The truth is, college costs are out of control. The days of being able to pay for school with a part-time job and a little hard work are long behind us.
For instance, when I first attended the University of Kansas in 2011, my tuition was over $8,000. If I were to enroll this fall? It would cost a whopping $11,236 for tuition alone. (That doesn’t include other costs like textbooks, meal plans or living arrangements.) It’s no wonder that nearly 43 million Americans currently owe a collective $1.6 trillion in student loan debt.
While there are systematic changes needed to fully address the ever-increasing costs, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t things students and parents can do to help ease the burden. Scholarships are an often-untapped way to help pay what you can upfront and avoid the high interest rates of loans later on. Scholarships are considered gifts, and unlike loans, are not paid back.
As someone who managed to pay for the majority of their college education with scholarships, I became an accidental expert on this often-confusing process. I spent a year and a half applying to as many scholarships as I could (more than 100!), and by the time I graduated high school, I had accumulated more scholarships than any other student in my graduating class. Here’s what I learned.
Fall to early spring: A lot of scholarships have award ceremonies that coincide with graduations and other end-of-year celebrations, so the decisions must be made before this. There are some scholarships with application deadlines that occur over the summer between junior and senior year, but they aren’t as common in my experience.
Junior/Senior year of high school: While there are scholarships available that apply to any student, incoming college freshmen are especially encouraged to apply. This means you should be applying during your junior and senior year of high school to maximize your options.
When looking for scholarships, start with the Federal Student Aid’s resources, reach out to the financial aid office of the schools where you applied, and talk to your high school counselor. These avenues will help you identify any obvious or well-known scholarships that you’re qualified for.
Some towns, cities, counties and states will have scholarships set aside specifically for applicants who live there. They can usually be found by searching the websites for the local government. School boards, school districts, board of regents and more can also offer their own scholarships.
If you or your family are a part of any clubs, volunteer organizations, religious groups, sports or other community-based activities, there’s a good chance there are scholarships specific to members of these groups.
Look for identity-based scholarships
Some scholarships are created specifically to provide opportunities to those who have historically had greater barriers to attending a university.
For example, some are set aside for those with marginalized identities (such as women, LGBTQ+, people of color, disabled or neurodiverse people, etc). Others are held for nontraditional students and those who are the first to attend college within their family.
Scholarships based on profession or major
Some scholarships are provided to help encourage students to pursue specific career paths (for instance, for technology, teaching or journalism). If you’re anything like me, this might feel like a lot of pressure. After all, what if you change your mind?
The good news is, many of these scholarships are awarded with the knowledge that there’s a distinct possibility recipients may change their course of study. Many students change their major once they’re attending college, and it’s not ungrateful to do so even with a major or profession-based scholarship. Just be sure that you’re serious about the course of study to begin with, and make sure to double check you won’t lose your scholarship if you do decide to switch.
Scholarship websites
There are a ton of resources online for scholarships these days, so it can be overwhelming to know where to start looking. There are plenty of free resources available, so don’t feel like you need to pay for any premium services. Be sure to vet a site thoroughly before providing any personal information, and as with most things on the internet, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
The U.S. Department of Labor and College Board are both good places to start. You can also find a lot of lists of other databases to keep your momentum going.
During my junior year of high school, my mother made me a binder full of every scholarship she came across that I might be vaguely qualified for. She organized the whole thing by due date and left it sitting on my desk to go through between activities. It was immensely helpful, but also served as a visual reminder that no matter how hard or long I worked on applications, I’d never be able to apply to everything.
Your time matters, and the end of high school can be incredibly busy already. It’s vital to prioritize which scholarships you apply for and ensure they’re worth the minutes (or hours) you spend doing so.
When picking which scholarships are most worth your time, consider these three factors:
- How much time does it take to apply?
- How many applicants are they likely to get?
- How much money would you get if you won?
It might feel intuitive to apply for only the biggest scholarship prizes, but the reality is, those will also be the most competitive. Despite my months of practice applying—and even getting close a few times by becoming a finalist in the running for certain scholarships—I never won any truly lucrative scholarships. Instead, I paid for school with a broader collection of smaller scholarships.
Remember, even if you don’t manage to secure enough scholarships to cover your college tuition and expenses entirely, every scholarship you get means paying back that much less in student loans later on.
Photo by PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock
