This is your final year in high school and you are aspiring to pursue bachelor’s degree in your favorite college. However, the rising cost of education is getting you worried! Well, you are not the only one. Numerous students every year have to compromise with their educational dreams, due to this rising cost. Yet, with little intelligence and planning, you can get your dreams fulfilled. To pursue your college degree without worrying about finances, you can apply for free grants   offered by the government. The United States government has several grant plans for students and you can visit the website of  grants.gov  for the complete details.

Is grant and loan same?

Many students often confuse education grants with student loans. Therefore, before you apply for grants, you need to check the application procedure and all the details around it. This will help you better o understand what a free grant is and how it is different from a loan. An education loan is the money that you borrow from an institution for financing your studies and have to repay it within a stipulated time frame. However, education grants refer to the financial aid that you receive for funding your education and do not require any repayment. Grants can be of different type and you should check the detail while you are applying for grants.

What are the types of grants?

Now, as you have learned the difference between grants and loans, it will be wise for you to know about the different types of grants available for graduate programs. Merit based grant is the most popular type of education funding available in the United States. However, there is a huge competition for merit grants and all students cannot secure it. You can try your luck for subject-specific grants, course-specific, university specific, need based or even career specific grants. Demographic specific, ability specific and country specific grants are available as well.

What are the eligibility criteria?

Just learning about the different types of grants is not enough. You also need to understand how to apply for grants   and the eligibility criteria. Eligibility criteria for government grants and non-government grants are never the same. Therefore, you should check them out carefully before starting with the procedure. When applying for education grants, make sure to filter the results for individual grants and not for the organizations, as this will offer you specific information. Register for the grants for which you are eligible and follow the necessary procedure to secure it.

Though it is almost impossible to secure more than one grants, it is still recommended to list the available grants .  By doing so, you can try out more than one option for funding the cost of higher education. However, each type of grant have a different set of requirements and it is always wise to prepare for the one for which you have a better chance. For instance, students, who are good at sports, should prioritize sports specific grants rather than the merit based grant. Also, you need to know that grants are not meant for repaying student loans or credit card loans, you have made for funding studies.

Submit your application and track it

Once you have got the idea of different types of grants, you need to download the application form in a PDF format compatible with  grants.gov . Once you have secured the form, fill it carefully according to the instructions and submit. Yet, submitting the application does not end the procedure. You need to track the application to check whether it is accepted or rejected for some technical issues.

In case, the grant is rejected, you need to review the reasons for rejection. Re-apply for the grant by making the necessary amendments in the application and track again. However, if the application is rejected for the second time, you might have to search for other possible grants or apply for a student loan.