Even though you are busy starting a new school year, it is also time to start thinking about how to pay for your college education. Whether you want to go to a technical school, community college, or four year university, education comes with a price tag. Being able to walk across the stage someday with not only a degree in hand, and a quality education, but little to no school debt, should be your goal.
Nowadays, many people struggle with paying back hefty school loans and wish they would have taken advantage of applying for scholarships early on. Don’t miss the boat on earning free money to go to school, your future self will thank you later!
You will want to check out the following websites for finding scholarships. Here are some of the most popular and detailed that you can use.
Here are five tips on conducting the most effective scholarship search:
- Don’t procrastinate! Start your search immediately. You may be surprised many scholarships have deadlines right around the corner, ALREADY. You do not want to miss out on these opportunities.
- Don’t get locked into a traditional search. There are scholarships for just about anything. Are you short? Are you tall? Is one of your parents a veteran? Were you diagnosed with something like diabetes or have vision problems? Are you the first person in your family to go to college? Do you have hidden talents? Are you adopted? Are you partly Native American? Use any of these criteria to search for a scholarship to see what’s available.
- If you know what you are going to study, don’t forget to get specific in your search. Just about every major or interest has its own scholarship, especially if you are going into a STEM field or education. Search according to which subject you plan to study. Sometimes even your specific school will give scholarships for certain majors to increase the interest. For example, I personally knew someone who was able to get his entire accounting degree paid for because the university wanted more accounting majors.
- Don’t get stuck on the ‘big’ scholarships. Some people are put off by a scholarship that is $200 or $500. If it’s an easy application process, it may be worth the effort. Something to consider!
- Utilize your resources. Your school has a career center for a reason. Your advisors are there to help point you in the right direction. Approach them to make sure you are not missing out on new scholarship opportunities.
Good luck on your new adventure to find scholarships!
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