A small number of scholarships, most of which are local or regional, come to the Career Center each year. Some of these require teachers and counselors to nominate one or two students to represent the school, others are open for all qualified students to apply. Most of these scholarships will also be listed on large scholarship databases such as Fastweb. You should log on to www.fastweb.com and fill out their profile to access scholarship information that might suit your situation. There are scholarships available for all age groups, not just seniors, many of which involve writing essays.

 

Another way to search for scholarships is simply to use the Google search engine and add the word “scholarship” to any other phrase that describes a unique attribute of yours or an interest or hobby that you feel is one of your particular strengths. There are scholarships for tall people, athletes with asthma, and people with a certain last name.  It doesn’t hurt to look, so if it describes you add “scholarship” and click the search icon!

 

If you are a senior you should look very carefully through the scholarship section of the college website that you are applying to. The applicant pool for a given university scholarship may be smaller because only students planning to attend that school will apply.  

 

While beginning your scholarship search, don’t overlook the bigger picture of need based aid. Filing the FAFSA in January of your senior year is your avenue to federal aid as well as qualifying you for private scholarships that require you to prove financial need.  If you are a junior you can use the FAFSA4caster to estimate your financial need. Access the FAFSA site at www.fafsa.ed.gov.

 

If you are applying to private colleges or universities you will need to fill out additional financial aid paperwork, in most cases the CSS Profile available from College Board www.collegeboard.com (the same company that administers the SAT).

 

Many families may find it necessary to borrow money to pay for college. Federal loans offer the best value for students and their families and filing the FAFSA in January of your senior year will enable you to access that type of funding. If you are a freshman or sophomore and looking far ahead, the www.finaid.org website offers calculators to help you assess your financial need and plan for college savings. In addition, the Project On Student Debt is a grassroots organization concerned with the rising cost of higher education and the burden of debt on American students. Their website, www.projectonstudentdebt.org, offers insight into the need based aid process, the changes that have been made and how they affect students, as well as some helpful listings of colleges that have taken important steps to limit or eliminate loans from student aid packages. 

It is important to understand all aspects of the student loan process as these loans cannot be discharged through bankruptcy whether privately or federally funded. The decision to invest in yourself is money well spent; educating yourself about all of your financial options is time well spent.