Home>>College
| The Hunt for Scholarships |
| By Brent Miller |
 You found your college, you got accepted. Now your first bill comes in six months…how much? $35,000!!!
Okay, so we all know colleges, like cars, have a “sticker price” and an “actual price.” After your FAFSA goes through and the college pitches in some money, your “actual price” may be lower than the sticker price, but still, it's usually not a steal!
The answer for most of us is to find scholarships. Notice I don’t just say "scholarships," because most people think the scholarships will find you. You can't just pick up the list of scholarships printed off at your school and say to yourself, “About one million people are applying for this scholarship so why should I try?” Someone has to win it, so why shouldn't it be you?
The real problem lies in the fact you think that the list your school hands out is the only source of scholarship information. Many businesses offer student scholarships, even though they don't always have them listed in the school directory. Most credit unions offer scholarships too. Ask around, because you have to find them since they won't usually find you. Lastly, do not be discouraged if you do not win the first scholarship you apply for; it often takes a couple of tries before you actually win any money. |
|
Comments: |
On Tuesday, 22 Jan 2008, Julie said:
An increasingly popular option for college is to start your career at a community college. The tuition is affordable (many students work over the summer to pay for their whole year's tuition!), some offer residence halls and student life (so you don't HAVE to live at home or even go to a school in the same city/state as "home"), and almost all offer a chapter of a national honor society for outstanding students. Thousands of students graduate from college in four years with both an Associate's Degree AND a Bachelor's Degree by enrolling in "2+2" programs. Think of the thousands you'll save! Further, four-year colleges invest THOUSANDS of dollars in transfer scholarships for your last two years. Additionally, 70% of colleges in the US offer substantial honor society scholarships (totalling $36 million dollars!) for students graduating from a two-year college with significantly higher scholarship offer rates than for incoming 4-year college students! |
|
On Friday, 30 Jan 2009, Karissa said:
Thanks for the wonderful advice. Now I will know how to get a scholarship. Find them. ... Thanks again. : ) |
|
On Friday, 30 Jan 2009, Deborah said:
I wish to complete my BS degree in law any suggestions |
|
On Monday, 7 Apr 2008, Stacey said:
Actually, I am having a hard time finding more scholarships because my guidance counselors arent very good and i have lookedd on fastwebs.com where i did find a few but not nearly as much as i need. Where else could I look? |
|
On Monday, 7 Apr 2008, Jay said:
fastweb.com to find all available "free money" for students |
|
On Monday, 7 Apr 2008, CU Succeed Team said:
Hi Stacy, A great way to look for scholarships is just to Google them online. Simply type “scholarships” into the Google search bar. From there, you’ll be taken to a number of links to different scholarships…browse through these to find the right scholarships for you. |
|
On Tuesday, 26 Jun 2007, TINKERBELL said:
THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP. IN 2009 I WILL IREALLY WANT A SCHOLARSHIP. I THOUGHT THAT THE PEOPLE WOULD TRY AND FIND ME BUT I GUESS I WAS WRONG THANKSGRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL AND |
|
On Friday, 13 Jul 2007, Luis said:
Whoa buddy! I thought the same think TINKERBELL did. I heard that Libraries give scholarships tooo. Does our credit undion give scholarships? |
|
On Monday, 9 Aug 2010, Alvin said:
Sometimes people hunt for small scholarships (like $500 or a $1000), but they keep searching until the total amount of money they have in scholarship money can pay for collage. |
|
On Wednesday, 22 Aug 2007, timothy said:
college pay fpr a degree |
|
On Friday, 5 Oct 2007, M. Shell said:
Good article Brent. I would add that many companies offer tuition reimbursement as a benefit. If you are cash limited, I would suggest using a strategy to leverage employer paid tuition. After completing your first or second year of college, look for a job with a company that has tuition reimbursement (many do, including most of the credit unions). The advantage to this strategy is that you are not going to build up debt while you are in college. The disadvantage is that it may take longer to complete your degree. |
|
On Friday, 9 Nov 2007, Charlie said:
Thanks for the advice, man. By the way, if you guys are looking for scholarships try fastweb.com You can find a ton of scholarships on there.
|
|
|
|
CU Succeed Newsletter
CU Succeed's newsletter comes out 4 times a year. Each issue has many articles written by teenagers like yourself. Read the latest issue online in the Newsletter section.
Resource Center
Check out the Resources section to find information on college. Get help with understanding credit and how to manage your money. Find a job online. You will also find links to local high school web sites. |
CU Succeed is a registered trademark.
©2010 All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
 |
|
|
| What is your favorite award show to watch?
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
