Getting a college education today seems to cost a fortune. So getting an offer for a guaranteed scholarship might sound good. But does that mean the offer is legitimate? And do you have to pay a fee to hold the guarantee?

Consumer Protection and University Administrators say it’s probably a scam. There are a number of factors people should keep in mind when it comes to applying for financial aid or a scholarship.

University Administrators and the Trade and Consumer Protection say you need to be careful of official looking agencies out to scam college-bound students and their parents.

Money is everything when heading off to college. You need it for the class you’re taking, the books you’ll be reading, and the room you’re living in. That’s where financial aid and scholarships come in.

“The financial aid process is a free process. They do not have to pay anything to apply for financial aid,” said UW-Eau Claire Financial Aid Director Kathy Sahloff.

So if you do get charged for applying Sahloff says don’t be fooled. The same goes for offers for guaranteed scholarships.

“The rule of thumb is if you have to pay to apply for a scholarship be very wary. Most, in fact, any scholarship application I’m aware of you don’t pay to complete an application,” she said.

Sahloff says scholarships cannot be guaranteed. She’s worked with students in the financial aid office for more than 10 years and every year, Sahloff says at least one student will fall prey to these companies.

“Before you pay a fee make sure there isn’t something we can’t help you with,” she said.

“If anybody every contacts you and tells you they have a deal for you and are contacting you be very wary of it; because if they’re trying contacting you they’re trying to fish you and its a scam,” said Cindy White with the local Trade and Consumer Protection.

White said even if you get a call that sounds legitimate double check with Consumer Protection first.

Plus, Sahloff says the Financial Aid Department won’t contact students unless they’ve already filed an application.

“We’re never going to solicit a call out of the blue and talk someone into applying for financial aid,” she said.

Sahloff says there are a number of agencies that you can pay to complete your financial aid application. Sahloff says the financial aid application process can be an intimidating one, but you don’t need to pay someone else to do it.

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This entry was posted by Taman Siswa on Wednesday, August 29, 2007 at 10:07 am and is filed under Education News, Scholarship. Tags: College, Education News, Financial Aid, Scholarship, Student, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.