Scholarships
Start Searching | Resources for Information | Searches for a Fee | Free Searches
Start Searching
Successfully locating, applying for and receiving a scholarship will require time, energy and patience. Beginning your search early (for example, during your junior year in high school) will enable you to learn about a variety of different scholarships well in advance of any application deadlines.
When beginning a scholarship search, start at the local level. Listings of community scholarships are often available in high school guidance offices. If you have a special talent in art, music, athletics or a particular academic area, speak with the appropriate teacher or coach about possible scholarships with professional organizations or colleges and universities.
In addition, check with community organizations to which you or your family belong or have some type of affiliation. Scouting organizations, labor temples, religious organizations, ethnic clubs or civic groups may have a scholarship competition or fund. Consider also checking with your (or your parents') employer. In some instances, employees or children of employees can apply to private companies or organizations for scholarships.
Resources for Information
Early in your scholarship search, contact the financial aid office of the campus you plan to attend. Sometimes universities have a separate application that must be completed before being considered for campus-based scholarships. Some UW campuses post listings of scholarships to their Web sites, or publish listings and application instructions for available scholarships. Listing of campus scholarship information from UW HELP Online.
A thorough search will also include research at a library or bookstore. The following books provide a good starting point:
- College Costs and Financial Aid Handbook (College Board). Includes an outline of major aid programs, a discussion of how financial need is determined and a look at college costs.
- The Scholarship Book by Daniel J. Cassidy (Prentice Hall). This book is a guide to private sector scholarships, grants and loans.
- Need a Lift? published by the American Legion and available by writing Emblem Sales, P.O. Box 1050, Indianapolis, IN 46206 ($3). This book lists sources of information on careers, scholarships, and loans.
- Financial Aids for Higher Education edited by Oreon Keeslar (Brown & Benchmark). This book lists more than 3,000 sources of financial aid, with details on eligibility criteria.
Searches for a Fee
Many companies promise to provide lists of scholarships for a fee. In some cases, students are only paying for a list of possible scholarships, some of which may be obsolete, impossible to locate, or limited to applicants who have very specific academic or personal characteristics. Or, students may be paying for information that is available at no cost from their financial aid office or the Department of Education. Students and parents are encouraged to read the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC): warning on scholarship scams.
Free Searches
Each of these interactive sites allows students to search for possible scholarships based on personal information provided by the student. Once an application posted to the Web has been completed, the user is able to search for scholarships using different criteria.
(Note: Clicking on these links will open a new browser window.)
Collegeboard.com - Collegeboard.com enables students to match their educational goals with internships, scholarships, and loans. It offers a wide variety of facts and tips to aid students when planning for college.
Financial Aid Search Through the Web (fastWeb) - fastWEB is a database of more than 270,000 scholarships, fellowships, grants, and loans.
FreSch - The Free Scholarship Search Service offers students the opportunity to search over 1,700 different scholarships. A weekly newsletter with tips, Web sites, scholarship and financial aid information is also available for free.
MOLIS - The Minority on-Line Information Service provides information about scholarship and fellowship opportunities for qualified minority applicants.
MACH25 - The CollegeNET MACH25 database contains listings of more than 500,000 private sector awards (including school-specific awards) from 1,570 sponsors. MACH25 uses residential, personal, academic, organizational affiliation, and general criteria to match the student's profile against the award listings.
SRN Express - Scholarship Resource Network Express (SRN Express) gives students access to a database of over 150,000 awards. The information is available to undergraduate and graduate students. There is also information about student loan repayment.
Wired Scholar - Wired Scholar allows students to complete an online profile to see for which scholarships they are eligible. Gain access to over 600,000 scholarships, grants, fellowships and internships. This database is available to undergraduate and graduate students.
Information on this page provided by UW HELP Online.