How to Find Scholarships
An increasingly competitive job market has made a college education more important than ever, but economic difficulties and rising costs have made it more difficult to afford. Grants and loans are common, but some of the most valuable information for education funding is how to find scholarships that match one’s qualifications, and this information can be a major key to whether a person can afford to pursue a degree at all. Fortunately, there are many sources for scholarship information if you know where to look, so here are a few steps to get you started.
The first step you might take is to visit the school you wish to attend. The school’s financial aid office can help you with accurate information on how to find scholarships, which ones you might qualify for, and your school’s policy on outside scholarships. Also, financial aid counselors can help throughout the process of finding and applying for scholarships, offering advice and helping you to coordinate any other financial aid.
A good second step (or first step if you don’t yet know what school you hope to attend) is to visit the public library. This is a great place to get everything from general information about your field and school or prospective schools, to information on specific scholarships, and often a bulletin board with miscellaneous scholarship or other information. If you live near a college town, the public library there may have even more information than other local libraries.
Next, the internet search, can be one of the most high-yielding information sources available. There are many sources on the web for scholarship information, as well as applications that can be submitted electronically. Free scholarship databases often allow you to sign up and search based on your profile information, and many will send you updates on new scholarships within your criteria. To find these databases use a search engine or visit links from school websites.
The next point, not really a step but well worth mentioning, is to remind you in your search that you should not have to pay money to get money. Though a service is not necessarily a scam just because it is fee-based, any information that a paid search can yield can also be found on free searches- in fact there is no fee-based service out there that can offer as complete an information source as you can compile by searching several free databases yourself. Still, if you must use a paid service, beware of those offering anything that sounds “too good” (like guaranteed scholarships or doing everything for you), and thoroughly check the credentials of any service you consider.
Finally, if you have had difficulty finding scholarships that you qualify for, remember that besides the traditional criteria of grades, talent, etc., other criteria can include financial need, minority status, or even qualities such as being left handed or other unusual requirements. If you feel you don’t qualify for a scholarship because of grades or other things, search for scholarships based on other qualities- you never know what may establish your eligibility. If you are eager to go to school and learn- and willing to do the footwork- then you may be able to find a scholarship that’s right for you regardless of your educational background.
