Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon Portland Community College

Tanya Maldonado

Contact information for Tanya Maldonado

Scholarships/Applications and School Info

Person writing an essay

Scholarship/Financial Information

PCC Scholarship-Related Links

Statewide Paying for College Videos: Paying for College: bit.ly/PFCOR2022 or Pagar la Universidad: bit.ly/PFCS2022

Message from Financial Aid Advisor: Scholarships will never reduce grant money but they may reduce loans. Even with loans, we only have to reduce them if the total amount of aid is above the student’s cost of attendance which is between $14,000 – $28,000 per year.  I think the best way to frame it is just more free money for college and the return on investment can be very large!

Oregon CIS has an activity chart that you can use to track extracurricular activities for scholarships – here is how to use it.

CIS student activity guide: The student will log in to their account (If you are guiding them you will need to toggle to the student view in the system). They will enter their activities in the Career Bio. To pair the activities this is done under reports on the student side of the system. To import the data from the Career Bio the student will want to do the following steps.

  1. Log into their account. MyPCC, My Courses, Plan my Career, Oregon CIS
  2. Click on Dashboard, then on Reports, then on Activities Chart.
  3. They can either run the report to make sure they have all of the correct information displayed or they can click on the link to OSAC’s page.

PSU transfers finish free

FAFSA+

The most common FAFSA reject type in Oregon is a mission signature (or two). While this is an “easy” fix, it can be nerve-wracking for students and families. If students aren’t paying attention to their FAFSA process (or their emails), they may not realize they have a rejected FAFSA.

FAFSA+, offered by Oregon’s Office of Student Access and Completion (OSAC) will help you be proactive and identify your students who have a rejected FAFSA. You can then target these students, ask them to access their Student Aid Report with you and help them resolve the FAFSA rejection.

Learn more about FAFSA+ at this link: www.oregonstudentaid.gov/resources/fafsa-plusplus

  • FAFSA: Free Application for Federal Student Aid – www.fafsa.ed.gov
  • Oregon Student Aid Application ORSAA – www.oregonstudentaid.gov/fafsa-orsaa.aspx – for DACA students or undocumented students who are Oregon residents who received a high school diploma or GED in Oregon, The ORSAA allows you to apply for the Oregon Opportunity Grant, Oregon Promise, and some OSAC scholarships.
Washington
Oregon or Washington-Specific Scholarships

Tips on moving through Writer’s Block

Some Common Databases (More Listed Below)
Scholarship Application Tracker
Cultural/Affinity or Career Specific
POC
Women
Disability-Specific
Career-Specific
Medical Doctor-Specific
General
Honor Societies
Federal Loan Forgiveness

Federal loan forgiveness program for individuals who work for governmental agencies and non-profits. Not every employer qualifies and the program makes no promises that it will be around – it all depends on political policies. In short, you need to get enrolled in the program at the beginning of your work tenure – after 10 years (120) payments then the remainder of your loan is forgiven. Your job title does not matter it is the employer that matters. www.studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service#help-tool

DREAMer Information
International and DACA Students

US News & World Report – Top 10 schools offering IS financial aid

Free college-planning website provides students and families with important information and tools to guide their pursuit of postsecondary education.

The Best Scholarship Search Platforms
#1: Fastweb

9.3/10 overall score: Best for students who want an easy to use platform with the most tools

Fastweb is the top overall scholarship search platform in our review. They scored consistently high marks across every metric. They were the easiest to use as they required no registration to browse scholarship listings, had both a searchable database and personalized matches, and were mobile-friendly.

Fastweb also had the most tools of any platform. That fact, combined with a high score for scholarship availability, means Fastweb is the best platform for finding scholarships, managing deadlines, and tracking applications.

The only thing that could be considered a drawback would be a smaller number of search results than some competitors, but their overall third-place finish in that metric means they still outshine most. They also scored third place in search functionality, so while the number of results you get may be smaller, they’re most likely more relevant to you than sites with high results but few filters.

The best scholarship search platforms of 2017

www.reviews.com/best-scholarship-search-platforms

#1: Festweb

#2: Cappex

#3: Unigo

#4 (tie): Student Scholarship Search

#4 (tie): Scholarships.com

#6: Scholly

#7: SallieMae

#8 (tie): BigFuture

#8 (tie): GoodCall

#10: CollegeData

#11: Chegg Scholarships

#13: Peterson's

#14: BrokeScholar

#15: Niche

#16: CareerOneStop

#17: ScholarshipPortal

Additional Search Engines

9 Best Scholarship Search Engines – Bankrate.com

Engines sourced from How to Write a Winning Scholarship Essay Gen and Kelly Tanabe

Post-Secondary and Transfer Education
Oregon Goes to College

If you have students who are still thinking about applying for college, let’s support them! Oregon Goes to College has wonderful resources on the college application process. – Oregon Goes to College Application Resources

College Choice Information