By Hope House Colorado’s Education & Career Coordinator, Olivia Timken
Going to college is so exciting but the process to get started can seem intimidating with so many options and steps. One of those tricky aspects is navigating your financial aid options. You’ve probably heard people talk about insane amounts of student debt that they built up while they got a degree they don’t even use anymore. You may have thought that there is no way you could ever go to college because of how expensive it is. But what if we told you that you could possibly earn a degree and pay almost NOTHING out of pocket? Yep, you heard that right—FREE college. It all just comes down to using your financial aid options as wisely as possible. As a teen mom, this is so important to opening the door for you to go to college!
When you start the journey of going to college, you will face “FAFSA.” What in the world is FAFSA?! It stands for Federal Application For Student Aid, which sounds a lot less scary (and easier to say) than “FAFSA.” Through this application you can open the door to FREE money from the government to cover the costs of your tuition.
Each school year, your application is based on your taxes from two years prior. As a teen mom, you will most likely qualify for the Pell Grant. As of the 2024 to 2025 school year, the maximum amount that you can qualify for is $7,395. That’s a lot of money! To put it into perspective, if you were to take three classes for the fall and spring semesters at any of the Colorado community colleges, your tuition and fees would be around $3,500 total… less than HALF of the amount of money that you could receive from the government to pay for school. That means that all of your tuition would be covered without you paying for any of it with your own money. YAY!
Another avenue of financial aid that is specific to Colorado is called “COF” which stands for the College Opportunity Fund. COF offers $116 per credit hour for public colleges in Colorado. Most times, the college that you attend will apply for COF on your behalf. So easy!
Depending on where you go to school, how many classes you take, and what kind of program you are in, the Pell Grant and COF may or may not cover all of your tuition. Then what?! The scholarship opportunities are endless and are becoming more and more accessible over time. Many of the Colorado community colleges have a single application that you can fill out which then automatically completes a handful of other applications for you. Additionally, there are scholarships and programs that are specific for parenting college students, first generation college students, and many more.
As a teen mom, you have a powerful story. Your journey to get to becoming a college student has probably required a lot more work than your traditional high school graduate. Because of that, you should be SO proud of yourself for applying for college and assessing your financial aid options. Any college would be so lucky to have you attend their school. Don’t let the cost of school stop you from pursuing your educational goals and aspirations. You got this!