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West Chicago Community High School

Financial Aid & Scholarships Page



The links listed on this page (listed below) can help you learn about Financial Aid for College and search for scholarships that you might apply for. For more help, and information, see your counselor.

Your Counseling Department at Community High School has compiled some general information about how the Financial Aid process works. This information is published in the "Junior/Senior Planning Guide". The pages on Financial Aid are also reprinted on this web site. Click here for more Financial Aid Info., provided by the U.S Dept Of Education. See your counselor with questions or if you need help with the financial aid process.

Some of the sources below are governmental agencies, and some are private organizations (for-profit as well as not-for-profit entities). Most are reputable and are providing a useful service. Although we try to check out each site before we recommend it to you, things are always changing on the Internet and occasionally a "scam" may sneak through. If you are unable to contact a site after repeated tries, let your Counselor know, or e-mail Mr. Rau at wrau@d94.org. Learn more about how to identify and report a "scam" at the U.S. Dept of Education's site for student info (SmartStudent Guide).

Be careful in using these sites, especially when:

    • navigating from one site to another, to another, and so on;
    • providing your name, address, phone or other personal information;
    • a site asks you for a credit card number or to validate a charge of any kind to your phone number


Financial Aid Information: These sites can give you specific information if you already know what you're looking for. Many are government agencies (Federal or State). If you are planning to fill out the FAFSA online (and you should), that is here also.

  • U.S Federal Govn't, Off. Of Public Education - for clarification of laws and policies
  • U.S. Dept. Of Education, - especially for FAFSA Info.
  • FAFSA on the Web - Fill out the application via the Web
  • Illinois Student Assistance Commission- State of Illinois agency which administers State financial aid programs and the Illinois Scholar Program.
  • The College Board especially for SAT Test Info, but also has a variety of resources including a college search option.
  • Educaid - Private organization, connected with the banking Industry, one of many sources for student and parent loans - also provides useful info
  • SallieMae -Federal agency that initiates and manages direct student loans, and Federal Guaranteed Loans
  • NellieMae - another Federal agency which provides direct loans through the Family Federal Loan Program
  • The College Funding Co. - Private organization, connected with the banking Industry, one of many sources for student and parent loans - also provides useful info, and a LOT of links to other resources.

Scholarship Search Links: Sholarships are different than financial aid as they are often based on some achievement or accomplishment rather than need. These sites will help you identify scholarships you may be eligible to apply for.

  • FastWeb (our personal favorite) You can set up an "account" with them for no charge. Then, you can fill out a huge survey/questionaire and receive from them a list of scholarships that you might qualify to apply for. If you don't like the list you got, you can go back and fill out the questionaire again choosing some diferent answers. They will give you new results. They save the data and periodically re-process their database, so as they find out about new scholarships, they let you know by email. No guarantees, but we know they are reputable, and it doesn't hurt at all to see what they can tell you. And, ITS FREE.
  • Lunch Money.com - this is a relatively new site, specializing in helping students learn about the admissions process and helping students find and apply for scholarships. Try the site and let your Counselor know what you think about it. It looks like there are some good possibilities here.
  • ScholarStuff
  • The College Board - the same organization that provides the SAT and PSAT Tests. They provide many sources for student and parent info
  • CollegeNet
  • Illinois Student AssistanceCommission,- State of Illinois agency which administers State financial aid programs and the Illinois Scholar Program.


**For more information, please see your Counselor and/or contact the Financial Aid Office of the College or University that you are applying to.


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Community High School
326 Joliet St.
West Chicago, IL 60185
(630) 876-6200