About the Author
Sedgwick Hines is an author and self-publisher of Aviation Scholarships, The Scholarship Workbook, and other forthcoming books, owner of AvScholars Publishing, LLC. He graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Aviation Technology in 1994. Mr. Hines is a professional airline pilot as well, in which scholarships and other forms of financial aid he received allowed him to purse his childhood dream.


My Financial Aid Story... 

Hello Students, Parents, and Educators:

I would like to share my quest for financial aid with you. It cost me approximately $130,000 to attend Purdue University’s Aviation/Flight Program in West Lafayette, Indiana from 1990 - 1994. I received nearly $90,000 in scholarships, grants, and institutional aid to help pay for my college tuition and flight training fees. However, knowing what I know now, I believe I should have gone to school for free or close to free. I attended Chicago Vocational High School, which is a public high school located on the south side of Chicago, IL, and in my senior year of high school I was Class President and salutatorian. I had a 4.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale, and I was a member of various clubs and organizations in school such as the Track & Field Team, National Honor Society, National Beta Club, Law Club, Math Club, etc. I also volunteered as a tutor at a local church and community organization to elementary school students.

When it was time to start applying for financial aid, my mother and I didn’t have a clue about the financial aid process. We made numerous mistakes on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and I didn’t apply for most scholarships in which I was eligible. I felt the scholarship application process was a little intimidating, especially when I had to write an essay or prepare for an interview. If it had not been for my mother and guidance counselor pushing me to complete the scholarship applications that I had, I would not have received the scholarships that I was awarded.

Although, I received nearly $90,000 in scholarships, grants, and institutional aid to pay for college. I still had to borrow close to $40,000 in student, PLUS, and Alternative loans to pay for the remaining flight training expenses. I should have applied to more scholarships to reduce the number and amount of loans I had to borrow for my education. Despite my financial aid mistakes, I was still able to pursue my childhood dream of becoming a professional airline pilot. And currently, I’m a pilot for a major airline.

After graduating from college, I wrote and published my first book titled Aviation Scholarship Directory to help students find aviation scholarships. After publishing the second edition of this book, I was asked if I could help students that were not interested in aviation with their scholarship search. So I started to reflect on my personal experiences and lessons learned. Then I researched the financial aid topic more and attended various financial aid workshops. What I realized was that students and parents were still having the same problems that my mother and I had years ago.

So, I decided to write The Scholarship Workbook. The overall goal of The Scholarship Workbook was to simplify the financial aid process for students and parents by making it a step-by-step guide. There are four major steps, in which I consider as building blocks, to help students with the financial aid process.

The four major steps (building blocks) consist of:
Step 1: Financial Aid Basics
Step 2: The Workbook (Documenting Qualifications)
Step 3: Scholarship and Financial Aid Sources
Step 4: Completing the Scholarship Application

Each step was designed to help students by making the financial aid process less confusing and intimidating. I assure you that The Scholarship Workbook will help students with their scholarship search and application process. Click here to order your copy of The Scholarship Workbook.


Need a Financial Aid Workshop Host?
If you would like to bring Sedgwick Hines to your school’s or organization’s financial aid workshop as a host presenter, please download our Workshop Host Questionnaire (PDF). Then print, complete, and fax the questionnaire to AvScholars Publishing, LLC. at (801) 516-0639. If you have any additional questions or comments, please Contact Us and we’ll respond to you promptly. The PDF file requires Acrobat Reader to view. If you don't already have it, you can download it for free.