Financing Your Education

It’s graduation season again, that time of year when your Facebook feed is littered with caps and gowns and your favorite restaurant doesn’t have any tables available, because proud families in their best attire flash their pearly whites in joyous smiles and pass Congratulations cards to the recent grad.

You’re proud of your friends that are graduating, but perhaps you’re also thinking that could have been me. If only I hadn’t started this dead end job so young, if only I had waited to start a family, if only I had got better grades. If only I could afford it!

Our job at the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) is to help students achieve their goals, so we’ve put together a quiz to determine if you’re ready for a change that could mean going back to school!

1. Are you tired of your current situation?
   1. Yes
   2. No

 

2. Do you want to learn new skills and meet new people?
   1. Yes
   2. No

 

3. Are finances holding you back from making any changes in your life?
   1. Yes
   2. No

 

4. Do you feel like you have untapped potential?
   1. Yes
   2. No

 

5. Would a marketable skill improve your self-esteem?
   1. Yes
   2. No

Surprised by how many yeses you circled? We’re not! So many of our students at ATI enroll in one of our accredited hands-on training programs because they are tired of their current situation, they want to learn and meet new people, they know they can succeed if given the opportunity to, and feel unskilled and therefore unvalued in the community. What many of our students don’t know at first is that they can apply for financial aid to study at ATI!

In this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vam6ggRjjF4 sources of financial aid for education are explained. If you’re thinking about going back to school, we suggest you watch this video full of tips on how to find money for college.

If you don’t have time to watch the video, we’ve summarized it for you here:

Grants and scholarships come from a number of sources including:

1. Government
2. Private Sources
3. Colleges
4. Businesses

It is important you find and apply for as many grants and scholarships as possible! Sources you should scour include:

1. City, county and federal government.  
2. Use books to research sources of funding.
3. Websites including fastweb.com and scholarships.com help students customize searches for scholarships they may be eligible for.
4. Specific colleges and programs sometimes offer scholarships.
5. Places of employment, including McDonalds, Walmart, Burger King and UPS among others provide scholarships to employees.

While this video is a great resource, we would like to add a few things:

1. Stay persistent, start early, and don’t be afraid to ask community organizations, banks and business in your community if they offer scholarships.
2. Make a list of qualities unique to you such as your heritage, financial background, disability, disadvantage, sports achievements, or where you grew up. Many scholarships are looking for specific student profiles and that may be you!
3. Consult with the financial aid department at ATI for more help.

You don’t have to be in the audience at your next graduation ceremony – it could be you! Call ATI today to discuss rolling start dates and our accredited career-training.

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