Pursuing higher education is a huge financial investment. For young people, navigating financial aid, scholarships, and loans is daunting, and no one wants to start out their adult life saddled with crushing debt. Making good financial choices early on sets students up to leave school with minimal or no debt debt, working credit, and an investment in their future. We spoke with Ashley DeLatour and Megan Wingo of FuturesNW to write this week’s article. Both Ashley and Megan are part of the WABC Steering Committee. Their mission is to support students from historically under served communities to achieve their career and college goals. A big part of supporting those students is helping them figure out how to fund their educational pursuits through comprehensive financial aid literacy. “Always go for the free money,” Ashley and Megan urged. A lot of prospective students think they don’t qualify for financial aid or other forms of aid and don’t bother to apply. It’s important to apply for the FAFSA and WASFA even if you don’t think you qualify. There are also so many scholarships available for students, and the FuturesNW financial aid web page has resources, how-to’s, and scholarship trackers to help students stay organized and make smart financial decisions.

Taking on student loans is a last resort, but a track many students do end up taking to subsidize their financial aid or scholarship income. For students going this route, it is important to be fully educated on the full terms of the loan. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Loan offers targeting people with little experience navigating complicated financial system can be predatory and designed to confuse consumers.

If looking at both subsidized and unsubsidized federal student loans, always choose subsidized. For subsidized loans, the US Department of Education pays the interest while the student is in school and for six months after leaving school. Parent Plus loans are another common loan families of college students are directed towards. These loans can be predatory, as they have a much higher interest rate than other federal student loans and there is no limit to the amount that can be borrowed increasing the chances of defaulting.

The bottom line is – explore free money options first. Organizations like FuturesNW are out there to help students and their families navigate complicated systems and pursue career and educational goals that are right for them.