A Federal grand is simply money for college from the government that you do not have to repay. Their given for all kinds of reasons, ranging from the city you live in to place where you were born. And no, those are not the same thing. After deciding that you want or need to these grants, the first thing to do is to meet with your college counselor and see what you qualify for. See if there are any available grants from your state, or even the city that you were born in. Also ask if there are any available based on your ethnicity, or from any hardships that you have faced.

For example, there are grants available for those who are handicapped.  Specific grants include people who are deaf, blind, and quadriplegic.  This is to help ensure that the handicapped can still get a quality education.

The one thing that you must keep in mind if you're trying to find a federal grant, is that there are usually very strict requirements to get and keep them.  That means that if your attendance or grades slip, you can find yourself a few thousand dollars poorer when your tuition bill comes.  So, make sure that you have the work ethic necessary to keep these grants.  The best part of these federal grants is that if you keep the requirements then they will automatically renew, which means that as long as you continue to meet the requirements, you'll automatically get the grant year after year.

Also, if you go to your local library or your school's library, there are usually volumes and volumes of the scholarships available to you. While this can be time consuming, remember the harder and more focused the grant is the less competition you will have. So, when you have exhausted all of the easy defined grants, I recommend going through all the grants available in your library to find any others that you might qualify for. It can't hurt to apply, there's no penalty if you apply and don't get the grant. So find as many as you can, and apply to all of them even if you are not sure. Just make sure that you meet the minimum qualifications for any that you apply for, and you should be fine. Finding money for college is not easy, but if you stay dedicated and put in a little work, it is possible to graduate college with no debt.