How to Finance Your Accounting Degree
The cost of higher education has risen more than 400 percent in the past 30 years, and there is no reason to believe that this meteoric increase will slow down anytime soon. Fortunately, there is a plethora of governmental and private financial aid programs aimed at making higher education more financially accessible for the average person. Read on to find out what options are available for you when pursing your accounting degree.
Federal Grants - Federal Loans - Private Aid - Online Resources
Federal Grants
Federal financial aid comes in two forms: grants and loans. Grants are typically need-based financial gifts that you don't have to pay back. The federal Pell Grant program is the most ubiquitous and can be found at 5,400 participating schools, in both undergraduate and graduate programs, in the United States. In addition to the Pell Grant, there are other federal grant opportunities that you should investigate, including:
- Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant (TEACH Grant)
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
- The Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)
- The National Science & Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant)
- Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant
Federal Loans
Unlike federal grants, federal loans must be repaid. The most commonly utilized federal loan is the fixed-rate Stafford Loan program. The amount you can borrow varies from $5,500 to $20,500, depending on your educational level. This loan comes in subsidized and unsubsidized varieties. If you receive a subsidized Stafford Loan, the U.S. Department of Education will pay the interest on your loan until you graduate. If you receive an unsubsidized loan, however, you are responsible for paying the interest that accrues while you're enrolled in school.
Another popular option is the Perkins Loan, a low-interest loan for students with exceptional financial need. Though this loan is made with government funds, your school is actually your lender and you will have to repay this loan to your school after graduation. Undergraduates can borrow up to $5,500 per year, and graduates can borrow up to $8,000 per year. The amount you receive depends on your financial need, the funding level at your school, and when you apply.
The final option for federal loans is the PLUS Loan, a parent-guaranteed loan that can pay for the cost of the student's tuition, minus any other financial aid. The interest rates on these loans are typically higher than the other options, but they are not need-based and the maximum loan amount is guaranteed to cover all the student's tuition costs. The same terms and conditions apply to the PLUS Loans for Graduate and Professional Degree Students, which allow students to borrow up to their cost of attendance minus other estimated financial assistance.
Private Aid
There are also quite a few private grants available to students, especially those pursuing accounting degrees. Due to the specialized nature of the profession and the large number of professional accounting organizations, private money is widely available for the education of aspiring accountants.
The federal governing body of the accounting professions, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, offers numerous scholarships every year to a variety of students. Here are a few examples of scholarships offered by the AICPA:
- The AICPA/Accountemps Student Scholarship: Provides financial assistance to accounting, finance, or information systems students. Five scholarships are awarded annually to AICPA student affiliate members. John L. Carey Scholarship
- The AICPA John L. Carey Scholarship: Provides financial assistance to liberal arts degree holders who are pursuing graduate studies in accounting and the CPA designation. Up to 10, $5,000 scholarships are awarded each year.
- Scholarship for Minority Accounting Students: For more than 20 years this program has been providing awards of up to $5,000 to minority students in order to encourage their accounting studies and their ultimate entry into the accounting profession.
In addition to the AICPA, many regional and specialized accounting organizations offer scholarships as well. Check these organizations for possibilities:
- CalCPA
- Illinois CPA Society
- American Society of Women Accountants
- Government Finance Officers Association
- Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting
Online Resources
There are also a great many tools out there to assist the college-bound in locating financing their education, such as these websites:
Article Resources:
“College May Become Unaffordable for Most in U.S.,” New York Times
FastWeb.com
Federal Student Aid on the Web