College Scholarships

If you are like most students and need assistance with your college expenses, student scholarships are definitely worth a source of "free money" for college.

What is a college scholarship?

A college scholarship is a merit-based education grant that provides you with money for college that you do not have to pay back.

Student scholarships that are provided by colleges usually target students that meet a certain criteria. The types of scholarships are very diverse and range from having a certain GPA to having a special talent like in music, art, or athletics. There are also scholarships that are created for certain students such as women, single mothers, minorities, and students with disabilities.

There are two types of scholarships. There are scholarships that are provided by the college or university, and outside scholarships that are sponsored by public or private organizations.

In order to locate available scholarships, you should check with each college you are interested in to find out what scholarships are available. You should also check for scholarships in your community or through various companies.

Search for College Scholarships

There are many different ways to locate student scholarships. You should try several approaches to locating scholarships that best fit your needs.

1. If you are still in high school, then talk with your High School Guidance Counselor. By discussing your career goals and interests, your counselor can suggest schools that might best meet your educational needs. You can also get advice on which scholarships you might be eligibile for.

2. Visit with the financial aid office at the college, university or trade school that you are going to apply to or are currently attending. Knowing which scholarships are available may dictate the school you would like to attend. School scholarships are often available for students that need financial assistance, are single parents, or have special needs.

3. Be sure to check with your employer because many corporations have scholarships for employees or children of employees. Most of the large and many of the smaller corporations have some type of scholarships that you can apply for.

4. Trade Associations, Labor Unions, and Professional organizations offer college scholarships to students that are pursuing certain career paths. Labor Unions often have scholarships for union members and their families.

5. Local business and Non-profit Corporations also provide scholarships to help students that live in the local community. Check with your local banks, churches, non-profit, and civic groups.

6. Internet scholarship databases can also provide you with a good list of scholarships that might meet your needs.

A valuable source of college scholarships is Student Aid on the Web. This government website provides a very easy to use Scholarship Search tool. Using the scholarship search is very straightforward.

Once you are on the search page, all you have to do is type in the category of scholarship you are looking for, such as music, athleltic, mathematics, etc.

After you enter your search term, you are given a list of relevant scholarships, the maximum award, minimum award, and average award. This gives you an idea of how much money is usually given for that particular scholarship.

When you click on the Scholarship link you are taken to a page that gives you award information, sponsor or institution information, requirements, criteria, and contact information.

Scholarship Award Information includes:

- Name of the scholarship award

- Type of scholarship award

- If the scholarship award is specific to a particular school

- Whether you need to fill out a seperate scholarship application

- The dollar amount awarded per individual, per year, for the most recent scholarship award

- If their is an unlimited number of scholarship awards available

- The number of scholarship awards granted each year for the most recent year.

- If the scholarship award must be repaid.

- If the scholarship award can be renewed.

- If the scholarship award is granted every year.

The Scholarship Sponsor or Institution Information includes:

- The administering institution or agency.

- The address

- The phone number

- The Fax number

- Web site for more information

Scholarship Requirements include:

- The specific major or program

- Levels of enrollement.

- Areas of study.

Scholarshipp Criteria include:

- Any specific criteria for granting the scholarship award

Scholarship Contact Information:

- Who do you contact for additional information.

College Scholarship Summary:

There are a lot of college scholarships that are available to help pay for your college education.

You need to spend the time researching the different colleges, programs, and scholarships each school offers. Even online schools offer scholarships, so don't limit your school research.

Once you have made a list of schools you want to attend, find out what scholarships they offer. You don't have to limit your research to your field of study. There are a lot of scholarships that are provided to certain groups of students.

In addition to the college, look for scholarships from different organizations, local businesses, communities, foundations, corporations, unions, and even churches.

Finally, once you have done your scholarship research, you actually need to apply. Make sure that you apply for a lot of different scholarships. Don't limit yourself to just one or two, apply for as many that you feel you are qualified for!

Be sure that you are eligible for the scholarships you are applying for. Don't waste your time or the time of the reviewers if you know you don't meet the requirements of the scholarship.

Take your time and fill out the scholarship application properly and completely. If you don't understand what they are looking for, email or better yet, call the scholarship provider and ask questions.

If you don't find what you are looking for on Student Aid on the Web, be sure to visit FastWeb's free scholarship search to find information on more than 1.5 million scholarships. You will need to register to use Fastweb, but it will definitely provide you with a large list of available college scholarships.