One of the biggest decisions that you have to make when pursuing a degree is how you are going to pay for college. There are many different opportunities for financial assistance. The best choice for you depends on many factors, and you should explore all your options.

Employer Tuition Assistance: If you are currently working, check with your company’s human resources department to find out if your company has a program to help employees fund continuing education.

Private Scholarships: Many professional associations, corporations, foundations and other organizations sponsor scholarship programs. Research scholarship opportunities and apply for any that you are eligible to receive.

Institutional Scholarships: Many colleges sponsor internal scholarship programs. Check with your school’s admissions or financial aid office to find out about institutional programs for which you might be eligible.

Government Financial Aid: Complete the FAFSA to find out if you are eligible for a Pell Grant or one of the low interest student loan programs administered by the government.

If you plan to apply for Department of Education student loan funding, you should complete your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) early. It’s best to file your FAFSA as soon as you possible after January 1 in the year you will start school. There are several reasons that early FAFSA submission is important.

First, you will not know how much federal student aid you are eligible to receive until your FAFSA is processed. You may be pleasantly surprised to find that you qualify for a Pell Grant and enough low interest student loan funding to cover your entire cost of attendance. However, you may also discover that your federal aid doesn’t cover everything, which means you may need to investigate alternative student loans to cover the gap. Second, many non-federal programs utilize data from the FAFSA. For example, many states fund grant programs for students which are (a) based on the FAFSA and (b) awarded on a first come, first serve basis to eligible students. The same is true for many need-based school and independence scholarship programs.

Early FAFSA submission can help you get funding from these types of sources, while late submission might eliminate you from consideration.

Alternative Student Loan: Many lenders administer private student loan programs that can be utilized to cover many types of educational expenses.