It seemed that everyone and his brother, sister and cousin were also applying to these competitions. The Coca-Cola scholarship competition, for example, receives more than 100,000 applications each year.
It turned out that the last place we looked for scholarships was our most lucrative source. Best of all, this place turned out to be in our own backyard! What are backyard scholarships and where do you fi nd them? Think about all the civic groups, clubs, businesses, churches and organizations in your community. Each of these is a potential source for scholarships. (If you are already in college, you have two communities: your hometown and the city in which you go to school.) Since these awards are usually only available to students in your community, the competition is a lot less fierce.
You may be thinking, “What good is a $500 Lions Club scholarship when my college costs 20 grand a year?” It’s true that local scholarships don’t award the huge prizes that some of the national competitions do. You already know that we won over $100,000 in scholarships. What we haven’t told you is that the majority of this money came from local scholarships! We literally won $500 here and $1,500 there. By the time we graduated from Harvard and added up all the awards, it turned out to be a huge amount. Plus, some of
the local scholarships that we won were “renewable,” which meant that we received that money each year we were in college. So a $500 renewable scholarship was really worth $2,000 over four years.
If you still can’t get excited because these local awards seem small compared to the cost of tuition, try this exercise: Take the amount of the award and divide it by the time you invested in the application. For the $500 Lions Club award, let’s say that you spent one hour each night for three days to complete the application
and write the essay. Take $500 and divide it by three hours. That works out to a little over $166 per hour. (Now imagine that the award was for $1,000 instead. That would make it $333 per hour!) Not bad by any measure. If you can fi nd a job that pays you more than $166 an hour, then take it and forget applying to scholarships. If not, get back to applying for scholarships–even the little ones!
Let’s get specific and look at all of the places in your backyard to find scholarships.
High school counselor or college fi nancial aid officer
If you are a high school student, start with your counselor. Ask if he or she has a list of scholarship opportunities. Most counselors have a binder fi lled with local scholarships. It’s helpful if before your meeting, you prepare information about your family’s fi nancial background as well as special interests or talents you have that would make you eligible for scholarships. Don’t forget that your own high school will have a variety of scholarships from such places as the parent-teacher organization, alumni group and athletic booster clubs.
If you are a college student, make an appointment with your school’s financial aid offi ce. Before the appointment, think about what interests and talents you have and what fi eld you may want to enter after graduation. Take a copy of your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as background
(www.fafsa.ed.gov). Mention any special circumstances about your family’s fi nancial situation. Ask the fi nancial aid offi cer for recommendations of scholarships offered by the college or by community organizations.
Also, if you have already declared a major, check with the department’s administrative assistant or chair for any awards that you might be eligible to win. It’s important whenever you speak to a counselor (either in high school or college) that you inquire about any scholarships that require nomination. Often these scholarships are easier to win since the applicant pool is smaller. You have nothing to lose by asking, and if anything, it shows how serious you are about fi nancing your education.
High school websites
You may not visit your school’s website daily, but when you are looking for scholarships, it pays to search the site for lists of scholarships. Most high schools post scholarship opportunities for students on their websites. (You may have to dig down a few levels to fi nd this list.)
Other high school websites
If your school does not post scholarship opportunities, surf over to the websites of other high schools in the area. You’ll fi nd that many offer a wealth of scholarship resources.
Nearby colleges
While your college has great scholarship resources, wouldn’t it be great if you had double or triple these resources? You can. Simply seek the resources of other local colleges. Ask permission fi rst, but you’ll fi nd that most neighboring schools are more than willing to help you. If you are in high school, nothing prevents you from visiting a local college and asking for scholarship information. Because you are a prospective student, the college will often be happy to provide whatever assistance it can.
Student clubs and organizations
Here’s a reason to enjoy your extracurricular activities even more. One benefit of participating may be a scholarship sponsored by the organization. Inquire with the officers or advisors of the organization about scholarship funds.
Bands, newspapers, academic clubs, athletic organizations and service organizations often have scholarships that are awarded to outstanding members. If the organization has a national parent organization (e.g. National Honor Society) visit the national organization website. There are often awards that are given by the parent organization for members of local chapters.
Community organizations
Maybe you’ve wondered why community organizations have so many breakfast fundraisers—one reason is that some provide money for scholarships. You usually don’t have to be a member of these organizations to apply. In fact, many community groups sponsor scholarships that are open to all students who live in the area. As we have mentioned, college students really have two communities: their hometown and where they go to college. Don’t neglect either of these places.
How do you fi nd these organizations? Many local government websites list them. Visit the websites for your town, city and state. Also visit or call your community association or center. You can use the phone book to look up organizations. Some phone books even have a calendar of annual events that are sponsored by various civic groups. Finally, don’t forget to pay a visit to the public library and ask the reference librarian for help. Here is a brief list of some of the more common civic groups to track down:
- Altrusa
- American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary
- American Red Cross
- Association of Junior Leagues International
- Boys and Girls Clubs
- Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts
- Circle K
- Civitan
- Elks Club
- Lions Club
- 4-H Clubs
- Fraternal Order of Eagles
- Friends of the Library
- Kiwanis International
- Knights of Columbus
- National Exchange Club
- National Grange
- Optimist International
- Performing Arts Center
- Rotary Club
- Rotaract and Interact
- Ruritan
- Sertoma International
- Soroptimist International of the Americas
- U.S. Jaycees
- USA Freedom Corps
- Veterans of Foreign Wars
- YMCA and YWCA
- Zonta International
Local businesses
Businesses like to return some of their profi ts to employees and students in the community. Many offer scholarships as a way to reward students who both study and work. Ask your manager if your employer has a scholarship fund and how you can apply. Some companies—particularly large conglomerates that have offi ces, distributorships or factories in your community—offer scholarships that all students in the community are eligible to win. Check with the chamber of commerce for a list of the largest companies in the area.
You can call the public relations or community outreach department in these companies to inquire about any scholarship opportunities. Visit the large department and chain stores in the area and ask the store manager or customer service manager about scholarships.
Parents’ employer
Your parents may hate their jobs, but they’ll love the fact that many companies award scholarships to the children of employees as a benefit. They should speak with someone in the human resources department or with their direct managers about scholarships and other educational programs offered by their company.
Parents’ or grandparents’ military service
If your parents or grandparents served in the U.S. Armed Forces, you may qualify for a scholarship from a military association. Each branch of the service and even specifi c divisions within each branch have associations. Speak with your parents and grandparents about their military service and see if they belong to or know of these military associations.
Your employer
Flipping burgers may have an up side. Even if you work only part-time, you may qualify for an educational scholarship given by your employer. For example, McDonald’s offers the National Employee Scholarship to reward the accomplishments of its student-employees. There is even a McScholar of the Year prize that includes a $5,000 scholarship. If you have a full- or part-time job, ask your employer about scholarships.
Parents’ union
Don’t know if your parents are in a union? Ask and fi nd out. Some unions sponsor scholarships for the children of their members. Ask your parents to speak with the union offi cers about scholarships and other educational programs sponsored by their union.
Interest clubs
Performing arts centers, city orchestras, equestrian associations and amateur sports leagues are just a few of the many special interest clubs that may offer scholarships. While some limit their awards to members, many simply look for students who are interested in what they support. A city performing arts center, for example, may offer an award for a talented performing artist in the community.
Professional sports teams
They may not have won a World Series since the 1950s, but don’t discount them as a viable scholarship source. Many local professional athletic teams offer community awards (and not necessarily for athletes) as a way to contribute to the cities in which they are based.
Church or religious organizations
Religious organizations may provide scholarships for members. If you or your parents are members of a religious organization, check with the leaders to see if a scholarship is offered.
Local government
Some cities and counties provide scholarships specifi cally designated for local students. Often, local city council members and state representatives sponsor a scholarship fund. Even if you didn’t vote for them, call their offi ces and ask if they offer a scholarship.
Local newspaper
Local newspapers often print announcements about students who win scholarships. Keep a record of the scholarships featured or go to the library or look online at back issues of the newspaper. Check last year’s spring issues (between March and June) for announcements of scholarship recipients. Contact the sponsoring organizations to see if you’re eligible to enter the next competition.
