Billions of dollars from business and federal sources are up for distribution through thousands of scholarships, and the prospect of sifting through their numbers for the perfect scholarship is often more intimidating than the actual application. However, as daunting as the prospect may be, paying for college has partnered up with the Internet.

According to Tanya Pratt, in De Anza College’s Financial Aid Office (temporarily in the cafeteria next to Café Rococo), three Web sites stand out among the rest. The FAFSA (Free Application for Student Financial Aid) is commendable for the types of information and scholarships it offers, and because of its relevance to the De Anza community. “You have to file one anywhere you go,” said Pratt. Despite her reservations about the site name, she also recommended the I Can Afford College Web site at http://www.icanaffordcollege.com, which is geared specifically toward community colleges and includes a search engine to direct users to their local community college’s financial aid offices.

Pratt recommends that current and prospective De Anza students first go to the De Anza financial aid Web site at http://www.deanza.edu/financialaid, which will show new users how to get started with their file. Another option available to students is http://scholarships.fhda.edu. This is a new scholarship search site specifically for De Anza and Foothill College students that includes district scholarships.

Some students, however, might require other options. Cain Ramirez, a 20-year-old musical composition major, was referred to the De Anza financial aid office when the Web site encountered a problem with his profile. “[It was] something within the program; the values didn’t add up,” Ramirez said. He is now faced with saving up for his next quarter, even as the current one is costing him roughly $600, mostly because his award amount is based on his parents’ income until he turns 22. This is despite the fact that he lives separately from his parents and is unable to take advantage of their resources.

Some sites allow only partial access on weekends due to routine site maintenance – the FAFSA page, for example, closes down most of its resources every Sunday from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.

However, not all financial aid Web sites are created equal. Some sites, like http://www.finaid.org, offer listings of scholarships by category. The “unusual scholarships” categories includes links to scholarships for tall students, short students, or students who attended their high school prom dressed entirely in duct tape, as well as for student devotees to religions such as Paganism and Wicca (through the Sacred Waters coven).

Like many Web-based organizations, scholarship sites like FastWeb base part of their business on Web-based advertisements. Along with basic personal information, the site asks permission to disclose users’ emails to advertisers. Students who allow manufacturers and advertisers to contact them also earn themselves the opportunity to review products and services for payment toward their college fund.

Web sites also offer to take the weight of planning off their users’ shoulders; FAFSA and nextstudent.com offer calendars for applicants to keep track of their progress and deadlines.

Beyond money to pay for classes, the Internet also offers opportunities for student savings on products including computers, printers, cameras and software. The Foundation for California Community Colleges provides its CollegeBuys resource (at http://www.foundationccc.org/CollegeBuys) specifically for students who might require inexpensive laptops or a discounted version of photo editing software for their classes.

Pratt warns that one of the biggest pitfalls for students seeking financial aid is not looking in the first place. The idea that a student would be ineligible for financial aid because a friend in a similar situation was not awarded any is “the biggest misconception about financial aid,” she said. “Even if you and your friend work at the same place … even identical twins could get different award amounts.”