All scholarship and financial aid searches and services should be free. You should never have to pay for these services.