NOT JUST FOR HONOR STUDENTS
In Free College Money Part 3 of this five-part series, college grants were defined as “a gift of moneynot a reward that you have to pay back or compete for” Unlike grants, you do have to compete to win scholarships and they are awarded based on prearranged criterion, creativity and a unique application. While grants are usually given from a budget and awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis, scholarships are given all year long and have definitive deadlines that you must keep in mind when applying. Also, where grants are given to any number of students, scholarships are awarded to a select few applicants.
In the past, it was common for scholarships to be awarded largely based on merit, but nowadays, scholarships are awarded for a large variety of reasons including where a student lives, goes to school, the profession they are pursuing, and personal interests. The key in searching for scholarships is to apply where your student fulfills the largest number of criteria, thereby eliminating the competition and increasing the odds of taking home the award.
Listed here are seven places to begin your scholarship search:
Federal Student Aid: The U.S. Department of Education has set up a website (Student Aid) to provide free college money information, as well as money for technical schools, trade schools or career enhancement. This handy little website has a Scholarship Matching Wizard that anyone can use to create a search for free college money. You simply enter as much of the student’s information as possible to find all types of related scholarships. Once entered, this site will match you with hundreds of potential scholarships based on race, ethnicity, high school, college, national merit status, Greek organization, sports, religion, disability, profession, affiliations, marital status, art, interests and other miscellaneous criteria.
By State: One of the best ways to find available grants and scholarships is to do a search at the website of the state a student resides in or is planning to attend school in. State websites gather information for legally registered programs within their boundaries, and scholarships listed there have the best chance of being legitimate as well as having a more narrowed criterion. These scholarships are often state-related and generally awarded first to residents of the state.
By College: Each college a student may wish to attend (whether community college, trade school or university) has a financial
