How to Make a Free Scholarship Guide

Scholarship Cash

Making a free scholarship guide is an easy and useful endeavor. With a little time, effort and a complete and updated listing of private and public scholarships, you can make your own guide in no time.
From tuition to books to lab fees, scholarships are a great way for students to finance their education. Free and accessible to everyone, finding the right scholarship can be done more quickly with the right resources. Read on to learn how you can make your own scholarship guide to share with other students or to use yourself.

Things You'll Need

• Scholarship listings Financial aid information Computer with web access Paper

Instructions

1. Create an electronic book. Set up a web site that allows users to use web technologies to preview and apply for government and private scholarships. Provide useful links and resource tabs for easy navigation of the provided materials. Use search engine optimization, or SEO, techniques to attract more traffic to the site.

2. Set up the template. For an e-book, use a template to divide the homepage into the following categories:
   mission statement or objective statement; search box (optional); scholarship listing by category; school or industry; apply tab; and resource links or "information center." These are the minimum navigational tools that should be provided. Additional links and tabs can also be provided to address financial aid information, FAFSA documents, general grant and scholarship information, and helpful tips.

3. For a hard copy scholarship guide, start with a table of contents. List scholarships by area of study, industry, state or special interest. Specify whether a scholarship requires a minimum grade point average, specific political or religious affiliation, is gender specific, requires an essay, is renewable or is only offered to students in a certain state. The information can be categorized across several types or the scholarships can be alphabetized with the former information included as part of the listing.

4. Make a simple listing of large national scholarship contests, government- or university-sponsored scholarships, and other scholarship-related information. Use the guide as a stepping stone to other larger web databases. The guide can function as a helpful tool or review for all private and public scholarships available to students. It can even offer a section for scholarships that provide the highest award amount, to the scholarship that is the easiest to qualify for. As an added feature, be sure to list how many scholarship recipients will receive an award per cycle.

5. Advertise your guide. Use the web or use the university press to advertise the guide. Alternatively, ask to set up a booth on orientation day at your school to tell students about the guide or provide a free copy.

Tips & Warnings

• Use as many categories as possible. Avoid dumping a long list of schools onto a sheet, without cross-referencing by category or type. Always use an index, table of content or directory list for sponsors.

• Clearly noting the academic or calendar year the guide is useful.

Resources

• Fed Money Grants and Scholarships