Educational Media Reviews Online

For students just beginning to investigate financial aid for college, this video should prove helpful. The combination of active shots, talking heads, and a host to pull it all together, makes the complicated issue of finances easier to understand. Through the real-life experiences of two college students, Serena and Michael, viewers will learn about the three parts of financial aid: grants/scholarships, loans, and work-study. If they are not already familiar with the specialized vocabulary of financial aid, they will learn what FAFSA and CSS profiles are and how to apply for them, Pell grants, Stafford loans, and other useful terms.

All of this information is made easier to understand by graphics, which consist of words and phrases that appear as types of scholarships, loans, and campus jobs are explained. The diversity in students and narrator make the film appealing to all. Serena and Michael take different paths in college, which will make this film relatable to those who attend a two-year community college and then transfer to a four-year university and those who go to a four-year private school.

The advice from the students and the experts, who are financial aid advisors, take in all angles of college expenses; in addition to the big ones like tuition and room and board, teens also need to think of how they will pay for laundry and food. The film concludes with action steps that students can take: talk to people, especially financial aid officers; search for scholarships; and apply to a number of schools, even those that may seem out of reach.

A Teacher’s Resource Book is included on the DVD. This manual lists learning objectives and American School Counselor Association National Standards, and provides pre/post tests, activities, worksheets, fact sheets, and websites.

This video is ideal for high school collections, as well as public libraries that serve communities with many high school students.