College Scholarships - The benefits of Free Scholarship Searches

By Kelley Kilanski

College scholarships are essentially free money to pay for college. Scholarships do not have to be paid back and many do not have any criteria you have to fulfill in order to get them except applying for them and fulfilling the application criteria. However, each year many scholarships do not get awarded because students or potential students do not apply for them. If someone were passing out free money, would you pass it up?

One of the most common reasons that college scholarships are not applied for is that there is a common misconception that college scholarships are difficult to find and the college scholarship search is a tedious process. This was true at one point in time when you had to search through volumes of books containing information on scholarships and cross reference them with various criteria in order to choose just the right scholarships to apply for. With the advent of personal computer and the internet and all of its functionality, the search for the right college scholarship is now so easy, it really is as simple as filling out some information online.

Free scholarship searches are available online. All the student or potential student has to do is join one or several free scholarship programs by filling out an application online with all the relevant data concerning who you are, what you participate in and what your interests are. By signing up for any free scholarship search you are literally giving all of the necessary information in order to have appropriate scholarships found for you, free. Honestly, if you pay for a scholarship search, you are being ripped-off since this is a service provided free of charge by various online scholarship search services. The database of scholarships is no different for a paid service than it is for a free service.

The benefit of participating in a free scholarship service is that all of the work is done for you. Your information is fed into a database and scholarships are chosen for you based on the information you provide. Potential scholarships are then sent to your email address and you simply have to apply for those you want to apply for.

By participating in a free scholarship search, you can potentially generate thousands of free money for college in the form of scholarships. So don't pass up this opportunity. In the long run free scholarship money could save you thousands in student loan costs.

How Fraudulent Scholarship Companies Try To Rip You Off

By M. Allen

One of the more high pressured times in a student’s life is making that transition from high school to college, or even from junior college to university. Scam artists and crooks are out there waiting to prey on students and parents alike during this time as they know that the cost of going to college keeps going up. There are thousands of legitimate scholarship opportunities out there to help students achieve their dreams of furthering their education, but the amount of available scholarships can often make it near impossible to find the ones that a particular student may qualify for. There are a great many legitimate companies that are willing to help students muddle through all these scholarships and hunt for the right ones to apply for. There are also crooks who want to charge you money in exchange for a list of outdated scholarships you can find by searching the Internet, a list that includes scholarships you don’t qualify for, or who will not give you a list at all in exchange for your money.

As is the case with most situations, beware of unsolicited email (or spam). Many scammers use spam as a way to contact possible victims. They wait to see who responds to the email and then they know that it is a valid email address. Soon you get on more and more spam lists and are targeted by more and more crooks. Legitimate companies don’t use unsolicited emails to drum up business.

A scholarship search service should be willing to you give you information on how there service works, possible their percentage of success, and all costs associated with using their service up front. There should be no surprises when it comes to what they are going to do for you and how much they are going to charge you.

Don’t be afraid to perform your own scholarship search. Through search engines, online forums, and scholarship websites there is an amazing amount of information available that you do not have to pay for. For all you know, that company offering to help you is doing it this way too. There are also a large number of sources your high school guidance counselor should be able to help you out with.

If a scholarship search service gives any guarantees as to how many scholarships they can qualify you for or how much money they can get for you then you will need view them skeptically. There is not a scholarship search service around that can predict or force a college or charitable scholarship board to make the decision they want. These are independent groups who are considering hundreds, in some cases thousands, of qualified applicants.

Ask questions as to whether there is a refund policy and how does that get triggered? Legitimate companies should be more than willing to disclose all their procedures, like refund policies, and explain how they work and how they will protect you. Some companies offer refund policies but their rules make it almost impossible to qualify for a refund. Secrecy and mysteries surrounding these issues are signs that the company is not legitimate.

Scholarship search services almost always charge for their service, but the fee can vary widely. If the fee seems too large then it may be a sign that they are trying to take advantage of people in need.

Most importantly, know who it is that you are working with. Is this a scholarship search service or a foundation that actually awards scholarships? Perform a simple Internet search on the company name and also enter the word “fraud” or “scam” to see if any posts come up relating to fraudulent activities.

Scholarships help many students attend college who, without them, wouldn’t be able to attend. There are many generous foundations, companies, and individuals who give scholarships freely. There are even legitimate companies that will help track down those elusive scholarships that you might not be able to find on your own. But, there are also scam artists out there looking to take advantage of people during times of high stress. Protect yourself from Internet scam artists, get the knowledge you need to recognize a scam before it works on you.

Scholarships for Graduate Students

Author: J G Edmond

After a few years in the working world, many graduates find that they just can't advance any farther in their careers without having additional qualifications and credentials. Higher education is so accessible these days that a Bachelor's degree doesn't always bring the prestige and opportunities that it once did. This is particularly true in high technology areas, the sciences and business management.

You are probably going to have to earn a Master's degree or a Doctorate in order to move up the corporate ladder, become a tenured teacher, or get a high-paying job in any number of other fields.

Graduate school costs a lot of money, and if you are still trying to pay off previous school loans how can you possibly get a Master's degree without acquiring a lot of additional debt? One way is to find and apply for scholarships for graduate students.

You might not even have been aware that there are special scholarships available for graduate students. Most people think that scholarships only exist only for undergraduate students, but that's not the case at all.

Many scholarships exist for graduate students and work in the same way that they do for undergrads, except that the awards are specifically intended to fund a Master's degree, law degree, doctorate program, and similar advanced study endeavors. Often these are paid by large companies and corporations but rarely are strings attached relating to future work requirements.

Depending on the size of the award you win, you can either subsidize a portion of your tuition bill or be able to pay for everything and attend school on that coveted full scholarship.

Finding a scholarship as a graduate students can however pose some problems. The availability of scholarships depends on the subject to be studied and not all awards are advertised through the usual channels. It can take hours of research to come up with just a couple of leads that you could potentially qualify for. This discourages many people and a lot of awards go unclaimed as a result.

That is actually good news for you because if you are determined it means there sometimes isn't much competition for a lesser-known scholarship. You will therefore have a better chance of winning an award and making grad school more affordable. But if other people can't find out about these lucrative scholarships, how can you? Well, the easiest way is to register with a company that matches your qualifications to existing awards.

There are a number companies that perform this service for a fee, and you can find most of them online. Though the specific services and fees differ depending on which company you sign up with, you'll generally have two separate options.

First, you can sign up with a company that will personally work with you to find potential scholarships that you can apply for. You will have to fill out an online questionnaire detailing your academic and career accomplishments, as well as your intended field of study and perhaps some personal information such as age, gender, and ethnicity.

These personal questions are important because some scholarships for graduate students are restricted to certain ethnic groups or possibly only women may be eligible for the award.

Once the company has your information, a specialist will then begin the process of matching you to award opportunities. You can then decide which awards you want to apply for.

The second option, at a much lower cost, is to sign up with a company that simply gives you access to a searchable database containing thousands of scholarships for graduate students. You can tweak your searches in various ways to yield different results This gives you greater flexibility in browsing through potential awards.

If you want to get the most out of your career, then grad school is probably the way for you to go. You can take steps now to help defray the high cost of tuition by registering with a company that will alert you to available scholarships for graduate students. You can win a significant amount of money towards your education that you will never have to repay, so check out some of these sites today.

Study Abroad: Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship

The Rotary Foundation Scholarship is designed to further international understanding and friendly relations between peoples of different countries. The program provides scholarships to allow undergraduate students to attend college in any of the 161 countries where Rotary is represented. Scholarships cover all expenses including room, board, tuition, transportation, and related costs, and can be worth $20,000 or more. Of the programs offered, Ball State currently sponsors only the Academic Year Ambassador Scholarship.

Web site: http://www.rotary.org/foundation/educational/amb_scho/index.html

Deadline: contact the Muncie Rotary Club for local deadlines

Contact: Muncie Rotary Club (765) 287-2000

or

Dr. Barbara Stedman, BSU Coordinator for major scholarships

Honors College, 104 Carmichael Hall

285-1024

Playing & Winning The Financial Aid Game

Author: Dan Rosenfield

OK, you don't have a 4.0 GPA, you're not the senior class president, you can't throw a football fifty yards, and your SAT scores aren't generating letters or phone calls from Harvard, Yale or Princeton. So, you'll never qualify for a college scholarship, right?

Not necessarily! There are lots of scholarships, and other kinds of financial aid for which you might qualify. Some colleges may offer you academic grants with a GPA of 3.0 and SAT scores of 1000. Ashland University offers scholarships to twins. Many church affiliated colleges offer grants to students who are members of their religious denomination. And that's just the beginning.

If you are the son or daughter of a military veteran, if either of your parents work for a major corporation, if your mother or father is a member of a fraternal or civic organization, or if you are preparing for a career in a particular profession, there may be substantial scholarships for which you can apply, even if you're not a top student or student leader.

Are you good at writing essays? If you are, your writing skills may be the ticket to a scholarship. There is even a scholarship for students who agree to abstain from using tobacco and alcohol while in college.

You may even qualify for a scholarship because of where you live, your last name, your ethnic heritage or race, or a disease or handicapping condition you may have. Get the idea yet? There are all kinds of scholarships, grants, and financial aid programs out there. Some require economic need or have other restrictions, others do not.

You can search through hundreds of thousands of possible scholarships (free!) in more than twenty different data bases. While you're there, you can sign up for a free email newsletter with articles on college admission, scholarship and financial aid programs, college survival tips, and income opportunities for college students. At another site you?ll find scholarships given by individual college to all enrolled students meeting the listed criteria. Student-athletes may visit one good site to find the information needed to secure an athletic scholarship (or an opportunity to compete in a Division III or other non-scholarship program).

Don't forget your school counselor, as he or she can be a great source of information about local scholarship sources. In fact, most high school guidance offices maintain a list of locally based scholarships. Parents and students would be well advised to explore the range of scholarships for which they may qualify as early as the ninth or tenth grade so they can plan to meet the requirements of as many as possible.

You should be aware that many private colleges offer substantial scholarships and grants in order to be more competitive with lower cost public institutions and/or attract students who might otherwise enroll elsewhere. These monies are often offered to students with very little or no demonstrated financial need. In fact, many private colleges frequently "rebate" 30%-35% (or more) of their tuition revenue in the form of institutional financial aid. When these funds are factored in, private colleges may ultimately be little or no more expensive for some students to attend than public colleges and universities with lower published fees.

If you can demonstrate financial need, as established by your answers on the FAFSA form at http://fafsa.ed.gov , you may want to apply to at least a few colleges which meet 100% of demonstrated financial need and do so with a reasonable proportion of gift aid to self-help aid (loans and/or work-study funds). Take note that although some relatively small number of colleges will meet the full need of all enrolled students, many more will be far more likely to meet or nearly meet the full need of stronger students.

To position yourself well to be a competitive candidate for scholarships, students should take the most challenging classes available, work diligently to learn as much as possible (not just to get grades), and get involved in co-curricular, community, charitable and/or public service activities. Here?s a good rule of thumb for all students; the more you have to offer the more you're likely to be offered.

Remember three words - research, research, and research. The more time you spend investigating scholarship opportunities, the more likely you are to find scholarships for which you may be eligible.

Don't let anyone discourage you. There are lots of people "out there," including some educators, who are inadvertently spreading their serious misconceptions about who may qualify for financial aid and what is required to do so. Most important of all, do not fail to investigate or apply to a college you like because you think it is too expensive. That is one of the most common and worst mistakes a family can make. Remember, you never know what kinds of scholarships and/or financial aid you might receive.

However, just like you should have "fall back" or "safety" colleges in case you are not admitted to your first choice institutions, you should choose and apply to colleges that will be affordable if you do not receive the financial assistance for which you hope.

Obvious as it may be, I feel obligated to remind you to pay attention to details and deadlines when applying for scholarships because so many students fail to do so. I could hardly believe it when an independent educational counselor who probably earns in the neighborhood of $1,000 for helping a student identify and gain admission to appropriate colleges asked (on an email list serve) how many words above the limit one of her counsulees could go on his college application essay. Don?t make the mistake that she did by assuming there will be no penalty if you "come close" to the requirements or are "only a few days beyond the deadline". If you don?t pay attention, be prepared to pay for your mistakes. But, do it right and you have a great chance of getting some scholarship and or financial aid help. Good luck.

Dan Rosenfield, a Dean at a major university, has created websites to assist traditional and adult students seeking information on scholarships and adults looking for online colleges where they can earn a degree without interrupting their careers.