Student Financial Aid

This page has been designed to assist students and parents in locating information on college admission requirements, and financial aid. The information presented is not intended to be used in place of meeting with your guidance counselor. We recommend exploring the information you find, and discussing your questions with your guidance counselor. Your guidance counselor can provide you with additional information and advice on planning your college education. Your counselor also has information on specific scholarships and financial aid packages that you may qualify for.

*See your counselor in the Guidance Office for applications and/or additional information about any of these scholarship opportunities.

BrainTrack's College and Career Guide

BrainTrack's Colleg and Career Guide offers visitors the following advantages:

Original Career Profiles – Helps those considering a specific career path by detailing: typical occupation responsibilities, activities, and requirements; types of degrees and schools; studies; personal traits associated with that career; and how to evaluate schools. Several of these careers, such as teaching and nursing, include original stories from students that offer advice to others seeking similar careers.

Career Statistics – Assists those thinking broadly of career choices by compiling information for over 400 occupations in the US that usually require higher education and are expected to be in demand in the years to come, including:

	percentage breakdown of education levels for workers
	number of jobs
	typical annual pay ranges

Schools by State – Especially helpful to those seeking an undergraduate or graduate program for a new career (or for advancing a career), BrainTrack's career profiles link to comprehensive lists of relevant public and private schools in each state. Each school has an original profile with an overview, program information, and more. Our lists include only those colleges and universities with accreditation recognized by the US Department of Education.

About BrainTrack: Established in 1996, BrainTrack is cited by thousands of sites, including: universities like Stanford, Harvard, and Yale; libraries like the US Library of Congress; and publishers like the New York Times and Elsevier. Our site features a directory of over 10,000 higher education institutions from over 190 countries, thousands of which have original profiles. We also provide original articles on topics such as career planning, financial aid, accreditation, degrees, certifications, transfers, and studying in the US. There are no costs or registrations for linking to or using the information on BrainTrack.

CLICK HERE to Visit BrainTrack's College and Career Guide

COLLEGE PREP & FINANCIAL AID LINKS

As you research scholarship opportunities, please remember that there are individuals on the internet who have set up scams or fraudulent sites. We recommend discussing ALL scholarships for which you may wish to apply for with your guidance counselor before providing any information to a site

MatchCollege

Matchcollege.com is a free college search and information site.
"Providing information on admissions, financial aid, tuition and more on over 6,000 colleges and universities nation-wide."

Illinois Student Assistance Commission

The Commission offers Illinois residents a variety of grant and scholarship programs, eligibility for which is based on factors such as financial need, academic achievement, chosen field of study, or military service. At the heart of these programs is ISAC's need-based Monetary Award Program (MAP).

Children of Veterans Scholarship for the University of Illinois

This is a four-year tuition waiver at the University of Illinois. You must be the natural or legally adopted child of the veteran on whose service your application is made. Please note: This scholarship is not for grandchildren of veterans. Please visit the following web site to obtain the application form.

Illinois Career Resource Network

For high school students, college students and adults. A comprehensive guide to Illinois careers, training programs and schools. Check out the CIS Aid Sort to locate scholarships!

FinAid

This site has the most comprehensive annotated collection of information about student financial aid on the web with some of the best "how to" guidance on securing financial aid.

FastWeb
One of the fastest and largest scholarships search engines on the Net, FastWeb allows users to create their own personalized profiles, tailored to their own specific skills and abilities. This information is then used to direct students to the best scholarship funds for their needs.

CollegeXpress
CollegXpress has provided information to college-bound students for over a decade. This site has information on colleges, admissions, financial aid and question & answer sections for students and parents.

CollegeBound.Net
An interactive guide to college life. CollegeBound.Net provides shortcuts and tips on how to find scholarships, jobs, internships and federal, state, and local funds. There's also information on admission procedures and requirements, as well as some college profiles.

College Board Online
Regardless of whether you're a student, high school educator, parent, or guidance counselor, this Web site, created by the makers of the popular series of College Board SAT books, has information that will help in college selection and financial planning.

CollegeView
This free site has many features, including: criteria-based searches, virtual campus tours, financial aid answers and resources, school applications, career information, and expert answers, just to name a few.

Career Path
This site posts more than a quarter million new jobs on the Internet every month, and is updated daily by newspapers from across the United States.

Children of Veterans

There is a tuition waiver available for children of Veterans living in Illinois. The waiver may be used for any University of Illinois campus. Up to six waivers per Illinois county are awarded each year, one for each of the following conflicts: World War II, Korean Conflict, Vietnam Conflict, Southwest Asia Conflict, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Applications will be available beginning December 1.
Students need to apply before March 1.

To learn more about this tuition waiver, go to: https://secure.admin.illinois.edu/osfa/scholarship-database/detail.aspx?id=1522

Any questions can be directed to The Office of Student Financial Aid, Ph: 217-333-0100.