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by Suada Kolovic

Here at Scholarships.com, we make a point to advocate the importance of funding your college education the right way – for free! – and while financing your higher education solely from scholarships is an amazing feat, there is a factor to consider: scholarship displacement.

If you don’t know what scholarship displacement is, you’re not alone. Believe it or not, winning a scholarship may not be the end-all be-all when it comes to paying for school because they can complicate the financial aid package offered by your intended university. Why? When a student wins a scholarship, the college may reduce the student’s need-based financial aid package to compensate. For example, say a university offers a student a $15,000 grant and an additional $15,000 loan to cover the cost of attending. If the student were then to win a scholarship for $15,000, the college could retract its $15,000 grant. Colleges call this an over-award and the scholarship providers call it displacement.

Although this may seem discouraging, it shouldn’t dissuade you from applying to scholarships altogether. Instead, do your homework, speak with your admissions counselor and know where your intended college stands when it comes to their scholarship policies. If you’re brining a lot of scholarship dollars to the table, you have options. Every college is different and has their own guidelines when it comes to outside scholarships. If one university doesn’t allow you to put those scholarship dollars to other costs – loans, books, room and board, etc. – enroll at one that does. You could also enlist the help of the scholarship sponsor: Some scholarship providers may have a lot of clout with the college, especially if their scholars make up millions of dollars of funding to the college.

If you have any additional questions about scholarship displacement, don’t hesitate to ask us!

by Suada Kolovic

The Germans from Russia Heritage Society Youth Essay Contest encourages students from around the world to learn about the history and culture of the German-Russians, people who emigrated from Germany into Russia during the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, in the USA, Canada and other countries in the Western Hemisphere, these people have become known as Germans from Russia.

The GRHS Essay Contest is open to all students attending public, private, parochial or home schools and to students attending accredited universities as full-time undergraduate students. The subject of the paper must be directly related to German-Russian history heritage or culture and be the contestant’s original work. A contestant does not need to be ethnic German-Russian to enter the contest. Resubmission of previously judged work is not permitted.

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

by Radha Jhatakia

For those of us who cannot afford large out-of-pocket expenses for college, financial aid is our only option. Many, if not all, universities require their students to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid – aka the FAFSA – which uses your family’s finances and taxes in order to best determine how much aid you get. It can be confusing but it is definitely worth your time to file the application.

Depending on the state of the school you attend and live in, the FAFSA has different deadlines. States offer different grants and scholarships as long as you qualify and apply by the stated deadline and private schools also have different deadlines for private funding which can be found on their websites. The dates for states can all be found on the print out form on the FAFSA’s website. Remember to use this official government website – other sites charge fees.

The FAFSA requires you to have a federal PIN number. To apply for one, request one from the FAFSA website. (Make sure to do this even if you don’t have your tax returns, as the PIN number sometimes takes some time to receive.) Also, a new procedure that the FAFSA has is the IRS data retrieval tool, which takes the tax information directly from the IRS database and filters it into the FAFSA. This option not only makes life easier for those filing the FAFSA but it helps college financial aid offices, as they won’t require you to turn in additional documents to verify if the information is correct.

Always try to have yours and your parents' tax returns completed as soon as possible to have your FAFSA completed on time; however, since required documents like W-2s and other federal papers often aren’t available when you need them, file the FAFSA and select the option “Will File” rather than “Already Completed” for the question asking if you have already filed the tax returns. Use the tax information from the previous year so that you can have it completed by the deadline and once your tax returns are complete, go back into the FAFSA and use the “Make Corrections” option to update the information.

Happy filing, everyone!

Radha Jhatakia is a communications major at San Jose State University. She's a transfer student who had some ups and downs in school and many obstacles to face; these challenges – plus support from family, friends and cat – have only made Radha stronger and have given her the experience to help others with the same issues. In her spare time, she enjoys writing, reading, cooking, sewing and designing. A social butterfly, Radha hopes to work in public relations and marketing upon graduation.

by Suada Kolovic

The Buick Achievers Scholarship Program, funded by the GM Foundation, is designed to help students who are leaders in both the classroom and their communities, but who may not have the financial means to attend college. The scholarship program will award 100 renewable scholarships for up to $25,000 per year and 1,000 one-time scholarships for $2,000. The Buick Achievers Scholarship Program is open to high school seniors or college undergraduate students who plan to major in a specified course of study that focuses on Engineering/Technology or select Design and Business-related programs at an accredited four-year college or university in the United States or Puerto Rico.

Scholarships will be awarded based on participation and leadership in community and school activities, interest in the automotive industry, academic achievement, and financial need. Special consideration will be given to those who are a first-generation college student, female, minority, military veteran or a dependent of military personnel.

Buick is accepting entries through February 28th. If you are interested in learning more about this or other scholarship opportunities, conduct a free scholarship search today!

by Suada Kolovic

What is the National History Day Contest, you ask? Each year more than half a million students just like you participate. You will choose a historical topic related to the annual theme, and then conduct primary and secondary research. You will look through libraries, archives and museums, conduct oral history interviews, and visit historic sites. After you have analyzed and interpreted your sources, and have drawn a conclusion about the significance of your topic, you will then be able to present your work in one of five ways: as a paper, an exhibit, a performance, a documentary or a web site.

The National History Day Contest is open to students in grades 6-12 in the junior (grades 6-8) and senior (grades 9-12) divisions. The projects relate to a specific historical topic or theme. There are seven categories, including individual papers, individual exhibits, group exhibits, individual performance, group performance, individual documentary, and group documentation. Within each category, the first place winner receives $1,000, the second place winner receives $500, and the third place winner receives $250. The national contest is held in June.

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

Bubble gum in your hair. “Kick me” signs. He said, she said. These are all sticky situations we try to avoid in life – and for good reason! – but here’s one that could pay off big for your college education: The Duck Brand Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest.

The Henkal Corporation's Duck Brand Stuck at Prom Scholarship Contest is open to legal residents of the United States and Canada, including the District of Columbia but excluding Puerto Rico and the Province of Quebec. This scholarship contest rewards individuals for creating prom attire made completely out of – you guessed it – Duck brand duct tape. To be eligible for the $5,000, $3,000, $2,000 and $500 scholarship awards, each couple must submit:

• One color photograph (professional or amateur) of the couple together in prom attire
• Each individual's full name, address, telephone number, email address (if applicable) and age/grade level, and the name of the closest major city to the individual's hometown
• A release form signed by each individual and, if any entrant is a minor (under 18 years of age), that individual's parent or guardian
• The name, address, and telephone number of the high school or home school association which is hosting the prom and the date the prom was held

The deadline to submit your adhesive attire is June 13th so there’s still plenty of time to get creative. For a registration form and official contest rules, interested students should visit the Duck brand website or conduct a free Scholarships.com scholarship search today!

by Suada Kolovic

Winning money for college is great but doing so without having to meet astronomical word counts and double-digit page requirements is even better. Lucky for you, the folks at College Prowler couldn’t agree more and have launched the $2,000 No Essay Scholarship.

The scholarship is open to all students and those planning on enrolling within 12 months. The monthly winner will be determined by random drawing and then contacted directly and announced on their Facebook page. One entry per person, but you can come back each month to try again. To apply, please visit College Prowler or complete a free scholarship search to find additional opportunities.

Every January, we all make resolutions for the year ahead – resolutions that are, unfortunately, usually forgotten by February. Want to make a vow you’ll actually keep and earn money for college at the same time this year? Then enter our newest Short & Tweet Scholarship!

What’s on your educational to-do list in 2013? Whether it’s getting into your dream school, decoding the FAFSA or simply setting two alarms so you don’t miss your morning classes, we want to know! Follow us on Twitter and mention us (@Scholarshipscom) in a tweet detailing your school-related resolution and how you plan to keep it. Here’s how to enter:

Step 1: Follow @Scholarshipscom on Twitter.

Step 2: Mention us (@Scholarshipscom) in a tweet answering the question “What’s your school-related resolution for 2013 *AND* how will you stick to it?” Once you do this, you are entered to win a $1,000 scholarship or one of two Kindles.

Step 3: You may enter as many times as you want from December 26th through January 31st but please limit your tweets to three per day. Each tweet will be a stand-alone entry and tweets that are submitted by non-followers, exceed 140 characters, do not include @Scholarshipscom, do not answer the entire question or are submitted after the January 31st deadline will not be considered. From there, the Scholarships.com Team will determine which comments are most deserving of the awards.

• Starts: December 26th
• Ends: January 31st
• Number Available: 3
• Amount: $1,000 for one first-place winner; one Kindle each for second- and third-place winners

Though it’s a day off from school and work, New Year’s Day is also a day to get down to business. While you’re starting in on your New Year’s resolutions, opening up a new calendar, and packing up the holiday decorations, there’s one more thing that college students and college-bound high school students should do each January. The Department of Education starts accepting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (more commonly known as "FAFSA") on January 1 each year. State application deadlines fall soon after—as early as February in some cases. So while you might not start classes until August or September, you want to start applying for financial aid as soon as the FAFSA is available each year.

In order to complete a FAFSA, you will need the following:

• your social security number
• a driver’s license if you have one
• bank statements and records of investments (if you have any)
• records of untaxed income (again, if you have any)
• your most recent tax return and W2s (2011 for the 2012-2013 FAFSA)
• all of the above for your parents if you are considered a dependent
• a PIN to sign electronically (go to pin.ed.gov to get one)

by Suada Kolovic

The Humane Education Network is pleased to announce its Annual “A Voice for Animals” high school contest with prizes totaling $6,000 across several categories including video, essay and blogs. This year “A Voice for Animals” contest concentrates on active involvement in projects which strive to mitigate that suffering of animals.

Only entrants in the 14 year old section of the competition are invited to write an essay which addresses either the mistreatment of one animal species or one cause of animal suffering, or the preservation of one species threatened with extinction, occurring anywhere in the world. All entries from 15-18 years olds must either establish a new project or become involved in an existing project and then work on that project for at least two to three months. The project should have a direct impact on animals by means of either direct or indirect intervention. Your submission will document your project and your contribution to that project and, where possible, show how your project/involvement can reduce animal suffering.

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