For parents, grandparents and guardians
You don't have to know college to help someone finish it.
Whether you're a parent, a grandparent raising a grandchild, an auntie or a guardian: here's what to know, what to say, and where to send them, from the first FAFSA to graduation day.
Five things every family should know
- The FAFSA is free, and it opens the door to most aid.
Federal grants, work-study, loans, and most state and college aid start with it. Never pay anyone to file it. A dependent student's FAFSA asks for a parent's information; a grandparent or legal guardian usually isn't the FAFSA parent unless they adopted the student. If a student has no contact with their parents, the college's financial aid office can talk about a dependency override. FAFSA for parents (official) →
- Once they're in college, the school talks to them, not you.
Under FERPA, a college generally can't share grades or a balance with family unless the student agrees in writing. Ask your student to add you through the school's own consent form if they want you to help. Student privacy (official) →
- A small balance can stop a whole semester.
A hold can block registration and transcripts over an unpaid bill. If they mention a hold, help them find the exact amount and the date it's due before anything else. HOLD UP: know what you owe →
- Help is out there, and most of it is on campus.
Most colleges have an emergency fund, a food pantry and a payment plan, and the financial aid office can look again when a family's money changes. REACH Emergency builds the plan in five questions. REACH Emergency →
- Scholarship offers that ask for money are scams.
You never pay to apply for a real scholarship or to file the FAFSA. Spot a scam (official) →
Keep these close
Print them, put them on the fridge, the bulletin board or the staff room wall.
When they call and say they want to quit
- Listen first. Ask what's going on before you answer.
- Ask: is it money, a class, where they live, or how they feel?
- Don't fix it all tonight. Find the one next step together.
- Ask who at school they've told. A professor, an advisor, financial aid.
- Send them the plan: REACH Emergency, or a real person at EFF.
- Check in again in three days. Then again.
Grandparents and relatives raising a student
- You may not be the FAFSA parent: ask the aid office what applies to your student.
- Kinship families can find support and benefits through GrandFamilies help.
- Your student may qualify as independent in some situations: the aid office decides.
- You can still be the one they call. That matters more than the paperwork.
A family calendar
- Senior year, fall: college list, applications, the FAFSA when it opens.
- Senior year, spring: compare aid offers, decide, pay the deposit.
- Summer before: orientation, housing, the first bill. Don't let summer take the seat.
- Every year: file the FAFSA again.
- Every semester: ask about the balance before registration.
Words you can copy
Paste them as they are, or make them yours.
A text to send your student
Every resource for you
From the REACH Library: checked every morning, official sources and EFF’s own tools.
✦ Help right now
▲ Getting ready for college
$ Pay for school
↻ Stay enrolled
◆ Made for students like me
♡ Mind & heart
↗ Career & income
➜ Grad school & after
∞ Family & friends
✺ Lead & give
Bring the whole family
Ask your student's school, church or chapter to host First-Gen Family Night, a REACH workshop for families.
REACH by Esther Funds Foundation · reach.estherfundsfoundation.org · In crisis, call or text 988.