Federal student financial aid often doesn’t provide enough money to pay for school, even for students eligible for federal grant programs. Unmet need has increased steadily in recent years, as tuition has outpaced the growth in Pell Grants, Stafford Loans and other forms of student aid. Although some students may not have such need for financial aid, on paper, they may still struggle to cover their full cost of college tuition, even with college savings and work money.
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Rather than relying on costly private student loans for all four years of college, high school students should investigate scholarship options. Awards exist for every type of college-bound student – from academic achievers and amazing athletes to average students with unique interests. Scholarship opportunities based on academic achievement, financial need, family background and student involvement are all available for high school students, as well as other awards based on more esoteric criteria. To win these awards, students need to proactively search and apply. In order to help guide students through the scholarship search and scholarship application process, we’ve prepared the following educators’ resources.
The scholarship search process can be frustrating for students, as well as for counselors. With so many different sources of scholarship information, it can be difficult for busy high school students – especially prospective first-generation college students. The abundant information available online can be helpful but also overwhelming- leaving students lost as to how and where to start their scholarship search. Our Scholarship Information for Students section endeavors to be such a starting point. Here, we answer students’ most basic questions about the scholarship search process: letting them know how to look for scholarships, when to apply for scholarships and what to keep in mind while finding scholarships. This section also contains links to helpful resources to being the scholarship search process.
It’s one thing to point students towards a list of scholarship opportunities but is is more difficult to provide the resources necessary to successfully make a difference in their college funding outlook. Many students have little or no experience applying for scholarships and depending on their situation, they may have few people in their lives able to help them. Students could help not only finding scholarships but also digesting scholarship information and formulating application strategies. In order to help counselors better guide their students through the scholarship application process, we’ve prepared this guide to the scholarship application resources for students available free on Scholarships.com.
High school juniors and seniors are dealing with tightly-scheduled lives as it is. Extracurricular activities, assignments at school, part-time jobs and volunteer experiences all demand much time and commitment. Add in standardized testing and college applications and it’s easy for financial aid and scholarship application deadlines to be lost in the shuffle. To keep students on track and ensure they get the most out of the college financial aid available to them, we’ve prepared a list of important deadlines for scholarship seekers that vary by state the FAFSA to annual deadlines for some of the largest and most popular scholarship awards.
FAFSA is an acronym. It stands for "Free Application for Federal Student Aid". Please take note that the first word in the acronym is "Free". You do not need to pay to fill out the FAFSA but there are certainly websites out there that will charge you for their assistance. If you are asked for a credit card at any point in the process, you are at one of these sites. If you do not want to pay to complete the FAFSA, be sure to apply at https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa. The FAFSA must be completed by you and your family each year if you wish to be considered for need-based grants from the college or university you are or will be attending as well as subsidized student loans. [...]
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