US Scholarship Overview: Billions of Dollars Are Awarded Each Year
Over $3 billion in private scholarships are awarded to college students each year with an average award of about $2000 to $3000 a year. As college costs continue to rise, scholarships are becoming an ever more important part of financing school for many students. Learning about the different types of scholarships, how to find and apply for them, and how to avoid scams will result in greater scholarship success.
Scholarship Types and Sources
Scholarships are funded and awarded by a variety of institutions including colleges themselves. Any student has a chance to win a scholarship since each one has different eligibility requirements and many have no financial need or academic requirements.
See BrainTrack’s Scholarship Types and Sources of Funding article for more details.
Searching for Scholarships
There are more scholarships available than ever before and it’s easier than ever before to find them because of the many internet scholarship search tools. Learning how to use these tools as well as other, more traditional methods, can help students succeed in finding the right scholarships for which to apply.
Learn more about how to search for scholarships in BrainTrack’s Searching for Scholarships article.
Applying for Scholarships
Finding the right scholarships to apply for is only the first step in obtaining scholarship money. The process of applying for scholarships can be time intensive so it’s important to make the most of that time to increase the chances of winning.
BrainTrack's article, Scholarship Application Tips: Learning To Do It Right Will Increase The Chances Of Success, provides useful information for completing applications.
Scholarship Scams
Rather than winning scholarship money, some students find themselves losing money due to the many scholarship scams in place. When searching for scholarships, students will benefit from knowing how to avoid these scams.
BrainTrack’s article: Scholarship Scams: Avoiding Their Traps guides students on detecting and ignoring these scams.
Scholarships' Impact on Taxes and other Financial Aid
Students and their parents are often surprised to learn that a scholarship can affect the financial aid package awarded by the school.
To learn how financial aid packages can be affected and to understand a scholarships' impact on taxes, read Scholarships' Impact on Taxes and Other Financial Aid.
Resources
The College Board: Scholarships & Aid
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