Money4College

The college application process is tough: you have to narrow down your options for the next four (or more) years to just a few colleges, apply to those schools, take difficult tests, and keep up with your high school classes, activities, and friends. 

Too often, teens forget to think about the important step that comes after getting into the college of their dreams: paying for it. 

Student loans are skyrocketing. Stories appear in the news weekly about yet another student with close to $100,000 in debt. Even students saddled with a more average debt load, say $25,000, are stuck making payments for years after graduating. For $25,000, you could buy a car, make a down payment on a house, or go on an amazing trip around the world. 

To help you avoid crippling student loan debt, Money4College provides a variety of resources to help you find and apply for college scholarships. 

This blog includes:

Tips on searching for scholarships 

Information on how your library can help you find scholarships

80+ Scholarship search and information resources, organized by format

You can find information by:

Reading through all posts by using the navigation arrows at the bottom of each page

Using the right navigation bar to go straight to the type of information or resources you need (make sure to still use those bottom navigation arrows to see all the posts for a specific category)

Searching for keywords related to the information you need in the search box

Click on any green text, which is a hyperlink to a scholarship resource

Selecting any tag at the bottom of post to access more posts with that same tag

wIf you have any questions about how to best use this blog, how to use your library to find scholarship information, or about scholarships or the scholarship search process, please follow the Questions link located at the top and bottom of any page. 

When searching for scholarships, you will stumble across many different college financial terms. The key below will hopefully make some of those concepts a little easier to understand.

Types of Money That Can Help You Pay for College

Financial Aid: money provided to a student that may or may not have to be paid back to assist with college; money is given depending on financial need of family based on government calculations

Grants: money given to students that does not need to be paid back (based on financial need)

Loans: money that must be repaid after completing college; special loans with less interest may be available to you based on your family’s financial need

Work Study: federal program where students work at their college to earn money that helps pay for their education

Scholarships: money given to students that does not need to be paid back; can be based on financial need, academics, athletics, application materials, or many other factors

Financial Aid Terms

FASFA: forms that must be filed to qualify for federal, state, and college-based financial aid; typically requires your and your parents tax forms, W-2 forms, and record of any other sources of income

Types of Scholarships

Merit Scholarships: scholarships based on academic achievement (grades and test scores); some colleges offer these to students automatically upon acceptance

Interview Scholarships: some merit scholarships are so competitive that the colleges providing them require potential recipients to come to the college for an interview or an entire interview weekend

Athletic Scholarships: scholarships based on athletic ability; may require recruitment by a coach; can occur for all sports (not just famous sports like football and basketball; colleges recruit crew, cross country, and swim team members too)

Artistic/Musical Scholarships: scholarships based on artistic or musical talent; usually require a portfolio or audition to qualify

Scholarships by Major: scholarships based on interest in or proven passion for a particular major; may be provided by a specific college department and may be taken away if student changes major

Other Scholarships: hundreds of companies and organizations provide scholarships based on some of the above qualifications or for different application materials; some require students to make a video or write an essay on a certain topic

Scholarship Providers

Colleges: almost all colleges provide some scholarship opportunities; some provide students with scholarships automatically upon acceptance, others require additional application materials; these scholarships only apply to the college who offers the scholarship to the student

National Providers: many large companies (such as Coca Cola) provide large scholarships every year; these scholarships can be very competitive, as they are often open to anyone willing to complete the application (write the essay, create a video, etc.); these scholarships can be applied to any college a student chooses to attend

Scholarship books are another great tool for finding scholarships. The Using the Library post provides some great information for finding scholarship books, and more of that information will be posted here. 

Finding Scholarship Books

This post provides a great starting point for scholarship books, but there are often hundreds of more books available through your local library. 

1. Search for scholarship books in your library’s catalog. When searching for books, use words like “scholarships” or “financial aid.” If they apply to you, you can use more specific terms such as “athletic scholarships” or “military scholarships” to get fewer, more specific results.

When searching, search by keyword. Using a keyword search allows you to find books and materials that do not have the word “scholarship” (or whatever you searched) in their title, but still contain information on that topic. Example: If you searched “scholarships” on Tumblr by blog title, you would not find this blog!

Look for more recent books, preferably printed in the last 5 years. Older books can still be helpful, but some of the scholarships listed in them may no longer exist (meaning you are wasting your time reading about them) or the tips and information may be too old (especially in books printed before the internet was popular). You can filter, or narrow, your search by publication year on most library catalogs. 

2. Search for scholarship books at your library. Most scholarship books are filed in the non-fiction section (either the adult or teen non-fiction section) under the 378.3 call number. Explore your library’s nonfiction areas to find these books. 

If you are at the library, make sure to ask a librarian for scholarship help. He or she will be able to show you exactly where the scholarship books are, reserve more for you on your library card, and provide you with more information on scholarships specific to your needs and interests.

Using Scholarship Books

Books of scholarships are typically over 500 pages long and include extensive lists of scholarship details, often in small print. The scholarships may be organized by title or state of origin. Neither of these tools is very helpful to you.

Scholarship providers, colleges, and students have taken advantage of social media so that scholarship information is constantly at your fingertips. It is simple to find scholarships or scholarship information via many of your favorite social media sites:

Facebook

Twitter (Post 1 and Post 2)

Tumblr

Pinterest

YouTube

Most of these websites have general search boxes that allow you to look for information or allow you to find pages, groups, or people to follow, 

Twitter takes scholarship hunting to the next level. You can find hundreds of scholarships a day just by following the right hashtags. 

If you choose to use Twitter to actively search for scholarships (not just waiting for them to appear in your feed) try searching the following, hashtags:

#scholarships

#financialaid

#MoneyforCollege

#CollegeScholarships

#college (this will provide you with a lot of results, not all of which will be related to scholarships and money)

How to Search for Scholarships on Google

If you search “scholarships” on Google, over 87 million results appear. That is a lot of scholarships. The thing is, not all of these sources are individual scholarships, which is actually a good thing--you wouldn’t want to read through 87 million different scholarship descriptions, right?

The first few pages of links on Google typically are links to scholarship databases, such as FastWeb. Think of FastWeb, and other scholarship databases, as a Google search engine exclusively for scholarships. When looking for NATIONAL scholarships, it is much easier to start at these databases instead of searching on Google, Yahoo, or other search engines that can give you millions of results. 

How to Search for Scholarships on FastWeb 

1. Register for an account. On almost all scholarship websites, you are going to have to put in a lot of information about yourself to narrow the scholarships you see. FastWeb requires you to create an account so that you do not have to retype this information each time you get on the website. Other scholarship databases will not have you make an account, but you will still need to provide them some information to make your search easier. 

This information typically includes:

Grade Level

High School Graduation Year

Gender & Ethnicity

Military Service

Citizenship Status

Academic Information (GPA, Test Scores)

College Information (colleges you are considering, possible majors)

Activity and athletic interest and participation

The more information you provide, the better scholarship results you will receive.

2. Check out your dashboard. Once you have created an account, you will be able to access a dashboard at almost any college scholarship database. It will include links to update your profile as well as links to scholarships that match what you have told the website so far.

In the sample picture, based on my profile, I have 123 scholarship matches. 

3. See your scholarship matches. I clicked on the “see matches” button in the orange box on my dashboard, and it brought me to a scholarship information page. This page lists more detailed information on all of the scholarships I am eligible for.

Before we look at individual scholarships, let’s look at all those navigation bars at the top of the page. 

The top white bar contains links to other categories of information FastWeb provides. This includes information on colleges, financial aid, student loans, and career planning.

The top blue bar contains scholarship specific information, currently including matches, deadlines, and tips. The blue bar options will change depending on what word you select in the white bar. 

This toolbar is exclusive to the Scholarship Matches section. It lets you separate the scholarships you see by new matches you have not seen yet, as well as categories you can attach to each individual scholarship based on whether you think you will apply. 

When you are looking at any scholarship category, you can use the “Sort by” tool to sort scholarships by deadline, name, provider, or amount. 

4. Select a scholarship. Once you have a list of scholarships, choose one of interest to find out more information about it. 

The scholarship description contains detailed information about the scholarship, including the amount, the deadline, who provides it, a description of requirements, and how many scholarships are offered. It also includes a link to the application and a tool for you to categorize the scholarship by whether you want to apply or not.

When you want to look at another scholarship, simply press “Back to My Scholarships.”

While the above images and steps focus on Fastweb, almost all scholarship databases have a similar format with comparable information. 

How to Find Local or Specific Scholarships

Google can still be really helpful when looking for LOCAL scholarships or scholarships with specific companies, but you need to know the specific scholarship you are looking for before you start searching. 

If you are looking for local scholarships, try typing in your town or school name as well as the word scholarship. For example, try searching:

Columbus, Ohio + Scholarships

Canal Winchester, Ohio + Scholarships

If you are looking for a specific scholarship, try searching for the scholarship by name:

Coca Cola scholarship

Burger King scholarship

In addition to this guide, your library and librarians can be a great resource for looking for scholarship information and money for college.  

To make the most out of your local library:

1. Check out books and e-books on scholarships. This post is a good starting point to find books on scholarships and finding money for college, but your local library may have hundreds of more options. 

TIP #1: When searching for books in an online catalog, use search terms like:

Scholarships

Financial Aid

Try to search by “keyword.” When searching on your local library’s website, there is typically a “search by” dropdown box. By searching by keyword, you will find books about scholarships that do not have “scholarship” in their title.

TIP #2: Look for books published in the last 5-10 years for overall scholarship tips, and for those big books listing a lot of scholarships, look for editions published in the last 1-3 years, the more recent the better.

On many library search engines, you have the option to filter your search by publication year. Look for these options and only select the most recent years to narrow your search. 

TIP #3: If you are looking for scholarship books while standing in the library, look for books in the non-fiction sections, both the adult and the teen nonfiction areas (if your library has these separated). Scholarship books are typically filed around the 378.3 call number. Look for signs leading you to the 370s, and then narrow your search until you find the shelves locating scholarship materials. 

2. Talk to your librarians. Really, we are here to help, and we don’t bite. The librarians will know what kinds of resources are available, including possible local scholarships, and will be able to find more for you, including books, websites, and databases. 

TIP: If you are struggling to find many good books, ask a librarian to help you reserve some. They will have a good idea which books in the catalog are most helpful, and they can even help you reserve books from other library systems through InterLibrary Loans. 

While there are some awesome scholarship databases, there are also some great online websites with information on scholarships, the scholarship application process, scholarship essays, and scholarship interviews. 

1. U.S. News and World Report Education  An always updated guide to applying for colleges including their college ranking system, a variety of blogs, and tons of articles on college admissions and finances. 

2. KnowHow2Go A great guide to the college admissions process and finding funding for college. The website is unique because of its focus on all ages (starting with middle school) as well as veterans. 

3. bigfuture Grants and Scholarships An overview of the different types of grants and scholarships available, a guide on how to apply for scholarships, and tips on spying scholarship scams.

4. Scholarships.com Application Strategies This website provides a guide to scholarship applications with lots of tip lists for essays, interviews, and deadlines as well as an almost daily news feed with new scholarship and financial aid information. 

5. My College Guide A guide to getting into college and figuring out what you want to do once you get there. A great collection of resources with information on scholarships, grants, loans, and financial aid as well as information on majors and careers. 

Check out the following websites to learn information about federal and state grants and loans, filling out the FASFA, and the financial aid process.

1. Federal Student Aid The official federal guide to financial aid, and the website you will use to fill out the FAFSA. The best information with the official updates you need to be aware of.

2. National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators Information on if you are eligible for financial aid, tax breaks, and new policies and research. They also provide free webinars and events for students, teachers, and counselors.

3. FinAid Provides a breakdown of types of aid and information including scholarships, loans, savings, and military aid. It also includes a scholarship search box and financial aid calculator. 

4. College Goal Sunday A program in almost all states during which volunteers help students fill out the FASFA and answer financial aid questions. Check back in the spring for dates of events. 

 While Buzzfeed may not provide extensive scholarship databases, it does provide something else--helpful information in a cool format and a funny breath of fresh air when you are in the middle of five different scholarship applications. 

Buzzfeed Articles about College Financials

1. 12 Unexpected Ways to Get A Scholarship Some of these scholarships are for teens, some are for returning adults, and some are just...weird. 

2. 21 Times the Internet Was Accurate about Applying for Financial Aid Sometimes the financial aid process and the FAFSA are hard. The internet understands your problems. 

3. The Cheapest, Best Colleges In 2013, Buzzfeed created a cool chart comparing some of the top colleges’ tuition rates with the starting salaries of graduates. 

4. 16 Things I Could Buy with All the Money I Owe in Student Loans This might help put the why-you-actually-do-need-a-scholarship argument into perspective. 

Buzzfeed Articles about College Admissions

1. 20 Tips for Surviving College Admissions Season Millions have survived, and you will too. But that doesn’t mean it will be easy.

2. 29 Struggles Anyone who Applied to College Knows Too Well The college application season will be stressful, but at least everyone else is stressing with you. 

3.  Confessions of a College Admissions Counselor A college admissions counselor talks about the efforts of parents to try to get their teens into a school. 

This post includes a list of the best college scholarship database websites. This is just a small portion of the number of websites that list scholarship information and focuses on database websites instead of websites whose main goal is providing information on the scholarship application and interview process.

1. Fastweb The ultimate scholarship database, Fastweb has it all: billions of dollars in targeted scholarships, internship opportunities, and a fantastic scholarship match tool once you have filled out a profile with them. Fastweb will send you weekly emails with scholarships you are eligible for and upcoming deadlines. 

2. CollegeScholarships.com This scholarship database also offers thousands of scholarships, but it does not require an account to access the information. Scholarships can be searched by state, major, sex, and more. 

3. CollegeScholarships.org CollegeScholarships.org prides itself on providing scholarship information without requiring an account. The website provides a section exclusively for athletic scholarships as well as a financial aid blog and information on college grants and loans. 

4. Unigo Unigo focuses on being user friendly and easy to navigate. In addition to its scholarship match tool, it provides an extensive catalog of articles on the scholarship and college application search process. The website also offers tens of thousands of dollars in their own scholarships.

5. Cappex In addition to Cappex’s massive college database, it provides an extensive college scholarship database, claiming to have one of the highest scholarship listings, with $11 billion in scholarships posted. 

Blogs are a great resources for college scholarship application information and tips and tricks for the college application process. 

Follow these blogs for regular updates on college scholarship news:

1. The Insider by College Coach This blog posts original articles multiple times a week on current college scholarship and financial aid topics and trends. The variety of topics covered and the unique approach to common topics makes this blog special. | RSS Feed  Tip: Subscribe to The Insider’s email newsletter through a link in the left sidebar. 

2. SAT/ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips by PrepScholar Although by title you would assume this blog focuses on test prep, it actually provides an enormous amount of highly useful information on scholarships, focusing on lists of scholarships by deadline, amount of money, and type. | RSS Feed

3. Go Financial Aid Blog by Go Financial Aid This blog focuses on everything financial aid and FASFA related from basic information on filling out forms to how to set yourself up to receive the most money. | RSS Feed

4. Scholarship Coach by U.S. News and World Report Completely dedicated to college scholarships, Scholarship Coach has unfortunately not been updated in a few months, but it includes a variety of quality articles on searching and applying for scholarships. | RSS Feed

In addition to people you can talk to, many communities offer a variety of programs and events that can help with your college application process. 

This post will focus on events and programs in the central Ohio area. 

College Fairs

1. Columbus Suburban College Fair. Every September, more than 200 colleges and 4,000 students attend the Columbus Suburban College Fair at Otterbein University. In addition to the multitude of college admissions officers to speak to, the event also includes two detailed financial aid sessions for attendees. 

2. NACAC Columbus College Fair. Around April, the National Association for College Admissions Counseling hosts their annual fair in Columbus, Ohio. They also host a fair in the fall in Cincinnati and in Cleveland in the spring. This college fair also offers workshops on paying for college, athletic eligibility, and testing. 

Other Ohio College Fairs include: 

Greater Cleveland West Suburban College Fair

Northeast Ohio Spring College Fair

Mansfield Christian College Fair

Library Events and Programs

1. Preparing for College at Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) - Linden Branch. CML offers a variety of college preparation programs at its different branch locations. This sessions focuses generally on all things college. | Date: Fri. 9/25 and Fri. 10/9 5-6 PM

2. College 101: Preparing Your Essay at CML - Whetstone Branch. This session brings a teacher from the Thurber House to talk about college essays. | Date: Sat. 9/26  10:30-11:30 AM 3. College 101: Tips for the College Bound at CML - Hilliard Branch. For both parents and teens, this session focuses on preparing for college applications and scholarships. | Date: Wed. 10/7 7-8:30 PM

One of your absolute best resources when applying for scholarships is the people in your community. Not only are there many people who know a ton about the scholarship search process, but many are trained to help you find scholarships specific to you and your needs.

1. Guidance Counselor. Your guidance counselor at your school can be one of your best and easiest resources. Guidance Counselors should be aware of local scholarship opportunities and may be able to find national ones they think you would be interested in as well. Plus, especially in smaller high schools, they might know you personally, helping them find information for you. Visit your guidance counselor’s office or send them an email to check out what they have to offer. 

2. Librarians. Your librarians at your school library and local public library are trained to research all kinds of questions, and this includes information on scholarships. They can point you in the direction of resources to help you with scholarship applications, essays, and interviews as well as help compile lists of scholarships specific to your needs. All you have to do is ask. 

3. College Officials. Once you know a few of the colleges you are definitely applying to, reach out to them before, during, and after the application process. Sometimes the admissions or financial aid offices can send you information or point you to websites with scholarship information specific to their school. If you know what department you are interested in, try reaching out to a professor in that field. Sending out a few awkward emails does not take much time, and, if the professor likes you and your passions, may result in you receiving a little extra money from your dream school.

You can also learn about scholarships and how to apply for them by watching resourceful YouTube videos. There are hundreds of scholarship-related YouTube videos (just try searching “college scholarships”), and some of the best are listed below. 

1. Where to Find Scholarships for College by getSALTmoney SALT provides some great videos on financial aid, scholarship, and student loans on their YouTube page. This video focuses on who to talk to in order to learn about scholarships through interviews with people in charge of scholarship processes. 

2. Paying for College: Scholarships and Grants by University of Phoenix Similar to SALT, University of Phoenix provides a variety of quick, short financial aid and scholarship videos describing definitions and the logistics of applying for scholarships.

3. College Scholarships for High School Seniors by SteadyIncomeUniv Created by a college student who recently went through the scholarship process, this video blog entry provides tips and tricks on how to apply for scholarships. 

4. How to Go to College for Free by Christian Genco This video of Genco’s presentation on college scholarship money is extremely informative and helpful. Genco uses his experience earning millions in scholarship money as the basis for his presentation.

5. Overview of the Financial Aid Process by FederalStudentAidAn awesome playlist by FederalStudentAid, the Financial Process includes six videos that break down financial aid and the FAFSA.

Just for fun: 

Though not directly connected to scholarship searches, Hank Green’s Why is College so Expensive? video analyzes college costs in a unique, fun way. 

Are magazines your format of choice? This list is for you. It includes a mixture of online magazines exclusively about applying for college and annual issues of print magazines that focus on colleges, especially those college rankings issues that will also contain a variety of information on the college application process and scholarships. 

Magazines about College

1. My College Guide This magazine prints annually and creates separate issues for high school sophomores and juniors. You can order the print version of their magazine for free on their website or access the entire issue online (also for free). It includes college tips, scholarship information, and detailed information on 120 partner colleges. | RSS Feed

2. Potential Potential magazine focuses on college information for teens. It has a scholarship section as well as its own Countdown to College scholarship program. You can subscribe to the magazine for a price or you can access all issues of the magazine online for free.

 3. College Magazine Founded by students for students, the College Magazine provides a variety of resources for both high school students first considering college applications and scholarships as well as students already in college. A great mix of useful and fun resources, this entirely free online magazine is a good start for someone wanting to get into the college scholarship search mood. | RSS Feed

College Issues of Popular Magazines

1. U.S. News & World Report Possibly the most popular college rankings system, U.S. News & World Report has been ranking colleges for over 30 years. In early September each year, the magazine ranks 1,800 colleges. While the value of the rankings system is up to you, the magazine issue will also contain invaluable information on college scholarships and the college application process. 

Have a long commute to and from school or just prefer to listen to podcasts about scholarship help? This list is for you! Some of these resources still update regularly while others provide a variety of quality information. 

1. The College Checklist Podcast Updated once or twice a month, The College Checklist is 58 episodes strong. Every episode focuses on a different aspect of the college search process, including scholarship tips, college checklists, and test prep. Available online, through Stitcher, and through iTunes.

2. College Admissions Toolbox This podcast interviews a variety of scholarship, application, and financial aid experts each week to provide the best inforamtion on college admissions. Available online, through Stitcher and through iTunes. 

3. How to Pay for College Headquarters Though no longer updated, this podcast contains 71 episodes that focus on a variety of college tips. Check out episodes 8, 13, 14, 23, and 47 for scholarship specific help. Available online, Stitcher, and through iTunes. 

4. College Money Man Podcast This podcast is also no longer updated, but provides 30 episodes of helpful scholarship information, including interviews with other experts and students who just successfully went through the scholarship application process. Available through Stitcher.