Attending college and university for many people is a great accomplishment that will mobilize students to go far in their careers. But, it’s no secret that college can be incredibly expensive. If students don’t receive money from their parents to pay for their tuition, how else will their cover their cost of education? When financial aid only covers so much, how can students keep earning money to cover their tuition and expenses?
The answer? Scholarships.
Scholarships and grants may be a struggle to find at times, but they’re out there. Students just have to know where to look.
You’ve probably heard the word “scholarship” more than 100 times throughout high school and your academic career, but what are they? What do scholarships do and how can they help?
Scholarships are awards of free money—two favorite words of college students–that assists students with paying for their education. They’re gift aid. Unlike student loans, scholarships do not have to be paid back. Most scholarships are merit-based, meaning they’re received for having exceptional grades, outstanding athletics, heavy volunteer work, or even just fitting into a certain demographic.
Since scholarships don’t have to be repaid, they’re a great way to assist students in saving money or focusing funds elsewhere, like housing. I don’t have to emphasize how vital it is to not have any financial burdens while attending college. Often times, federal aid will provide you with just enough money to cover the cost of your tuition, but fall short of assisting you outside of school. Scholarships provide the opportunity to focus solely on bettering yourself and receiving and education.
According to College Raptor, a free resource dedicated to matching students with the right college, 9 percent of financial aid received is from work-study, tax credits, and deductions. Federal loans follow at 34 percent, and scholarships and grants dominate financial aid awards by 57 percent.
Over $122.8 billion in scholarships were awarded in the 2013-14 academic year.
So, just how many students receive gift aid? Approximately two out of three graduates will receive gift aid. To put in into perspective that’s 1.2 million out of 1.8 million graduates.
For your consideration, private colleges and universities award more grant money per student. Meaning that these “expensive” colleges and universities may even be the same or less than public colleges and universities. If you were ruling out a school because of it’s price, check in with their financial aid office to review your options.
You don’t have to hunt down scholarships. They don’t only come from private sources your high school guidance counselor mentioned. In fact, statistically, that’s the minority of received scholarships. Most scholarships are awarded from educational institutions.
From experience, when my peers think of scholarships, they think of private scholarships as well as the difficulties in receiving them. Private scholarships are something you definitely want to look into, but it’s important to understand that’s not the only way to receive scholarships. Tallahassee Community College and your transfer university are your greatest chance at receiving scholarships through merit and need.
It is also important to realize that most merit-based and need-based scholarships from colleges and universities are not competitive. You can receive scholarships for simply meeting certain criteria.
As long as you keep up your grades, and have a strong work-ethic, there are scholarships out there for you.
