The Truth Behind Financial Aid Scams

It's important to educate yourself about the financial aid process. Knowing the ins and outs can help protect you from potential scams. Cristina De León-Menjivar, communications associate at ALL Student Loan, a non-profit student loan lender based in Los Angeles, explains some common misnomers about scholarships and sets the record straight.

If you hear any of the following, you should probably run the other way!

"We need your credit card or account information to hold your scholarship."
Truth: You should never have to give this information to legitimate providers.

"We do all the work."
Truth: You must apply for financial aid yourself. There are no short cuts to filling out the paperwork on your own!

"The scholarship requires a small fee."
Truth: Never pay a fee. Free money is FREE money.

"You've been selected" or "You are a finalist" for an award you have never applied for.
Truth: If you never applied for it, you can't get it.

"Come to our seminar and we'll show you how to get more financial aid. You only have to pay a small fee."
Truth: It's most likely a sales pitch. Don't pay for information that you can get elsewhere for free.

Log onto FindTuition.com to search for legitimate scholarships and loans. FindTuition offers one of the largest free scholarship searches on the Internet. It's a great place to find the scholarships that's right for you, but it's always your job to win the award.

Some other useful links:
The Federal Trade Commission on Scholarship Scams (http://www.ftc.gov/scholarshipscams)

The Department of Education on Scholarship Scams (http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/misused/sscams.html)

The National Association for College Admission Counseling's Information on Scholarship Scams (http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/ForStudents/ScholarshipScams/)

The University of UCLA's Scholarship Scam Information (http://www.college.ucla.edu/up/src/scams/scam.htm)

This blog was written by Valerie Anderson

Have any questions you want answered? Click here.