FinAid | Answering Your Questions | Books About Government Aid

Books About Government Aid

Laurie Blum, Free Money for College from the Government, 1st edition, Henry Holt and Co., New York, 1993. ISBN 0-80502-662-2 paper ($14.95), ISBN 0-80502-661-4 hardcover ($35.00). 201 pages. Includes more than 400 listings of federal and state programs. To order a copy, write to Henry Holt and Company, 115 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011.

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, Executive Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC, 1992. Descriptions of more than 1,200 domestic assistance programs administered by 51 federal agencies. Includes an index entry on fellowships, scholarships, and traineeships which lists opportunities for graduate and post-doctoral students.

George Chelekis, The Action Guide to Government Grants, Loans, and Giveaways, Perigee Books, 1993. ISBN 0-399-51792-8 ($24.95). 510 pages. Chapter 18 (16 pages) covers federal educational assistance programs, and chapter 19 (47 pages) covers foundation grants for education. To order a copy, write to Perigee Books, Putnam Publishing Group, 200 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016.

Federal Register, Washington, DC, Weekly. Contains updated information about federal grants programs.

Funding Your Education 1996-97, US Department of Education, Washington, DC, 1996. Free. A new guide to student financial aid from the US Department of Education. Available for free on the World Wide Web.

Conway Greene, AmeriCorps: Serve your country and pay for college, Conway Greene Publishing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, 1996. ISBN 1-884669-12-3 ($12.95). 133 pages. This is a directory of profiles of several AmeriCorps programs, intended to help you select one. To order a copy, call 1-800-977-2665 or 1-216-721-0077, fax 1-216-721-8256, or write to Conway Greene Publishing Company, 11000 Cedar Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106.

David Jaffe, The New College Financial Aid System: Making It Work for You, Council Oak Books, Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1993. ISBN 0-93303-182-3 ($14.95). 141 pages. This book focuses on federal and state aid, and so is somewhat dated. However, there is some information about negotiating for a better aid package. To order a copy, write to Council Oak Books, Tulsa, OK 74120.

Matthew Lesko and Mary Ann Martello, Free College Money, Term Papers and Sex (Ed), 1st edition, Information USA, Inc., Kensington, Maryland, 1994. ISBN 0-878346-24-5 ($36.95). 1,053 pages. A very big book. 590 pages are devoted to financial aid, including 122 pages of federal and state internships. Most of the financial aid section of the book is devoted to federal and state aid, with an emphasis on less well-known government programs that are awarded through grants to specific colleges and universities. Much of the bulk of the book comes from copious lists of the addresses of the institutions that receive these funds. There is also a section of state money available to artists and a two-page section listing schools that offer free or low-cost college tuition to senior citizens. Students are unlikely to find the financial aid section of the book to be very useful. The detail is often irrelevant, and the information is old. Federal programs change too rapidly, so books like this one must be updated more frequently. To order a copy, call 1-800-879-6862 or 1-800-UNCLE-SAM (1-800-862-5372) or 1-301-924-0556, fax 1-301-929-8907, write to Information USA, Inc., PO Box E, Kensington, MD 20895 or Information USA, PO Box 3573, Wallingford, CT 06494, or send email to lesko@ix.netcom.com.

Matthew Lesko, Getting Yours: The Complete Guide to Government Money, 3rd edition, Penguin Books, East Rutherford, New Jersey, 1987. ISBN 0-14046-760-2 ($8.95). 368 pages. To order a copy, call 1-800-526-0275 or 1-201-387-0600.

Octameron Associates, Loans and Grants from Uncle Sam: Am I Eligible and for How Much?, 3rd edition, Octameron Associates, Alexandria, Virginia, September 1995. ISBN 1-57509-000-7 ($6.00). 72 pages. This book provides information about federal loan and grant programs for undergraduate students. It includes a worksheet for determining eligibility and estimating the size of your award, and a list of Title IV Institutional Codes for most colleges and universities. The book also provides explanations of eligibility, deferments, loan forgiveness, loan consolidation, and repayment schedules. To order this or other Octameron books, call 1-703-836-5480 or write to Octameron Associates, PO Box 2748, Alexandria, VA 22301.

Pat Ordovensky, USA Today - Financial Aid for College: A Quick Guide to Everything You Need to Know, With the New 1996 Forms, Peterson's Guides, Princeton, New Jersey, 1995. ISBN 1-56079-377-5 ($8.95). 154 pages. This book provides a clear and easy-to-read overview of financial aid. It covers the various types and sources of financial aid, need analysis calculations, packaging, increasing aid eligibility, and saving for school. The book includes examples of three typical students and families. To order a copy, call 1-800-EDU-DATA (1-800-338-3282) x660 or 1-609-243-9111 x660 (x462 for Spanish), fax 1-609-243-9150, write to Peterson's Guides, PO Box 2123, Princeton, NJ 08543-2123, or send email to custsvc@petersons.com.

Peterson's College Money Handbook, 14th edition, Peterson's Guides, Princeton, New Jersey, 1996. ISBN 1-56079-697-9 ($26.95), ISBN 1-56079-716-9 (software). 722 pages. This book provides a capsule summary of college costs and financial aid at more than 1,667 four-year colleges and universities, with a freshman year costs summary chart. It also covers college-controlled merit awards (artistic, academic, and athletic), Coop and ROTC programs, and tuition waivers. There is also an overview of financial aid, information about federal and state aid, and answers to common questions. Previous editions included a 10-page listing of the top 40 sources of private aid; that has been expanded into an entire separate book, Peterson's Scholarships, Grants, and Prizes 1997, that focuses on private scholarships. The book comes with MSDOS financial aid planning software (need analysis and loan payment calculators). Previously published as Paying Less for College. Revised annually. To order a copy, call 1-800-EDU-DATA (1-800-338-3282) x660 or 1-609-243-9111 x660 (x462 for Spanish), fax 1-609-243-9150, write to Peterson's Guides, PO Box 2123, Princeton, NJ 08543-2123, or send email to custsvc@petersons.com.

Student Financial Services, The Government Financial Aid Book, Perpetual Press, Seattle, Washington, 1996. ISBN 1-881199-31-2 ($9.95). 162 pages. This book covers financial aid from federal and state programs. If you order this book from the distributor (Independent Publishers Group, 814 North Franklin Street, Chicago, IL 60610; phone 1-312-337-0747, fax 1-312-337-5985) or a bookstore, the cost is $9.95. If you order it as part of a 'program' that includes The Financial Aid Book direct from Student Financial Services (Perpetual Press, PO Box 45628, Seattle, WA 98145-0628), the price increases to $74.95!

The Student Guide: Five Federal Financial Aid Programs, Federal Student Aid Information Center, Washington, DC, 1996. Free. Revised annually. This guide provides definitive information about federal aid programs, including the Pell Grants, Federal Direct Loans, Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL), Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG), Federal Work-Study (FWS), and Federal Perkins Loans. Available for free on the World Wide Web. For a paper copy, call 1-800-4FED-AID (1-800-433-3243) or write to US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, or Federal Student Aid Information Center, PO Box 84, Washington, DC 20044-0084.

The Federal Educational and Scholarship Funding Guide, 3rd edition, Grayco Publishing, West Warwick, Rhode Island, 1992. $39.95 plus $1.40 postage and handling. Lists more than 135 granting agencies. Out of print.