How to Find Scholarships & Grants

Financial aid and grants can help you stretch your budget when attending college.

With the increased cost of attending a college or university, many students turn to financial aid to help offset the expense. While student loans are able to cover a large part of this economic burden, many students are still left with thousands of dollars in tuition bills that they are unable to pay. These uncovered bills can often be paid for with monies gathered from scholarships and grants. Although locating scholarships and grants can seem overwhelming, it is an accomplishable task. By contacting the appropriate officials at the school from which you are graduating or leaving, as well as the school to which you are applying, it can be done.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Telephone

Instructions

1. Contact the admissions office of the institution to which you are applying. Initiating contact with office personnel can result in someone locating additional funding, available to you through the school. Many times this funding comes in the form of scholarships and fellowships.

2. Contact the admissions counselor from the institution you are exiting, or have exited. This includes high school guidance counselors if you are applying to college, and college admissions officers if you are applying to graduate school. These counselors will have a list of available scholarships and grants from a variety of sources.

3. Search for scholarship and grant opportunities using the United States government's student financial aid and grants services. Some scholarships and grants are awarded directly by the government, while others are awarded by independent parties that are identified on the government's website.

4. Search for scholarships and grant opportunities, using independent searching tools. You can sign up for many of these tools when you register to take tests, such as; the SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT and so on. These independent searching tools use demographic and scoring data to provide you with an accurate list of potential colleges and universities, as well as with potential scholarships and grants.

5. Contact local officials in your community. Many communities have established scholarship funds for which very few students apply. Such opportunities range from scholarships for left-handed people, to grants for the study of a historical figure from your home area.

Tips & Warnings

• Search for scholarships specific to both your demographic background and your intended area of study.

References

• Federal Student Aid: Student Aid on the Web
• FinAid: Scholarships
• Grants.gov