Find College and Graduate School Scholarships

Many scholarship-finding services will tell you that “millions of dollars in private scholarship money goes unused every year” and they can guarantee that you will get this money by using their service and most of time there is up front fee incur. BEWARE! It might be scholarship scam’s trap. In general, if you have to pay money to get money, it’s probably a scam.

Every year thousand of students and parents are defrauded by scholarship scams. And many of them even unaware that they had dropped into the trap of scholarship scams, the victims usually write off the money paid up front to the scams as thinking they just simply didn’t win the scholarship.

Let review some of common scholarship scams so that your will be alerted and precaution about the suspicious scholarship offers.

Common Scholarship Scams

According to the Federal Trade Commission’s Scholarship Scams, if you receive an offer that uses one of these tactics, be suspicious:

* The scholarship is guaranteed or your money back

Beware of scholarship-finding services that guarantee you will win a scholarship or your money will be refunded. If it is a scam, you will find it extremely difficult to qualify for refund, because this refund guaranteed often have terms & condition attached. Get and review refund policies before you pay. Read more… »

Many scholarship-locating services will tell you that “millions of dollars in private scholarship money goes unused annually.” The fact is, almost all available financial aid comes from the federal government or from individual colleges.

More than 340,000 people are duped by scholarship fraud every year. Private scholarships are usually awarded to very specific applicants, such as students with a particular career interest, or members of a certain religious organization or church. These institutions have created funds for students. They are willing to give them to qualified people and have no interested in keeping the money a secret.

You can easily learn more about these opportunities by checking with appropriate institutions. Contact organizations or clubs to determine what they look for in an applicant. Your high school or college guidance counselor can also provide information on scholarships.

Beware of Scholarship Fraud

If you decide to use a scholarship locater service, watch out. These scams have been around for many years. More than 340,000 people are cheated by scholarship fraud annually, losing some $5 million, according to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

How to spot a scholarship fraud

The Federal Trade Commission offers the following tips regarding spotting potential scholarship fraud. Read more… »

Although there are many scholarships available every year to college students of all ages, there are still many myths about scholarships that discourage students from even applying in the first place. Unfortunately, this restricts the amount of college education funding that those students can often receive. So here are some of the myths about college scholarships that you need to know about in order to have the facts.

1. The first myth that is widely believed about college scholarships is that they are usually only available to those who have the highest grade averages, such as a “A”. This is just simply not true. Although many scholarship programs do list having a good academic record as a contributing factor in receiving the scholarship, there are actually several other factors that are taken into consideration as well.

The truth is that even those who have a “B” or “C” grade average can often qualify for many scholarships because of other factors instead. For instance, many scholarship programs place a high priority on a student’s involvement in extracurricular activities, especially those in the community. To them, this helps indicate that you are a well rounded individual who will do well in a college environment and are seeking personal advancement. So if you want to qualify for college scholarships, try to involve yourself in activities that allow you to give something back to the community and expand your horizons. Read more… »

Millions of students apply for various scholarships every year. But it would be naïve from anybody’s part to believe that all scholarship advertisements are indeed genuine. We live in a bad world, amid lots of bad people, who are prying for an opportunity to dupe their fellow beings for some fast bucks. Hence, every prospective student who dreams a scholarship must be at his own guard regarding the genuinity of the scholarship for which he/she applies. In other words, he/she must consider every possibility of a scam so as not to get scammed even by accident. This article – how not to get scammed – stresses on some common symptoms of a fraudulent scholarship, and the steps the applicant should consider taking in order to avoid getting caught in the wrong side.

Here we discuss certain telltale signs that are typical of a scam. But, the occurrence of these signs necessarily does not mean fraud always. However, a combination of few of these may very well point towards a possible scam, and hence one should take care not to fall prey to such traps.

A scholarship can mostly be a scam if the applications involve fees. Legitimate scholarship sponsors do not solicit a fee. The point is – Be Cautious if there is a Fees Involved. Read more… »

It takes more than making the grades and scoring high on the SATs for students to be college-bound. Each year, students are faced with the burden of figuring out how they are going to pay for their college education. Knowing how and where to search for aid can make the difference in rather or not many students will be able to attend college.

Outside from personal or family savings, there are government grants, federal or personal loans, and scholarships. Government grants are almost always limited and only cover a fraction of the total cost of attending college. Federal and personal loans are debt, which has to be repaid after graduating. Loans are great resources for covering expenses left over after there is no other source of income available. Scholarships are, for some students, the only hope for attending college with little or no upfront cash and without piling up thousands of dollars of debt.

Each year, there are billions of dollars of free scholarship money that goes unclaimed. Students are just not aware that this money is available. The most visible scholarship monies are offered by large corporations and charities. These scholarships receive thousands of applications for a small pot of available money. It is usually the local, community based scholarships that are overlooked by students.

When applying for scholarships, students must be as diverse as possible with their search. Read more… »

Most students who are planning to go to college will try to win a scholarship to fund their study. There are so many students are competing to win those scholarship dollars, scholarship scams have become a booming business. These fraudulent programs do their best to imitate legitimate scholarship programs sponsored by government agencies, charitable foundations, and corporations and try to take money from their victims without giving away any free money. Here are some common techniques used by online scholarship scams to take money from you; get yourself alert and avoid these common online scholarship scams.

Common Online Scholarship Scams Most scholarships scams will try to request money during the application process. You will usually ask to pay for all kinds of fees during the scholarship application process. The scholarship sponsors may charge what they call an application fee, entrance fee, reading fee, judging fee, or administrative fee. You may also ask to pay a processing or handling fee just to receive a copy of scholarship application form or to request more details information about the scholarship.

Other than those kinds of fees, scams may pile on the hidden fees after you have submitted an application. You may receive an email or mail notification saying that you have won a scholarship, but to collect it, you must first pay a “disbursement” or “redemption” fee. A warning alert should be immediate triggered once you receive the message asking you to pay money in order to receive your scholarship award, because no legitimate scholarship program will ask you to pay any money in order to receive money that you have supposedly won. Read more… »

When it’s time to go to college, the word “scholarship” is confusing for both students and parents. We automatically think about student loans, FAFSA, tuition and fees, EFC, grants, and work study. But what we don’t realize is that knowing more about the scholarship process could save us thousands of dollars when trying to cover the cost of our kids’ education.

Scholarships are “free money” given away by the government, private institutions and organizations, charitable foundations, schools, universities, clubs, etc. Unlike loans, scholarships are not repaid to the scholarship provider.

Some of the scholarships available are:

* Athletic Scholarships

* National Merit Scholarships

* Academic Merit Scholarships

* Professional, Career, and Trade Association-Sponsored Scholarships

* FAFSA

* Work Study

* Ethnic and Religious Scholarships

* Community Organization Sponsored Scholarships

* Special Scholarships

* Alumni Legacy Scholarships

* Transfer Student Scholarships

With so many scholarships, how do you know which one to apply to or where can you go for an application? Read more… »

Scholarships are financial aids that are given to students to see them through college or university. Unlike student loans, you won’t have to pay back the financial help you got from a scholarship. The scholarship can be given directly to you or paid to the college or university to cover the fees and other necessary costs.

Some scholarship awarding bodies include the government, charities, clubs, businesses, cooperative organizations and even schools. While some scholarships are specifically for certain types of people, others are generally for all kinds of people.

You can find specific scholarships like athletic scholarships, scholarships for those students in a specific field of study, scholarships for students living in a specific state or city, etc.

Some tips to help you secure the right scholarship include:

- Ensure your position matches the criteria: If you see an athletic scholarship and apply for it because it’s very juicy but you know you aren’t athletic, you are wasting your time. There’s very little chance that you will get it. Nothing irks a scholarship provider more than to go through an application from an applicant that doesn’t match the criteria requested. Don’t do it.

- Fill your application exactly as it should be filled: Don’t make unnecessary and avoidable mistakes when filling your application. Provide all the information required in the most honest and professional manner possible. Don’t lie in filling the application because that lie can come to hunt you in the future. Read more… »

There are various sources of scholarship money awarded to students each year – probably more than you realize. The trick in finding these opportunities is understanding each type of scholarship and whether you’re eligible for them. While wading through countless resources may seem a daunting task, if you’re serious about finding legitimate ways to fund your college education, the task of learning about various opportunities can be well worth it.

College Scholarships

Many colleges offer monetary awards for their specific college. If you know which schools you’d like to attend, it may be to your benefit to find out whether those schools offer school-specific scholarships as part of your financial aid package. Schools that do offer specific scholarships to students of their college typically include requirements the student must maintain in order to remain eligible for the money.

For example, many colleges require students receiving scholarship money from them to maintain a certain GPA, pursue a defined course of study, or other specific academic requirements. Not every college offers school-specific scholarship awards however, so it’s a good idea to do your research beforehand so you won’t end up disappointed.

Athletic Scholarships Read more… »

There is good news for Hispanic families on a budget searching for a way to pay for higher education costs: College bound Hispanics can benefit from increasing scholarship opportunities. This year, Hispanic students have a wealth of scholarship options. Just as frenzied students are selecting college programs or planning their return to school, many Hispanic organizations are announcing scholarship funding programs and guidelines for the school year beginning this fall.

Offering scholarships to minority and disadvantaged students has gained popularity. Corporate giants like CNN, Coors, General Motors, Lockheed Martin, MasterCard, NASCAR, Office Depot, Sallie Mae, Time Warner and Wachovia are among the companies providing scholarships to Hispanic students this year. Why are these do-gooders dedicating thousands of dollars to Latino scholarships and what can other companies learn from them?

While each one of these companies may have more than one reason to support existing Hispanic scholarship programs established by Latino organizations such as the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Hispanic College Fund and Hispanic Scholarship Fund, most benefit from the positive community and public relations results the programs generate.

Over the years, Latino consumers have become increasingly acculturated into mainstream America. Some have gained positions of influence in the public and private sectors and most have become more sophisticated Read more… »