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by Suada Kolovic

The fifth annual Bridgestone Safety Scholars Video Contest has begun, and YOU could be one of this year’s $5,000 scholarship winners! This year, they’ve expanded their contest to include all drivers ages 16-21 in the United States and Canada (excluding Quebec). To enter, simply create a 25- or 55-second video about driver safety and upload it to SafetyScholars.com by May 13. They’ll narrow it down, and the top 10 videos will be posted on the site, where it is up to the public to vote on their favorite. The top three winners all receive a $5,000 scholarship!

For more information on this scholarship and other scholarship opportunities, conduct a free scholarship search today!

By Guest Blogger Derrius L. Quarles

Many college students end their first year of college with a significant amount of loans and out-of-pocket cost, forcing them to make the decision of either finding another school for the subsequent year or pausing their college education altogether. However, a mistake that can be made by students receiving loans or that have out-of-pocket costs is believing that undergraduate scholarships are not available for those already in college.

What all college students should know is that there are a plethora of scholarships and financial aid available exclusively to undergraduate students. These funds can be awarded based on many things, including community service done in high school in college, family income, the amount of loans used for college, and your academic record while in college. The places you should start looking for scholarships are the financial aid office at your college, where most schools post flyers or have a simple handout that list scholarships that are available for students at the school. The next step is to go directly to your financial aid advisor and ask if he/she knows of any financial aid sources that are available for you.

If you are unsuccessful in finding any opportunities via flyers, handouts, or asking your financial aid advisor, you should schedule a meeting with the director of financial aid at your school and ask them about ways of lowering your loan amounts and out-of-pocket costs. During this meeting you must remember that many students come into the office every day in need of aid so you must stress how important it is for you to receive additional aid if you are going to continue your education. The director may be able to tell you about grants and scholarships that are available to you. The reason you should tap into your school's resources for financial aid first is because most of the money your school has in its budget for financial aid will be available at the beginning of the school year. The longer you wait to investigate, the smaller your chances of receiving additional funds. The key thing to remember is the earlier you inquire, the better.

After you have tapped into all of your school's resources, you should then start your personal search for scholarships. The best place to start this search is of course Scholarships.com. When using the Scholarships.com database you should narrow your search to scholarships and grants available to undergraduate students. After you have done this you should find all of the scholarships you meet the requirements for and you should start your scholarship list. Almost all of these scholarships or grants will require you to write personal statements and obtain one or more recommendations from professors. If you want more information about writing personal statements and essays or getting your recommendations for scholarship applications take a look at my previous entries, "So You Want To Set Yourself Apart Huh?" (personal statements) and "A Strong Foundation Means a Strong Application" (recommendations). These entries will go into deeper detail about how to get great recommendations and how to write personal statements that will set you apart from other applicants.

Besides personal statements and recommendations, any scholarship you apply for as an undergrad will rely heavily on your academic record. This means that doing well in your classes and having a strong GPA will greatly increase your chances of being awarded most scholarships and grants. Your search for financial aid while in college may be a rough one, but it is definitely a search worth making. If you utilize the information listed above you too will soon realize that scholarships are not just for high school students.

by Suada Kolovic

It’s that time of year again when Scholarships.com relaunches our Resolve to Evolve Scholarship. This isn’t your typical essay scholarship: The R2E (as we like to call it) is about providing students with the opportunity to move beyond finger-pointing and offer constructive criticism and workable solutions for problems facing an administration or an organization. Essays must be written in response to one of two questions; this year, they focus on the possible detrimental effects of technology on the masses and whether or not a college degree has value.

This scholarship is open to all United States citizens who are registered users of Scholarships.com, will be enrolled in high school (grades 9 through 12) during the 2011-2012 school year and will be between the ages of 13 and 19 at the time the award is given. The applicant who submits the best overall essay will receive a $2,000 scholarship. One (1) winner will also be selected from each grade level (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) and will receive a $1,000 scholarship each.

The deadline for entries is August 15, 2011. Winners will be notified in late September and announced mid-October. For more information on this scholarship and other scholarship opportunities, conduct a free scholarship search today!

by Agnes Jasinski

Returning students have many options available to them when it comes to finding money for college. Soroptimist International is one organization that wants to help women better their job prospects. The group has local clubs across the country that fund Women's Opportunity Awards for women who are the primary providers of their families and wish to return to school for undergraduate degrees or vocational skills training programs. If you fit that category and are someone who wants to not only better your life through additional skills but have come across financial hurdles to do so, consider applying for an award through Soroptimist International, this week's Scholarship of the Week.

Soroptimist International is a volunteer service organization for business and professional women. Those who win their local chapters' awards are then eligible to compete in regional and international competitions. The $2,000 award can be earmarked for not only tuition and fees, but any costs associated with returning to school, including childcare and transportation.

Prize: $2,000

Eligibility: Eligible women are the primary providers for their families, have financial need, and are looking for funding to pay for an undergraduate degree program or vocational skills training program. Applicants must be residents of one of Soroptimist International of the Americas’ member countries/territories: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guam, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, United States of America, or Venezuela. Applicants must not have been a previous recipient of a Soroptimist Women’s Opportunity Award, and are not a Soroptimist member, employee or immediate family of either.

Deadline: December 31, 2009

Required Material: An online application which will include a personal statement about why you would be a deserving recipient, and two letters of recommendation. Applicants will be asked questions about their financial need.

Further details about the application process can be found by conducting a free college scholarship search on Scholarships.com. Once the search is completed, students eligible for this scholarship award will find it in their search results.

by Suada Kolovic

Are you a poetry ninja? If so, then we’ve got the scholarship for you: Scholarships.com’s Haiku Ninja Facebook Scholarship!

The Haiku Ninja Facebook Scholarship will go to the Scholarships.com fan that creates the best haiku detailing how our site is helping them combat the college admissions process and score some serious financial aid. Love our scholarship search? Tell us why! Is our financial aid section really helping you out? Send us an example! Think our college prep section is the best? Give us a shout out! The trick is you must convey your feelings in only three lines and 17 syllables – five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line and five syllables in the third line – and post it on our Facebook page. We always love hearing from our users so get creatively concise and you could earn $1,000 for college!

Step 1: “Like” Scholarships.com on Facebook.

Step 2: Post a haiku on our wall about how Scholarships.com is helping you prepare for and afford college. Once you do this, you are automatically entered to win a $1,000 scholarship.

Step 3: You may enter as many times as you want but please limit your haiku entries to a reasonable amount per day. From there, the Scholarships.com Team will determine which haiku best exemplifies what our site is all about and which applicant is using our resources most effectively. You must also adjust your privacy preferences to allow Scholarships.com to message you should you win.

This scholarship competition is offered by Scholarships.com and is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.

Starts: June 1st

Ends: June 30th

Amount: $1,000 for one first-prize winner; Scholarships.com hats and t-shirts for second- and third-prize winners

by Agnes Jasinski

Samantha P. spent her childhood in Akwesasne, a Mohawk Nation territory on the New York-Canada border. When she moved from her Mohawk-language elementary school to an English-language middle school, she saw students from her reservation struggling with the abrupt transition and knew where her future would lead her. To help Samantha complete a degree in Education at the State University of New York at Potsdam and prepare for a career helping students from her community excel in both English and Mohawk, Scholarships.com has named Samantha the 2009 recipient of the annual $1,000 College Education Scholarship.

Scholarships.com has been awarding Area of Study College Scholarships since summer 2008 to help students like Samantha meet their college and career goals. The competition grants a $1,000 scholarship each month to a high school senior or undergraduate student planning to pursue a career in one of 13 areas of study, such as Education.

"Education is an important field in need of passionate and forward-thinking individuals," said Emily Hilleren, Director of Content for Scholarships.com. "Samantha’s dedication to her area of study and commitment to a multicultural approach to teaching made her entry stand out among the numerous applications we received. Scholarships.com is honored to play a role in funding her college education with this scholarship award."

Scholarship applicants are asked to describe what influenced their career choices. In her essay, Samantha described her goal of becoming an English teacher near the community where she grew up, so that she could “incorporate traditional Mohawk stories like ‘The Creation Story’ with classics like ‘Romeo and Juliet’” to instill in her students a passion for reading and writing. “I want my students to be chameleons and blend into the world of the Mohawk culture and the English world that surrounds them,” she wrote.

The Scholarships.com Area of Study Scholarships are open to all U.S. citizens who will be attending college in the coming fall, regardless of age, test scores or grade point average. To apply for the Scholarships.com Area of Study College Scholarships, students can conduct a free scholarship search and complete an online scholarship application.

A complete list of Area of Study scholarship winners as well as their winning essays is available on our Student Winners page.

The fall semester is just around the corner, and in addition to the start of classes, students are also beginning to gear up for scholarship application season, the time from late fall to late spring when the majority of scholarship applications are due. If you are just starting your scholarship search, there are a number of things to keep in mind when deciding which awards to apply for. The size of the award, the application deadline, the amount of work required, and your likelihood of winning are all criteria you likely use in evaluating awards. One other thing to think about before putting together an application, though, is whether there will be any costs associated with the scholarship contest.

Every scholarship application will have some degree of cost associated with it, whether it's postage, time, or the costs involved in creating your application materials (for example, printing an essay or filming and editing a video). However, some scholarship applications are going to be more costly than others, and when a scholarship charges an application fee on top of the time, energy, and money you're already putting into it, it should be cause for some careful thought.

Scholarship opportunities are generally seen as altruistic offers made by organizations that want to help students succeed in college. Sure, many scholarships have a promotional nature, as there are few better ways to attract interest in a company than by giving something away for free. However, some companies actually charge students to apply for scholarships. For example, we came across one scholarship essay contest that offered a $500 award and charged a $15 application fee. The scholarship provider boasted of receiving 10,000 applications in a year, meaning they hauled in $15,000 and only gave away $500. Unless they're spending over $14,000 promoting the contest and paying people to judge the essays, it's reasonable to believe they're profiting off the scholarship in more ways than just boosting traffic to their site. Not necessarily the most altruistic endeavor, huh?

This isn't the only example of a scholarship contest charging a seemingly unnecessary application fee. Offers like this aren't necessarily scholarship scams, as legitimate awards are offered to people who apply. However, why would you pay money for something when there are so many other ways to get it for free?

by Suada Kolovic

Deadlines and due dates are serious stressors for almost everyone on the planet and this anxiety is only intensified when there’s money on the line. In the month of March, scholarship deadlines are ample and abundant to say the least and here at Scholarships.com, we know that you’re so busy during the school year with homework, extracurricular obligations and jobs that finding the time to successfully apply for scholarships and actually meeting those scholarship application deadlines can seem downright impossible. With the right strategy and willpower, however, you can stay on track and easily defeat those deadlines woes.

Perhaps the best advice for meeting scholarship application deadlines is to be honest with yourself about what you’re likely to finish and how long it’s likely to take you. If you know that you’re not going to be able to write a scholarship-worthy essay in less than a day, then you should either give yourself more time to prepare a particular scholarship application or to cross that essay scholarship off your list of potential sources of scholarship money. The key to effectively meeting scholarship application deadlines and winning scholarships is to effectively prioritize your scholarship opportunities and application efforts. Don’t strain yourself, don’t procrastinate and don’t force yourself into a situation where you must submit subpar work. Give yourself time, get organized and prepare as much as possible beforehand and you’ll be on well on your way to success in your scholarship search.

Below are some scholarships with fast-approaching applications deadlines. Remember, the sooner you start your scholarship search the better; it really could make all the difference when it comes to making a serious dent in your post-college financial situation.

• GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarships

  Honoring the legacy and character of our nation's 40th President, this program rewards up to 20 college-bound students who demonstrate exemplary leadership, drive, integrity, and citizenship with financial assistance to pursue higher education. These renewable scholarships are $10,000 annually per recipient – that’s potentially up to $40,000 per recipient over the course of their college careers. The application deadline is March 18th.

• The "You Like Me…You Really Like Me" Facebook Scholarship

  The "You Like Me...You Really Like Me" Facebook Scholarship will go to the Scholarships.com fan that is making the best use of our website’s many resources as determined by comments on our Facebook page. Love our scholarship search? Tell us why! Is our financial aid info really helping you out? Send us an example! Think our college prep section is the best? Give us a shout out! The application deadline is March 31st.

• Zinch Weekly "Three Sentence Essay" Scholarship

  Writing three sentences and banking $1,000 to put toward college may seem like a dream but it is indeed a reality with the Three Sentence Essay from Zinch. Though many essay scholarships have word count requirements in the hundreds or thousands, Zinch caps theirs at 280 characters and requires applicants to respond to a prompt that changes on a weekly basis. All high school and college students (including international students) are eligible to participate so go ahead and check out the prompt, think about it some and submit a concise yet thoughtful answer worthy of $1,000.

• Kohl's Cares Scholarship Program

  The Kohl’s Cares® Scholarship Program recognizes and rewards young volunteers (ages 6-18) whose efforts have made a positive impact on their communities. This year, Kohl’s plans to recognize more than 2,100 kids with prizes ranging from $50 Kohl’s Gift Cards to $1,000 or $10,000 scholarships. Nominations accepted online from February 1st through March 15th. Winners are chosen based on the project, benefits and outcomes.

• GoDaddy.com .ME Scholarship

  The Go Daddy .ME Scholarship is all about YOU! Do you have what it takes to be a Go Daddy Scholar? We want to know how the Internet or Internet technology (e.g., websites, blogs, forums, social media, etc.) has helped you during the course of your studies. Have you used the Internet to advance your athletic, artistic or intellectual pursuits? How do you envision benefitting from it through college and beyond? Tell us in 500 words or less and you can become one of 10 Go Daddy Scholars to receive $10,000 for your college tuition. The application deadline is March 15th.

by Alexis Mattera

Batman and Robin. The Golden Girls. The Situation and his abs. What do they all have in common? I can think of a few things but at the top of the list is definitely friendship. Awwwwwww...and if they were Scholarships.com users trying to find money for college, the Scholarships.com "Tell A Friend" $1,000 Sweepstakes would be worthy of a fist pump.

As a member of Scholarships.com, you could win cash prizes just for helping us spread the word about our free college scholarship search. All you have to do is enter up to ten of your friends’ names and e-mail addresses. If they join the site, you’ll both be eligible for the $1,000 sweepstakes. Easy as Pi!

Remember, the more friends you refer, the more entries you’ll get until the March 31st deadline. For more information, visit our Tell A Friend page and for additional scholarship opportunities, conduct a free scholarship search.

by Alexis Mattera

Writing three sentences and banking $1,000 to put toward college may seem like a dream but it is indeed a reality with the Three Sentence Essay from Zinch. Though many essay scholarships have word count requirements in the hundreds or thousands, Zinch caps theirs at 280 characters – the equivalent of two Twitter postings – and requires applicants to respond to a prompt that changes on a weekly basis.

All high school and college students (including international students) are eligible to participate so go ahead and check out the prompt, think about it some and submit a concise yet thoughtful answer worthy of $1,000 by midnight tonight. And remember, Scholarships.com has thousands more scholarships to choose from…all you have to do is fill out a profile and launch a scholarship search today!