What is an Education Assistance Program?

An education assistance program is an initiative that is designed to help students pay for their college educations. They come in several forms, including loans, scholarships, grants, fellowships, work-study programs, teaching assistantships, and loan forgiveness programs.

An educational assistance program that does not require recipients to pay the money back are the first type of programs to help pay for college that you should consider. Scholarships, grants, fellowships, work-study, and teaching assistantships are of this type. Scholarships and grants may be given to a student based on merit or another inherent characteristic, such as being part of a particular ethnic group or gender. Fellowships are scholarships for students at the graduate level. Grants, scholarships and fellowships are offered by private organizations, schools, governments and other organizations. They may cover part or all of tuition, and some may offer money for living expenses as well.

Loans constitute another type of educational assistance program. This form of financial aid must be repaid by students or their parents. Parents can take out loans for their children to attend college, and students can often take loans out under their own names. Students without much credit may need a co-signer to get their loans, however. Loans must be repaid with interest in most cases. Federal student loans offer the lowest interest rates. Private banks and other financial institutions also offer loans to students and their parents, but the interest rates will typically be much higher than federal loans.

Loan forgiveness programs, offer a way to eliminate student loan debt for some. One such program is offered by the federal government for those who work full-time in public service. If students meet certain requirements and have made 120 payments on their federal student loans while they work in these positions, their loans could be forgiven. Other loan forgiveness programs are offered to teachers and nurses who meet certain requirements.

An educational assistance program is what many students need to enroll in and graduate from college. Without it, they will likely never achieve their dreams of earning a postsecondary education and finding the jobs they have always wanted.