About Scholarships for Middle School Students

Scholarships for middle school students can be difficult to find for a couple of reasons. There tends to be a limited number available, and the information pertaining to such scholarships is not easy to obtain. This is because scholarship search engines and databases usually don't list these scholarships. Federal privacy laws (like the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998) state that websites must acquire provable consent from parents or guardians before gathering, using or releasing specific data given by children who are under 13 years of age. That being said, there are several different areas that middle school students can pursue to receive scholarships.

Significance

With the cost of education so high, there are scholarship opportunities available to middle school students. They can come in different forms: for a student's enrollment in a private high school, for their participation in specialized programs and classes or in the form of a monetary grant. The monetary scholarship may not be awarded immediately. For example, the National Marbles Tournament presents scholarship money to the winner of its tournament. The money rewarded can be used for educational advancement (college, vocational, technical schools); however, it cannot be accessed until the individual successfully completes high school and is enrolled into one of the above programs.

Function

Many scholarships for middle school students are awarded by various businesses and corporations that market their products toward that specific age group. Other monetary scholarships are given to students who demonstrate exceptional academic ability, talent in a specific area and community involvement and service. There are also scholarships presented to children for their participation and success in a particular competition. Examples of these are poster and essay contests, science experiments and spelling bees.

Types

Other scholarships may cater to middle school students who come from difficult circumstances or are financially disadvantaged. The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation strives to assist financially disadvantaged children who demonstrate a high level of achievement. They have a Young Scholars program, which selects 75 seventh-grade recipients who are awarded throughout their middle school, high school and college careers.

Considerations

Ironically, middle school scholarships can be easier to obtain than those directed at students entering college, since there tends to be a lesser amount of competition. Many of the scholarships geared toward middle school students are intended to stress the importance of all the preparation and groundwork that's required for them to gain acceptance into higher education institutes. The U.S. Department of Education oversees the Student Aid website, which contains valuable resources for students in middle school. Their Consider College Now page is aimed to help those students begin thinking about and understanding the different scholarship processes.

Features

Some academic scholarships programs available to students in grades 8 to 12 are the Dickens Project (essay contest), National Geographic Geography Bee, the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange and the NYSDEC Environmental Education Summer Camp, the Brick Awards, Courage in Student Journalism Awards, Girls Going Places Entrepreneurship Award Program and the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. Below are additional resources and links that are devoted to middle school students and scholarships.

Resources

• High Scholarships: Middle school students
• College Scholarships: Grades 8 to 12
• FinAid: Scholarships for children under age 13