I think we would all agree that the best kind of money is free money.
(And all the broke students said AMEN)
While getting scholarships and grants for college really isn’t extremely difficult, it does require a major investment on your part: time. You have to take the time to not only find the scholarships and grants that you are eligible for, but also take the time to apply for them. Remember, this investment of time has the potential to earn you some serious cash to help pay for school.
You have to understand up front that finding and applying for “free money” is hard work, but it can be done and is definitely worth your time. For example, did you know that there was $63 billion in grants and scholarships awarded last year? You read correctly…that’s BILLION with a ‘B’! That is a lot of money available! So how do you get your hands on some of this money? I’m going to give you three simple steps but for sake of space, I’m going to break it up into four different postings. Today, you’ll get part one of step one…
Find It. Think of it like you’re mining for gold, or that you’re a bargain hunter that has to browse through piles of items to find that buried treasure you’re looking for. While it may seem overwhelming, remember it’s worth the time. In order to find the scholarships you’re looking for, you have to understand what they’re given out for. Scholarships are given out for a variety of different reasons ranging from the major categories of academics, athletics, and interests to other categories such as your parent’s employer, community involvement, and ethnicity.
So how do you begin finding scholarships? Let’s start with one of the best places to look…Online.
There are tons of scholarship searches online that are worth your time to look into. When looking online, remember this one principle: never ever, ever, ever pay for a scholarship search. I don’t care if they offer you a new car; it’s not worth it. There are a lot of scams out there that will make plenty of empty promises that they won’t deliver on. Here is a list of reputable scholarship search sites that are free:
- www.fastweb.com
- www.petersons.com
- www.scholarshipexperts.com
- www.scholarships.com
- www.findtuition.com
- www.collegeboard.com
Tomorrow we’ll look at other places to find scholarships and grants.
YOUR 2 CENTS: Any other websites you’ve used to find scholarships? Do you have any experience with any of the ones listed above?
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[...] Where Can I Find Scholarships and Grants? (Part 2, Part 3, & Part 4) [...]