Kansas Financial Aid Programs – NerdWallet

The price of attending four-year private and non-private faculties in Kansas is considerably decrease than the nationwide common.

Kansas affords many monetary assist packages that may make faculty much more reasonably priced, notably for low-income college students. Whether or not you are contemplating incomes a bachelor’s diploma on the College of Kansas or a certificates from the Washburn Institute of Expertise, right here’s make the most of the state’s monetary assist packages.

In Kansas, there are 56 four- and two-year faculties that situation levels, together with private and non-private nonprofit establishments.

With the state’s low value of residing and sturdy monetary assist, the price of a university schooling tends to be cheaper in Kansas than in different components of the nation. This is how a lot it is best to anticipate to spend on tuition, charges, and room and board primarily based on common charges from the 2020-21 educational 12 months, in line with the Nationwide Middle for Training Statistics:

• Public four-year faculty (in-state): $19,082 per 12 months, about 11% lower than the nationwide common of $21,337. 

• Non-public four-year faculty: $35,339 per 12 months, about 24% lower than the nationwide common of $46,313.

• Group faculty (in-state): $3,648 per 12 months — not together with room and board — about 4% greater than the nationwide common of $3,501. 

Kansas has a number of monetary assist packages, however you should be a qualifying resident to be eligible.

In Kansas, you could dwell within the state for no less than 12 months earlier than enrollment and you could plan to dwell within the state indefinitely to qualify for in-state tuition and state-based assist.

College students missing everlasting authorized standing, together with Deferred Motion for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) college students, are eligible for in-state tuition in the event that they meet the opposite residency necessities. However DACA and undocumented college students aren’t eligible for many state monetary assist packages. For almost all of Kansas’ packages, U.S. citizenship and a sound Social Safety quantity are required.

Kansas has a number of sorts of monetary assist, so college students could possibly use a number of of the next choices to pay for his or her schooling:

• Pupil mortgage compensation help.

Studying Quest is a 529 funding account you’ll be able to open on behalf of a kid. You’ll be able to contribute cash and spend money on a wide range of funds to develop the account tax-deferred. As soon as the kid is prepared for school, the account proprietor can withdraw the cash for qualifying schooling bills tax-free. Contributions to 529 plans can’t exceed $455,000 per beneficiary.

Contributions to the 529 could also be deductible in your state earnings taxes. Annually, Kansas residents can deduct as much as $3,000 in contributions ($6,000 if married and submitting a joint return).

Along with the Studying Quest 529, Kansas has one other profit: the K.I.D.S Matching Grant Program. Via this program, the state will match the contributions to 529 plans from households that earn lower than 200% of federal poverty pointers. The state will match as much as the primary $600 contributed throughout 2023.

This system is proscribed to 1,200 individuals and is operated on a first-come, first-served foundation.

Attending a public faculty in your state is usually the most affordable possibility. In Kansas, the typical value of attendance at public universities is 46% lower than the typical value of attending a personal faculty.

Nonetheless, college students who’ve their hearts set on attending a university outdoors of Kansas could qualify for decrease tuition by the Midwest Pupil Alternate Program. Supplied by members of the Midwestern Greater Training Compact, this program permits college students to attend faculty outdoors their state of residence at a diminished charge. Taking part public faculties conform to cost college students not more than 150% of in-state tuition charges for eligible packages, and personal faculties supply a ten% discount of their charges. In keeping with this system’s web site, college students save $7,000 per 12 months, on common.

Eight states take part within the Midwest Pupil Alternate Program:

Grants are some of the invaluable types of monetary assist since they do not need to be repaid. They’re awarded primarily based on the monetary info you submit on the Free Utility for Federal Pupil Support (FAFSA) and are sometimes awarded to low- and middle-income college students.

Kansas has two grant packages:

Eligible full-time college students can obtain as much as $1,000 per 12 months, and the award is renewable for as much as 4 semesters.

To use, college students should full the FAFSA and a separate State of Kansas Pupil Support Utility.

College students with monetary want could qualify for the Kansas Comprehensive Grant. To qualify, college students should be enrolled full time at one of many 18 personal faculties and universities in Kansas, one of many six state universities or Washburn College.

The awards vary from $200 to $10,000 for college kids attending personal universities, and $100 to $4,000 for college kids attending public faculties.

In Kansas, college students with sturdy teachers or who meet different necessities can qualify for scholarships. Like grants, scholarships do not need to be repaid, making them a invaluable useful resource.

Kansas has 5 scholarship packages:

The Kansas Computer Science Educator Scholarship is a one-time award of $1,000 for licensed Okay-12 lecturers enrolled in faculty programs for added faculty credit score or preservice Okay-12 lecturers enrolled in faculty programs resulting in a instructing license. College students should be enrolled in a pc science course throughout the semester they’re making use of for assist and should attend a college in Kansas.

The Kansas Distinguished Scholarship Program is for college kids from Kansas who’ve been designated as Brasenose, Chevening, Fulbright, Madison, Marshall, Mellon, Rhodes or Truman students. The award quantities differ by 12 months and program funding, however it reimburses college students for tuition and charges.

Via the Kansas Ethnic Minority Scholarship, college students belonging to the next teams can qualify for as much as $1,850 yearly: African American, American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, or Hispanic.

The scholarship takes into consideration grades and standardized check scores, and college students should full a separate state monetary assist software.

The Kansas State Scholarship is for college kids with a monetary want who’re within the prime 20% to 30% of the state’s highschool graduates and designated as state students. To qualify for the award, college students should obtain a certificates stating they accomplished the required curriculum in highschool and a letter that states the coed is designated as a scholar by the Kansas Board of Regents.

Qualifying college students will obtain as much as $1,000 per 12 months for as much as 4 years.

The Military Service Scholarship covers as much as the entire value of tuition and charges at any of Kansas’ state universities, group faculties or technical faculties, or at Washburn College. College students can obtain the award for as much as 4 years.

To qualify, college students should be Kansas residents and meet one of many following necessities:

• Served in worldwide waters or international soil and acquired hostile hearth pay for no less than 90 days after Sept. 1, 2001.

• Honorably discharged or nonetheless in service. 

• Acquired army discharge papers or energetic obligation papers with hostile service pay. 

College students should submit the FAFSA and the State of Kansas Pupil Support Utility to use.

Tuition waivers are packages that waive some or all the tuition and charges for qualifying college students. These waivers are normally awarded primarily based on circumstances outdoors of the coed’s management, akin to their mother and father’ service information or employment, and the awards aren’t tied to a service obligation.

There are two tuition waiver packages in Kansas:

• The coed was within the custody of the Secretary of the Kansas Division for Youngsters and Households (DCF) and in a foster care placement on or after their 18th birthday.

• The coed was launched from the custody of Kansas DCF earlier than they turned 18 and graduated from highschool or obtained a GED whereas in foster care placement and within the custody of the Kansas DCF. 

• The coed was within the custody of the Kansas DCF and adopted from a foster care placement on or after their sixteenth birthday. 

• The coed was launched from their foster care placement and topic to a guardianship on or after their sixteenth birthday whereas within the custody of the Kansas DCF. 

The coed is answerable for the price of books, provides and their room and board. Nonetheless, they could qualify for added help by Social and Rehabilitation Companies.

The Kansas Hero’s Scholarship waives the complete value of tuition and charges at eligible faculties for the dependents and spouses of deceased or disabled public security officers or army service members. The schooling and payment waiver is out there for undergraduate coursework solely.

College students can use this waiver to attend any of Kansas’ public state universities, public group faculties or public technical faculties, or Washburn College.

Kansas has a number of incentive packages that eradicate some or all tuition prices. A few of them are known as scholarships, however these awards require service obligations, so you could dwell and work within the state for a selected interval after graduating. In any other case, you could have to repay the award with curiosity.

The Kansas Dental Educational Opportunities Program was designed to encourage dentists to relocate to Kansas and set up their practices. College students from outdoors Kansas attending the College of Missouri-Kansas Metropolis can qualify for a waiver for the distinction between resident and nonresident tuition charges. Nonetheless, a service obligation should be accomplished. Purposes can be found from the College of Missouri-Kansas Metropolis and are accepted on a rolling foundation.

The Kansas Promise Act Scholarship is a last-dollar award. Final-dollar awards cowl bills after different monetary assist is utilized. To qualify, college students should be enrolled at a qualifying group faculty, technical faculty or personal impartial four-year faculty. Eligible fields embrace:

• Info know-how or info safety.

• Psychological and bodily well being care.

• Superior manufacturing or constructing trades.

• Early childhood schooling or improvement.

The scholarship covers a lifetime most of 68 credit score hours or $20,000, whichever happens first.

Inside six months of finishing this system, the recipient should begin one of many following service obligations:

• Reside in and work in Kansas for no less than two years.

• Enroll in a Kansas college and work in Kansas for 2 years upon commencement.

• Start service as a army service member.

Earnings limits apply, and college students should fill out the FAFSA, a separate software and scholarship settlement to qualify.

College students attending one among Kansas’ public faculties, Washburn College or choose group faculties and technical faculties could also be eligible for the Kansas National Guard Educational Assistance Program. Award quantities differ by 12 months, however it could actually cowl a portion of tuition and charges at eligible faculties.

Recipients should be present members of the Kansas Nationwide Guard and decide to serving a further 24 months within the Kansas Nationwide Guard after graduating. If the coed fails to finish the service obligation, the award is transformed right into a mortgage.

The Kansas Nurse Educator Service Scholarship gives assist to graduate-level nursing college students who agree to show in a nurse schooling program at a Kansas faculty or college. Award quantities differ by faculty, and packages on the following faculties solely are eligible: Baker College, Fort Hays State College, Mid America Nazarene Faculty, Pittsburg State College, Tabor Faculty, St. Mary’s College, College of Kansas Medical Middle and Wichita State College.

Recipients of the award should train one 12 months for every year of help they obtain after incomes their graduate diploma.

The Kansas Nursing Service Scholarship encourages college students to grow to be licensed sensible nurses (LPNs) or registered nurses (RNs). College students enrolled in eligible nursing packages can qualify for as much as $4,500 per 12 months in monetary assist. The coed should have an employer sponsor that covers a portion of the award, and the state pays the opposite half.

The coed should work full time as a nurse for the employer sponsor for every year they obtain the scholarship. In any other case, the award is transformed right into a mortgage with an rate of interest 5 share factors greater than the speed for federal PLUS loans. The rate of interest for not fulfilling the Kansas Nursing Service Scholarship service obligation is 13.05% for loans issued between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024.

Kansas residents can obtain as much as $25,000 per 12 months for medical faculty beneath the Kansas Osteopathic Medical Service Scholarship. It’s essential to decide to offering major medical care in a chosen underserved space in Kansas for no less than one 12 months for every year you acquired the scholarship.

For those who do not full the service obligation, the scholarship is transformed to a mortgage with a charge that’s 5 share factors greater than the speed for federal PLUS loans.

To extend the variety of optometrists within the state, the Kansas Optometry Service Scholarship pays the distinction between resident and nonresident tuition for Kansas residents attending a collaborating faculty in one other state. In trade, recipients should full one 12 months of observe in Kansas for every year they obtain the scholarship.

For the 2023-24 educational 12 months, the collaborating faculties are:

• The Missouri Faculty of Optometry on the College of Missouri–St. Louis. 

• The Southern Faculty of Optometry in Memphis, Tennessee.

• The Faculty of Optometry at Northeastern State College in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

If a pupil would not full the service obligation, the scholarship is transformed right into a mortgage with a charge 5 share factors greater than the speed on federal PLUS Loans.

Via the Kansas ROTC Service Scholarship, college students can obtain an award that covers as much as 70% of the annual value of attendance at a qualifying establishment. In trade, college students agree to simply accept a fee as a second lieutenant and serve for no less than 4 years as a commissioned officer within the Kansas Military Nationwide Guard.

Solely packages at Kansas State College, Pittsburg State College, College of Kansas, Washburn College and a few group faculties are eligible.

If the service obligation is not met, the award is transformed right into a mortgage with a five-year compensation time period.

The Kansas Teacher Service Scholarship is a merit-based incentive program. It gives monetary assist to college students pursuing bachelor’s or grasp’s levels and people who are presently licensed lecturers pursuing an endorsement in hard-to-fill disciplines. The recipient should agree to show in an accredited, underserved Okay-12 faculty one 12 months for every year they acquired the scholarship.

The utmost award is $3,157 per semester, and college students can obtain the award for as much as 10 semesters.

Kansas has two different packages that college students can use to offset their schooling bills:

The Kansas Career Work Study program is for Kansas residents enrolled no less than halftime and attending one of many six public state universities or Washburn College. Qualifying college students work half time for an employer that enhances their educational program. The employers will be nonprofit organizations, public companies or personal firms within the state. Earnings differ by place, however college students can use their earnings from work-study packages to cowl a few of their schooling bills.

For particulars and knowledge on apply, contact a college’s monetary assist workplace.

Graduate college students from Kansas’ public universities who plan to check overseas could also be eligible for the James B. Pearson Fellowship. It gives college students with a median stipend of $3,000 to cowl their bills overseas, topic to funding availability.

The common pupil mortgage steadiness per borrower in Kansas is $31,502 — barely decrease than the nationwide common. Nonetheless, the state operates a number of mortgage compensation help packages that will make it easier to repay your loans quicker.

The state’s Kansas Rural Alternatives Zones program is noteworthy as a result of it is not restricted to sure professions; this system is open to anybody who relocates to one of many state’s designated alternative zones.

These are the three mortgage compensation packages in Kansas:

Via the Kansas Bridging Plan, resident physicians in accredited residency packages can obtain as much as $26,000 in mortgage compensation advantages. In trade, they have to decide to observe for no less than three years at a facility in an eligible Kansas group.

Open to each residents of Kansas and nonresidents, the Kansas Rural Opportunity Zones program gives mortgage compensation help to staff who transfer to a chosen rural alternative zone inside Kansas.

Those that relocate can qualify for both a tax credit score or pupil mortgage compensation help. (In some counties, staff can obtain each perks). Eligible individuals can obtain as much as $15,000 in mortgage compensation help over 5 years.

To qualify, you could have a newly established everlasting residence in one of many designated counties, and you could have current pupil loans for an affiliate, bachelor’s or graduate diploma earlier than transferring. You’ll be able to apply on-line, however you could present proof of domicile, proof of everlasting residency and faculty transcripts.

The Kansas SLRP gives as much as $50,000 in mortgage compensation advantages over two years for qualifying well being care professionals. Contributors can renew the award for as much as three extra years, bringing the utmost quantity to $95,000 in whole mortgage compensation advantages. Contributors should decide to working for no less than two years at a qualifying observe web site for the preliminary two-year contract.

To use for one among Kansas’ monetary assist packages, comply with these steps:

1. Submit the FAFSA: Most of Kansas’ awards are no less than partially primarily based on monetary want, and the awards take into account the data you submit on the FAFSA to find out your eligibility. You’ll be able to full and submit the FAFSA on-line at FAFSA.gov. 

2. Submit the State of Kansas Pupil Support Utility: Moreover the FAFSA, Kansas residents also needs to full the State of Kansas Pupil Support Utility; it is required for many awards. You’ll be able to full and submit the shape online. 

3. Evaluate different necessities: Some packages have extra necessities, akin to separate functions or extra documentation, so evaluation every program to learn the way to use.

4. Contact your faculty’s monetary assist workplace: To qualify for a few of Kansas’ packages, it’s important to work along with your faculty’s monetary assist workplace. Contact a monetary assist consultant to see what awards can be found to you and apply.