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Applying for scholarships has become more relevant than ever today as the price of earning a college degree has gotten more expensive than it was in the past. However, the skinny on scholarships isn’t helping these bright students to achieve their dreams.
As the scholarships become unavailable for more students, it has become harder for them to go to their dream universities or colleges.
What causes the scarcity of scholarships? And, where can students find and apply for scholarships to assist them in funding their education?
The following guide will break down to you the causes behind the skinny of scholarships. Also, we will give you a comprehensive list of where to look for additional resources to cover your tuition costs.
Without further ado, let’s get started.
The Skinny on Scholarships: Why Are Scholarships So Hard to Find?
When students first start searching for educational scholarships online, they’re often bewildered. What makes them scarce?
First of all, the internet is messy, and scholarships are disorganized. While there could be millions of multi-millionaires out there, there isn’t a manual for how people can give their money away to students in the U.S. Hence, every potential donor navigates through several arduous aspects of the process differently.
Before they can donate their money away, those donors must first answer a few key questions:
- How would they pick which people, accomplishments, and/or future ambitions are deserving of the large gifts?
- What would they do with their money? Would they distribute them on their own or collaborate with a larger organization? What kind of annual investment budget and plan would they utilize to ensure that their finances are well-managed and safeguarded?
- How would they get the message out to the right audience once they’ve discovered or stated their ideal candidates, stored their assets in collaboration with an organization, and recognized the annual timeframe of their endowment?
You can see why there are so many different persons, accomplishments, and objectives that are recognized with scholarships now. Generous people spend a lot of time and energy thinking about “who” and “why” they donate, and they frequently make decisions based on personal experiences that no one can predict.
Also, during the year, deadlines and payout dates change drastically. Given the difficulty of transferring cash from one account to another, students can expect it to take six to twelve months from the time they submit their application to the time they get any rewards.
As a result, whatever time you devote to a scholarship application will be a long-term investment. Hence, applying for scholarships with the hope of a speedy response is not a good idea.
Finally, the relative ease or difficulty with which you might obtain scholarship announcements can be explained by the fact that most donors do not invest additional money to get the news out to their desired audience. People that want to give their money away expect eligible applicants to go to their website, Facebook page, or institutional center and follow the procedures to apply.
The variety of reasons for giving money away creates a complicated internet network of chances for students to wade through. Additionally, the numerous inconsistencies in algorithmic language interpretations on internet search engines and databases make this process even more difficult.
Where to Find Scholarships for College
Yes, it’s not surprising that scholarships are hard to find, but they shouldn’t be.
As you probably have known, winning scholarships can close the gap between college savings and educational expenses. With some planning, it’s possible to increase your odds of nabbing scholarship money, which can lower college costs and beat the skinny on scholarships.
Local scholarships are a good place to start because they are generally less competitive. Signing up for a few national scholarship database websites is still necessary. While many seniors apply for college scholarships during their senior year, you can start looking and applying for scholarships far earlier.
Indeed, recent scholarship databases allow students to begin researching and applying for scholarships as early as their freshman year by filling out a student profile, which should be updated each year with new information. Also, completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a good idea because certain scholarship applications need it.
To tackle the issue of the skinny on scholarships, here are some sites to choose from to kick off your scholarship search:
1. Fastweb
Fastweb is a free scholarship search engine that claims to have a database of over 1.5 million scholarships. The portal will search its database for scholarships and notify students of matches, deadlines, and newsletters.
2. Scholarship.com
It is one of the most well-known and comprehensive free scholarship search engines, with a total of $19 billion in scholarships tracked. After students complete their profiles, the site will use their criteria to narrow down all available scholarships and provide a shortlist. It will aim to match them to scholarships that are a good fit for them based on their replies.
3. The College Board
Students can use the College Board’s comprehensive website to learn more about colleges and how to pay for them. Its scholarship search engine has data on over $6 billion in scholarships, financial aid, and internships.
4. Niche.com
Students can browse student evaluations on Niche.com to get a sense of each school’s “personality.” Also, they can look for scholarships. With student-friendly categories including no-essay scholarships, Niche matches students with scholarships that match their requirements.
5. Scholarship Story
Scholarship Story is a website that provides information and resources on a variety of scholarships. Every day, it updates its website with new scholarship opportunities and application deadlines. It also provides scholarship and college admissions advice and insights via its blog.
6. College Websites Where Students Are Applying
Although merit-based scholarships are not offered at every institution, those that are are extremely significant because they are likely to be renewed for the next four years. The process for awarding scholarships, however, differs from institution to school.
And this reminds us again of the skinny on scholarships. Thus, you should also check the department of the major you’re considering, which may have its own scholarships and process for awarding them.