College Scholarships

When you’re planning your college career, you’ll likely be looking for ways to help subsidize your education. After all, school tuition is one of the largest investments you’ll ever make in your life. The good thing about scholarships, compared to other forms of student financial aid, is that you do not need to pay back this type of money when you graduate. Scholarships, grants and fellowships should be your first search, before you go running to loan office. College scholarships come from a number of sources, so here is a brief overview of who awards scholarships and why.

Athletic scholarships are some of the most desirable college scholarships available because they usually offer athletes a “full ride” to college. This year, $1 billion was given out to competent athletes. In rare instances, college offers come pouring in for top players; however, in most cases, you will need to send letters to coaches at your universities of choice and market yourself. Many students start applying in their junior year of high school, including a resume, high school experience, grades, field of interest, relevant statistics and sports experience, athletic or service awards won and coach contact information. If possible, it’s best to include game footage videos, statistics, a recommendation letter from a current coach and a list of upcoming games or meets. For more information, visit the National Collegiate Athletic Association at www.ncaa.org.

A college scholarship can also be given out by a private organization, some of which offer from $50 to $20,000 to aspiring students. A scholarship can come from a corporation who wants to attract new employees and support their community. Businesses like Best Buy, Microsoft, Wal-Mart, Intel, Wegmans, Sunoco, Target, Dell, Toyota, General Motors and Sallie Mae offer awards to local students. A good place to start your scholarship search is with your own employer or your parents’ employers. The Chamber of Commerce will also have details on community players with scholarships for local students. Indirectly, students may also seek paid internship opportunities, which provide real world experience and training in exchange for a decent wage. The best fields for internships are accounting, hospitality, manufacturing, engineering, consulting, insurance and consumer goods. Some of these jobs pay as much as $25/hour and typically 80 to 100% of all interns are offered full-time jobs after their intern session is over.

Additionally, religious scholarships and grants may be given out to affiliates of a particular group. For instance, Catholics can check with the Catholic Aid Foundation or the Knights of Columbus for college scholarships. Baptists can check with the WMU Foundation or the American Baptist Financial Aid program. Episcopalians can try the ECF Fellowship Partners program or the Estelle Beaumont Ellison Scholarship Fund. Lutheran scholarships are available from the Lutheran Community Foundation or Scholarships for Lutheran Women. Presbyterian congregation members may find aid through the Lydia Scholarship Fund, National Presbyterian College Scholarship, Native American Education Grant or Samuel Robinson Scholarships. Methodists have the UMHEF Scholarships or the United Methodist Scholarship program. The Islamic Scholarship Fund covers Muslims, and the Barakat Foundation Grants are for Jewish students, who can seek financial aid through the Jewish Community Center, the JVS Jewish Community Scholarship or the Posen Foundation Program for the Study of Secular Jewish History and Cultures.

Thomas Bronson is a foremost expert in generating a ton of traffic and leads to any websites, and one of the course which he recommends is traffic secrets 2.0 review. He is also a foremost expert in internet business from home and you can check out his free course from his site today.

email2friend

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!