How To Find A Scholarship & Apply For It (Resources To Find)

With the expense of universities and colleges continuing to rise year after year, it may appear that the expense of furthering your schooling is running out of control.

Obtaining scholarships is a fantastic way to lessen the hefty cost of attending college.

Parents and their students who are attempting to compile a scholarship list can find a wide variety of wonderful websites online that may help them find scholarships.

You can limit your options by specialty, destination, self-identity, and other factors.

This article is a comprehensive resource for finding scholarships of all kinds, which you can use.

Let’s look at some methods for finding scholarships.

How Can I Find Scholarships?

Scholarships and grants are considered as ‘gift aid.’ They don’t have to be repaid like other financial aid like student loans or education loans. They are basically a form of money that you can use to pay some amount of college expenses.

There are many ways you can find and learn about scholarships. Some of the scholarships are merit-based, which you may find by meeting basic standards that are set by the scholarship provider.

There are also some grants and scholarships available that are based on special talent or academic achievements, or maybe depending on the financial need.

Moreover, some scholarships are specially for particular groups of students like women or graduate students. Even if you come from a specific background or have parents who work for the government, then you are granted a particular type of scholarship. 

For example, if you are a student from a military family, then you are eligible for such kinds of scholarships.

Let’s discuss various resources to find scholarships!

Resources To Find Scholarships

Scholarships are provided by schools and universities, but there are also some other resources where you can find many potential scholarships that may help you to aid in the educational expenses.

Following are some of the websites that can help you to find the best scholarships.

1. SallieMae

Among lenders of education and student loans, SallieMae is quite well known. You can search for scholarships on the site’s College Planning page using your field of study, interests, and other criteria to receive the most suitable matches for your needs and build a personal profile.

2. Scholarship Monkey

Scholarship Monkey provides you with several options for searching for scholarships and grants. You can perform a keyword search, browse scholarship lists (organized by various topics or categories), and view lists of the newest and most prominent scholarships. 

For more accurate results, you can also create a personal profile on this website.

3. College Board Scholarship Search

The College Board has a division dedicated to scholarships, even though it is best known for its college readiness exams.

It’s crucial to complete as many details as you can in the profile that’s used for searching if you want to obtain the most accurate search results.

4. Fastweb

More than 1.5 million scholarships worth more than $3.4 billion are hosted by Fastweb. The site’s search function will assist you in locating the matches that most closely match your requirements after you create a profile. The website helps you find pretty much exactly what you’re looking for in your personal profile.

Then, you can view every scholarship you’ve applied for as well as any that you might want to apply for in the future.

5. Scholarships.com

One of the largest scholarship databases is maintained by Scholarships.com and is updated daily.

Although browsing by category is simple, the best way to take advantage of everything the website has to offer is to create a personal profile, which will enable you to access the most comprehensive lists of opportunities available to you.

6. Chegg Scholarships

Chegg is well-known for its online bookstore, where students can rent or purchase affordable textbooks. However, Chegg is also a fantastic place to find scholarships, offering more than 25,000 of them.

7. Niche

Niche, formerly known as College Prowler, is a fantastic resource that can assist you in finding colleges AND funding. Users can search by interest, career, major, and other criteria thanks to the categories that are used to organize the information.

There are occasionally contests to enter on Niche as well.

Types Of Scholarships

You can opt for scholarships depending on the wide range of qualities that may include performance-based or academic-based. Following are the types of scholarships that you can go for:

1. Academic Scholarships:

Academic scholarships are the most beneficial type of scholarship. They are provided to you according to your merits and GPA scores. 

You can easily qualify for academic scholarships by scoring high in your academics from the university or non-profit organizations. These scholarships vary from school to school, depending upon the type of school.

You can cover the whole expenses of your academics and tuition once you qualify for this scholarship. So make sure you study hard and get exceptional scores in your academics.

2. Community Service Scholarships:

There are some scholarships that are based on community service. Students who are service driven are eligible for the scholarships depending on their commitment to community service.

Students are eligible for this scholarship if they demonstrate past or ongoing commitment to community services like regular participation in various events and volunteering.

Moreover, you can also ask your community organizations where you provide service if there are any scholarships available. Many such organizations provide scholarships to their students. These may include religious groups, hospitals, churches, and many other community clubs.

3. Athletic Scholarships:

Well, if you are an athlete, there are chances that you may get the Athletic scholarship. There are many athletic scholarships available that support students in paying their academic expenses.

For these kinds of scholarships, you must qualify the standard athletic scholarship norms if you participate in basketball, swimming, football and other sports for your university or school.

However, an athletic scholarship is a long way to achieve. There are some norms that you need to fit in. Many athletic students fail to achieve their norms just because they don’t know the complete process. 

Only 1% or 2% of undergraduate students qualify for athletic scholarships, which only cover a particular portion of your college cost. 

The overall athletic scholarship a student can get is around $18,000. So if you are an athlete, then be prepared, achieve the standard athletic norms and get the benefit of athletic scholarships.

4. Diversity Scholarships:

The most common type of scholarship is diversity scholarship. Some schools and colleges put efforts into encouraging and supporting students who belong to minorities or groups that have been traditionally marginalized.

These scholarships depend on your race, ethnicity, gender, or religion. Students who fit into this criteria may apply to these diversity scholarships and take benefit of it to reduce or fulfill their educational costs.

For instance, black or Hispanic students get scholarship funds of around $500 to $5000 to pursue a university degree.

5. Need-based Scholarship:

Need-based scholarships are only provided to those students who are financially incompatible or struggle to pay the academic tuition fees.

The process of avail of this scholarship is quite chaotic. There are many factors that are taken into consideration before you get qualified for this scholarship.

You may need to submit various documents that prove your need for the scholarship. You may have to submit the GPA certificate, letter of recommendation, income certificate of your guardian, or your desire to pursue a degree in a particular field.

6. Musical Talent Scholarship:

If you are a great musician, you may get a scholarship for your talent for music from your school or non-profit organization. These scholarships are awarded to many composers, singers, and instrumentalists.

There are many colleges that appreciate music talent and provide music performance scholarships.

To get qualified for this scholarship opportunity, you must showcase your talent through a video recording or in-person performance in front of an expert.

When To Apply For Scholarship?

The best time to start applying for scholarships is when you start planning for college. You can also start planning according to your financial status at an early age. There are many financial aid options available on the website FinAid.org. You can also get early awareness about college at an early age through the GEAR UP program of the US to get scholarships for students when they enter college.

You should start looking for scholarships after entering high school and applying for them to get financial aid. There are many scholarships option that require you to apply for them before you go to college. You should apply to as many scholarships as possible to increase your chances of getting them. A scholarship is like free money that can help you greatly with your higher education, so you should give your time to it.

Applying For College Scholarships

When it comes to applying for scholarships, there are some processes and eligibility requirements that you need to fulfill.

The following are the essential requirements that you need to get done before applying.

1. Complete the FAFSA:

Some of the scholarships require submitting the FAFSA. You must complete the FAFSA as soon as possible to maximize your chances of getting scholarships.

2. Reviewing the application requirements:

Before you submit your application, it is necessary to review all the requirements carefully. Some of the schools or organizations have strict rules like you have to submit certain fonts for essays.

If you submit the documentation without following the guidelines, then you may lose the opportunity to avail of the scholarship. So it is always better to review your application requirements and fulfill them.

3. Know the deadline:

Scholarship deadlines are decided by the university or the organizations. No doubt you need to check out the deadline and give yourself plenty of time to complete the whole process of the application so that you can submit it ahead of the deadline.

Additional Advice For Discovering A College Scholarship

To learn more about scholarships and other financial aid options, the Department of Education advises using the following free resources:

• A college’s or career school’s financial aid department
• a TRIO or high school counselor
• federal organizations
• Your state’s funding body
• The reference section of your library
• foundations, churches, community groups, small businesses, or civic organizations
• organizations, such as associations for professionals in your field of interest
• organizations based on ethnicity
• Your employer or the employers of your parents

Related Read:

• How To Get Into UCLA? 5 Effective Tips To Implement
• How To Get An MBA For Free From Top Colleges?
• How to Create an Infographic in Powerpoint
• How To Apply For Colleges

Key Takeaways: How To Find A Scholarship

So that’s all about how to find scholarships.

Although obtaining scholarships requires a lot of work, the student and their family may end up saving a lot of money as a result of their efforts. 

Even if the student’s grades are only average, don’t give up. Keep in mind that there are six million active scholarships worth $30 billion.

Study the resources that I have mentioned above and get the benefit of a scholarship to cover your academic costs.

Let us know your thoughts on this in the comment section below.