Before learning more about private scholarships, however, you need to appreciate some of the harsh realities about these prizes. Private scholarships are often only awarded for one year. So if you work
really hard to win scholarships to cover your freshman year, you will still have to deal with three years of colleges costs.
But here is what can be most discouraging: Enterprising students
who capture a scholarship can jeopardize a portion of their financial
aid award. Federal rules require that a school consider outside scholarship
money when calculating its financial aid package. Let’s say, for
instance, that a family’s expected contribution to a school is $15,000
and the cost of the college is $25,000. The school offers a financial aid
package of $10,000 to fill the gap. Now let’s suppose that the student
wins a $2,000 scholarship. The school would reduce its financial aid
package by $2,000.
When this occurs, it’s better if a college reduces the size of a loan
in a package rather than grant money that needn’t be repaid. Some
schools will and some won’t. It makes sense to ask financial aid officers
at the institutions that interest you about their policies regarding private
scholarships.
Frankly, it will often be more worthwhile for students to look for
merit awards from individual schools. The school scholarships are often
far more lucrative than what you can expect with a private scholarship,
and they typically last four years. A study conducted by the
Institute for Higher Education Policy concluded that the average private
scholarship for undergraduates is worth $1,982.
Finding Private Scholarships
Typically, the best known scholarships are also going to be the
hardest to win. Brilliant kids who have the most remarkable resumes
are going to snag national scholarships such as the Coca-Cola Scholars
awards, the AXA Achievement Scholarship, Gates Millennium
Scholars, and the Intel Science Talent Search. Most of the kids who
contemplate applying for these sorts of mega awards will be wasting their time.
So what about everybody else? Here’s the best way for a child to
proceed:
Aim lower. Find loose scholarship cash by hunting in your own
community and region. Do your parents’ workplaces offer scholarships
to children of employees? Some unions also kick in money for
the right kid. Service organizations are another good vein to mine.
Here are some to contact:
• Lions Club
• Kiwanis International
• Rotary Clubs
• Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Rebekah Lodges
• Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks
• Optimist International
• Soroptimist International
Community foundations are overlooked local resources. These local
foundations—there are more than 650 scattered across the country—
play matchmaker between generous benefactors in an area and
deserving charitable projects. Contact the nearest community foundation
to see whether it operates scholarship programs. To find them,
visit the community foundation locator sponsored by the Council on
Foundations and the Community Foundations of America at
www. communityfoundations.net.
Also check for scholarship treasures in your high school’s guidance
department. Periodically ask the counselor for any new scholarship
possibilities. Visit the resource desk at the local library.
The most successful treasure hunters will be the ones who approach
the scholarship process as a part-time job. Finding scholarships,
filling out applications, and writing essays can ultimately be
more lucrative than a job at Baskin-Robbins.
Explore free online scholarship tools. Online scholarship locators
will simplify your job. Once at the free sites, you can personalize
your search by typing in your interests, accomplishments, and
other unique aspects about yourself. The database will compare your
profile with the requirements of countless scholarships and spit out a
list of possibilities. To generate more leads, vary the information you
supply on different attempts.
Here are three prominent scholarships search sites:
• Fast Web, www.fastweb.com
• College Board’s Scholarship Search,
http://apps.collegeboard.com/cbsearch_ss/welcome.jsp
• Scholarships.com, www.scholarships.com
Check for oddball scholarships. Are you left handed? Juniata
College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, will award up to $1,000 to lefthanded
students through its Frederick and Mary F. Beckley Scholarship.
Loyola University in Chicago offers an incredible deal to
students who are Catholic and have a last name of Zolp. A lucky Zolp,
sounds like a Dr. Seuss character, will receive free tuition for four
years. That’s not the only surname scholarship. Texas A&M University
bestows a full-ride scholarship to any student with the last name of
Scarpinato. Harvard oversees a bunch of surname scholarships.
It’s unlikely you can think of any activity—impressive or not—that
can’t lay claim to its own scholarships. At DePauw University, female
music majors who can sing or play “The Star Spangled Banner” with
sincerity are eligible for the Icy Frost Bridge Scholarship. The teenage
couple who creates the neatest prom outfits that are held together
with Duck Brand Duct Tape wins a big scholarship. Ursinus College
in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, bestows its J.D. Salinger Award to creative
writers who are oddball geniuses. Also in line for free cash from
various scholarship sponsors are surfers, golf caddies, twins, vegetarians,
duck callers, bowlers, pagans, and kids who can bake incredible apple pies.
Check with the college. Colleges routinely dispense scholarships
that alumni or other supporters of the school have established,
in some cases decades ago. You shouldn’t confuse these scholarships
with merit awards that a college or university may automatically bestow
if an incoming student meets certain academic criteria. Schools,
for instance, may be sitting on pots of money for kids who have devoted
hundreds of hours to community service or for students who
want to major in languages and study overseas. Many colleges and universities
post these scholarship opportunities on their Web sites, but
it can pay off to also contact the schools.
Beware of scholarship rip-offs. A ripe breeding ground for ripoff
artists are free college financial seminars. Legitimate professionals
won’t promise that your child will win a scholarship or grant. Be skeptical
of any testimonials that you hear from audience members. They
could easily be planted in the room to generate sales.
How do you know if you are dealing with a shyster? According to
the Federal Trade Commission, here are some of their telltale promises:
• The scholarship is guaranteed or you’ll get your money back.
• You can’t get this information anywhere else.
• I just need your credit card or bank account number to hold this scholarship.
• The scholarship will cost money.
• You’re a finalist in a contest that you never entered.
Learn more about scholarship scams at the Federal Trade Commission’s
Web site at www.ftc.gov/scholarshipscams. To file a complaint
with the FTC call (877) FTC-HELP. Other contacts, if you
suspect a scam, are the local Better Business Bureau and your state’s
department of consumer protection.
Action Plan
Unless your child is a stellar standout, focus on regional or local
scholarships. Typically these outside scholarships won’t be as lucrative
as merit awards that schools distribute.
Source: The College Solution: A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School at the Right Price
