In my previous frugal student articles, I have revealed my top tips and tricks for saving money on the common expenses most college students face. This week, I want to tackle a subject that many students know about but few know how to take advantage of. This is the subject of free money.
Most students know that there is free money available to college students. However, it seems like many students have no clue what free money is available or how to get their hands on it. There is $3 billion in state aid alone available to college students. This number does not include federal aid or the insane amount of scholarships available to students.
So what are the free money options available to college students and where can you find them?
Scholarships
There are thousands of scholarships available to students. You never have to pay them back and they are awarded to students upon completion of an application, which sometimes includes writing an essay or submitting some sort of special project. Some are needs based, others are awarded on academic merit, some are given based on having career goals that coincide with the field the corporation or donor works in. You can get scholarships for playing sports or for having a parent who works in a certain career field. There are so many different scholarships out there that you are bound to find at least one or two that you meet the criteria for.
But where can you find scholarships? Here are my recommendations:
Your College Website
Run a search for scholarships on your college website. Many colleges offer scholarships solely for students who attend their university. There are also many major departments (i.e. sociology or communication) that offer scholarships for students studying that particular major.
The Internet
Google “scholarships” and you will get millions of hits. This is overwhelming. My top 3 choices for scholarship websites are Scholarships.com, FastWeb, and College Scholarships. While you have to create an account to use these sites, it is free and the questions asked of you while you create your account help the search engine on these sites identify scholarships that you would be a good candidate for.
Your “Network”
I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship my first year of college because my mom works in a school district that offers a special scholarship in memory of a former teacher to kids of parents who worked in that district. Ask your parents or other family members if the company they work for has a scholarship program for kids of employees of that company. If they do, ask for information on the scholarship and if you qualify, apply for it!
Grants
Grants are like scholarships in that they are free money that never have to be paid back. However, grants are given by the federal and state government. There are two primary types of grants: need based and merit based. Need based grants are for students who would not otherwise be able to go to college without financial assistance. Merit based grants are for students who have done well academically at the previous school.
So where do you find grants?
FAFSA
The Free Application for Federal and State Aid should be filled out regardless of your economic standing or GPA. You fill this form out once a year to see if you qualify for federal or state aid to help you pay for your college expenses. Go to the FAFSA website to fill out an application online.
The Internet
Simply googling “college grants” will result in millions of hits. I would recommend checking out EducationMoney and (again) College Scholarships for information about grants.
There is no harm in applying for scholarships or grants. The worst thing that can happen is that you get no funding and you are right back where you started. But if you do apply and get your hands on some of the billions of dollars available to students, the minimal time it took to fill out a few scholarship/grant applications will have been well worth it.
